SIX SHOOTER

Green still believes Cowboys can make NRL finals

COWBOYS coach Paul Green has not lost faith his side can make the NRL finals, despite needing to win all six games remaining.

The Cowboys made a similar run to the finals in 2013, the year before Green joined the club, and he knows they have the ability to topple their remaining opposition, which includes in-form sides Penrith Panthers (Rd 23) and Melbourne Storm (Rd 25).

But the coach admitted his side would need to learn how to close out games after going down for a secondstraight week despite leading in the final 10 minutes on Thursday night.

A tiring Cowboys gave up back-toback tries in the final 15 minutes as they went down 16-14 at the hands of the Cronulla Sharks.

“I do (think we can do it), the teams we’re playing they’re winnable games for us, but we have got to start learning our lessons,” Green said.

“We have been in winning positions against good sides and last night was a similar situation but we just found a way to lose.

“You can’t give in, that is part of the lesson for these young guys. They have to learn, not just about playing NRL, but playing and winning NRL games.”

The Cowboys struggled to find the ascendancy in the second half at PointsBet Stadium after losing winger Kyle Feldt to a failed head injury assessment just before halftime.

It forced a reshuffle to Green’s backline with backrowers Coen Hess and Shane Wright playing in the centres. Despite his positional switch just before kick-off, Hess still proved one of the Cowboys’ best finishing the game with 121m from 16 carries and 14 important tackles.

“I thought (Hess) did a pretty good job. He was marking Morris on that side (and) he is no slouch,” Green said.

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“I thought he did a good job, his involvements were good, he had plenty of carries so it was good.

“When you lose outside backs, unless you have a specialist on the bench there, you have to reshuffle your team and we already had a few guys playing out of position so it did make it a little more challenging.

“(There was) plenty of effort but (I’m) disappointed with the result given we were in a winning position.”

With a safety-first approach, the Cowboys were impressive in the first half, completing at 89 per cent.

But it was a few costly errors in the second stanza, including a cold drop from rookie winger Murray Taulagi, which turned the contest.

It gave the Sharks plenty of opportunities with the home side holding the lion’s share (62 per cent) of field position, getting tackled in the Cowboys’ half 47 times in the second half.

The Cowboys have a long turnaround before their next game against Wests Tigers on Thursday, with star duo Feldt and Michael Morgan to undergo further concussion protocols as they aim to prove their fitness this week.

A grudge match against the Broncos follows on Thursday August 8.