Hess finds his mojo in middle of the action

IF Coen Hess has his way he will not be lurking on the left edge tomorrow against Wests Tigers, as it would mean his mentor Gavin Cooper is back.

However, if Cooper fails to recover from a calf injury, Hess now has the confidence he can handle the task after bouncing back in fine style from a horror defensive display at Penrith against Cronulla on Saturday.

Hess has thrived since being shifted to the middle after struggling with defensive decision-making on the edge early this year.

He missed 12 tackles at Penrith in his Round 23 return to the back row on August 12, but bounced back strongly against the Sharks by making 42 tackles and missing two.

“Playing in the middle compared to the edge you don’t have to make that many decisions,” Hess said.

“Going back to the edge I wouldn’t say was tough, but becoming more familiar with the role will help a lot.

“My defence in the Penrith game, I was pretty disappointed in my personal game, so I tried to make amends against the Sharks.

“I was a lot happier in comparison to that game.”

Hess said the younger forwards in particular were sorely missing the leadership provided by Cooper, who has stepped up as interim skipper with forward Matt Scott and halfback Johnathan Thurston out for the season.

“His leadership is one of the best things about him, so he’ll bring a lot of confidence back to the playing group,” Hess said.

“Obviously, a lot of us younger blokes look up to him.”

The Cowboys’ middle third was bullied by Cronulla early in the 26-16 home loss but could be reinforced by the return of Cooper, Shaun Fensom (knee) and John Asiata (elbow).

Cowboys halfback Michael Morgan insisted not making the finals would be a failure for the team, despite having the longest injury list in the NRL.

“This week in particular the boys are all coming to training and there’s a lot better feel,” Hess said.

“We had a meeting at the start of the week and made it clear to ourselves we need to get another win to make sure we’re in the finals.

“Through the injuries a lot of the younger boys get an opportunity and they’ve worked hard for that spot.”