The Serve

Murray: Dogs were allowed to slow us down

While his Cowboys won and Steve Folkes complained about the performance of refefee Paul Simpkins, North Queensland coach Graham Murray complained about the delaying tactics of the Bulldogs.

“I’ve got no doubt the Bulldogs came here to slow us down. The referee’s got to adjudicate that.

“They spoke in the press all week about slowing down the play the ball.”

The Cowboys earned another home final with their gritty victory, with the possibility of a week off if Melbourne are upset by the Broncos tomorrow.

“They’re playing a real good brand of team football,” Murray said

“They deserve to be where they are. They deserved to win this game tonight.

“They all should all be proud of how they’re playing their football.”

Matt Bowen was a standout, with his last line of defence proving vital on more than one occasion. The feature was a try saver on Hazem El Masri when the Dogs winger looked set to score.

“Defence wins semi final games. Tonight we did that,” Bowen told Channel Nine.

“We spoke about it all week. Our on-line defence had to improve and we did that.

“That’s six in a row now.”