Storm trooper
Cowboys know evergreen Smith hard to stop
THE Cowboys fear Cameron Smith could tear them apart tonight with skipper Gavin Cooper admitting the Storm champion may have usurped his great mate Johnathan Thurston as the code’s greatest ever player.
Smith will play his 351st top-grade game in Townsville tonight as the talismanic force driving a ladderleading Storm juggernaut that has emerged as North Queensland’s bogy team.
The Cowboys have lost their past four matches against Melbourne, including last year’s finals clash, and Smith is hellbent on inflicting a fifth defeat after his masterclass against Manly last week.
Cooper’s past two State of Origin campaigns have given him a full appreciation of the genius of Maroons skipper Smith, who is just five games shy of surpassing Darren Lockyer (355) as the NRL’s most-capped player.
Thurston helped transform Cooper into an Origin player with their potent leftedge alliance, but the Cowboys back-rower concedes Smith has claims to being in a league of his own.
“He is one of the best, if not the best that’s ever played,” Cooper said.
“Smitty is now a 350game player and he has seen everything you can see on a football field.
“He plays the game in between his ears very slowly and to stop him completely, you are fooling yourself if you think you can do that ... you just have to limit his opportunities.”
While Smith will be at his scheming best, the Cowboys are prepared to play razzledazzle football tonight in a bid to disrupt the most miserly defensive system in the league. The Storm have conceded just 15.3 points a game this season, but the Broncos have previously showed Melbourne can be beaten by enterprise and Cowboys coach Paul Green urged his troops to attack with flair.
“Melbourne are the masters of field position and ball control, so you need to play footy,” Green said.
“If you don’t play with your eyes open, they will choke you to death. You need to be prepared.”