One play at a time, says Cowboys star
HE has just about achieved everything the NRL has to offer.
But after the glories of premiership victory and State of Origin triumph, the back end of Gavin Cooper’s career is set to be the toughest chapter yet.
The North Queensland outfit could well miss the finals for a third straight season on the back of worrying form.
In the past two weeks, the Cowboys have been overawed by quality opposition in the Parramatta Eels and Sydney Roosters – each going on a second-half romp.
Throughout those contests, there were signs of life that suggested the Cowboys could go toe-to-toe with teams considered the benchmarks of season 2020.
However, Cooper said, all too often inconsistency and defensive fragility had crept in to their game, a trend they needed to buck fast. He said the players would often speak about taking it one set at a time, but hey needed to make it about one play at a time.
“Last week we showed we can put a kick-off down and do two or three good tackles then really ease off and they make an offload or a quick play the ball and before you know it we’re down on our tryline,” Cooper said.
“I’m guilty of it as well, just missing an assignment at times and letting someone through, and a team like the Roosters get you on the back foot pretty quickly.
“I won’t call it a lack of effort all the time, sometimes we play a little bit dumb because we put too much effort into trying to change it by ourselves, instead of working as a team.”
With no Intrust Super Cup to fall back on, the Cowboys have few options at their disposal to search for answers and find players in form. But this is an issue felt by the rest of the NRL, and Cooper said that it was not an excuse.
North Queensland will have 10 days between Thursday’s full-time whistle and their Sunday afternoon clash with Penrith to get minds right and weary bodies rested.
Costly errors have shaken the team’s confidence and the chance to refresh could be the catalyst for a mindset shift. “We’re not the only one who don’t have a reserve grade to go back to, to really craft what we’re doing,” Cooper said.
“When you get your arse handed to you like we have the last couple of weeks the next game can’t come quick enough, I think our reaction in the first half on the back of what happened last week was pretty good. I know we still didn’t play exactly to how we trained but I thought the effort was really there. I’d like to say our next game is just around the corner to see where everyone’s heads are at, but in saying that we’ve got a few banged up boys, so we’ll take the 10 days.”