Cowboys turn to their rivals for inspiration
COWBOYS forward Gavin Cooper has urged his side to adopt the backs-against-thewall spirit of the Gold Coast Titans when the two injuryravaged teams clash at Cbus Super Stadium tonight.
In what has been billed the Demolition Derby, the Cowboys will be without Lachlan Coote, Antonio Winterstein, Matt Scott, Jason Taumalolo, Justin O’Neill and possibly winger Kyle Feldt, who is racing the clock to be fit with knee and ankle issues.
However, the Titans casualty ward is just as crowded, with marquee signing Jarryd Hayne headlining a list including Nathan Peats, Anthony Don, Tyrone Roberts, William Zillman and Dan Sarginson.
But the Gold Coast put those dramas aside to seal a 26-14 come-from-behind win over Parramatta last Friday night.
The Cowboys, meanwhile, are smarting after a shock 30-8 home loss to Manly but have refused to use injuries, or two tough golden-point wins to start the season, as an easy out.
“It won’t be the flashest game I think you’ll see the Cowboys play but we’ve got to get back to playing a bit gritty,” Cooper said.
“I know we had a couple of good wins against Canberra and the Broncos, but the weekend wasn’t us for sure,
and wasn’t us by a long stretch.
“The boys not playing on the weekend can’t help you so there’s no point talking about them.
“The Gold Coast did scrap a good win against Parra. It shows footy really is an 80-minute game and the boys who really wanted to rip in for each other did that.”
Cooper insisted fatigue had little to do with the capitulation against Manly and said newcomers such as debutant Gideon GelaMosby, Javid Bowen and Kalyn Ponga have been around long enough to take their chance this week.
“I’m not going to blame fatigue and I’m not going to blame the players we’ve missed either,” Cooper said.
“The little effort areas we saw on video we need to be better at. Even with Thumper (Scott) and Jase (Taumalolo), we would have liked their go-forward but it wasn’t the go-forward we were lacking.”
Cowboys hooker Jake Granville said the playing group was still stinging from the Sea Eagles loss, but put it down to a mental lapse they’re hellbent on fixing quickly.
“We were a little bit disappointed in our effort last Saturday, it wasn’t good enough and wasn’t our way of playing,” Granville said.
“We’ve reviewed the game and looked forward to redeeming ourselves this week.
“They were both big (golden-point) games but it’s still no excuse. We still had a fair turnaround and we just didn’t show the right mindset really.
“They (the Titans) showed a real tough mentality last weekend and they’re never out of the game.”