North Queensland co-captain Reuben Cotter has delivered a withering assessment of his side after they dodged a shock loss to a second-string Melbourne.
The Cowboys prevailed 38-30 in Townsville on Thursday to put one hand on sixth spot and a home final with one regular-season NRL round remaining.
Melbourne rested 11 regulars and lost fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen midway through the first half but still made 45 line breaks, the Cowboys missing 46 tackles to leave Cotter and coach Todd Payten shaking their heads.
"It was a very ugly win ... that was pretty poor leading into these next few weeks," Cotter said.
"Play like that and it'll put us under a lot of pressure.
"I reckon there was a bit of frustration there, we've got to be better.
"It's a bit of an attitude thing to be honest. We need a reaction when the leaders speak and across the park got to be better."
The Cowboys would secure sixth place if Canterbury beat Manly on Friday night.
Payten was as critical of his side's defensive failures as Cotter and said "questions will be answered" after they conduct a thorough review.
"One team came ready to roll their sleeve up, one wasn't ... too many missed tackles and we need to sharpen that up," he said.
"We'll be cheering the Doggies (Canterbury) home pretty hard ... it'll be good to sit back with a cold beverage and just relax a little bit."
Prop Jason Taumalolo made 19 tackles and produced seven runs for 84 metres, including 41 post-contact metres in a 45-minute stint on return from a fractured cheek.
