COWBOYS’ SCOTT IN WITH SHOT
COWBOYS co-captain Matt Scott has taken a major step toward proving his fitness for Friday’s grand final rematch with Melbourne and the Origin opener after being named in North Queensland’s side.
Although the prop didn’t train fully yesterday after injuring his medial ligament in last week’s loss to Souths, he did complete some light running in a positive sign for the Cowboys and Maroons.
Scott’s likely inclusion is a huge boost for the Cowboys, with coach Paul Green sticking with Michael Morgan at fullback in an unchanged team that was beaten by a last-second Souths penalty goal last week.
Green dumped Lachlan Coote and switched Morgan from the halves last week in search of attacking spark and the Queensland Origin star delivered with a dangerous display highlighted by two try assists.
Asked if the reshuffle would be longterm, Green said: “We’ve got Origin around the corner so the team will have to be reshuffled again.
“There were some positive signs there, particularly for our attack. He (Morgan) had two really big defensive plays and two try assists, and threatened every time he touched the footy.
“If we had won some games we maybe wouldn’t have made the change. But the fact is we had to change something and unfortunately for Cootey, that was the change we made.
“As a team in attack we were a lot more threatening but Origin is around the corner so there’s a fair chance Cootey will get another crack pretty soon.
“If he comes back and plays well, the ball’s in his court.”
Scott will still have to prove his fitness this week, and Maroons coach Kevin Walters will be anxious for him to play Melbourne to get some match time under his belt before the series starts on June 6.
Friday’s clash at 1300SMILES Stadium is the last chance to impress before the Origin sides are named on Monday, with Storm forwards Felise Kaufusi and Tim Glasby also in the mix.
“He (Scott) hasn’t trained fully yet but touch wood he gets through the week and we’ll see how he goes,” Green said.
– Jon Tuxworth