NOT EASY BEING GREEN
Pressure on Cowboys coach after third straight loss
HE IS under fire, but Cowboys mentor Paul Green said the flak was to be expected.
Former Blues coach Laurie Daley has backed calls for changes to be made at the struggling club.
“It is two disappointing seasons in a row so obviously questions are going to get asked,” he said.
HE is a coach under fire but Cowboys mentor Paul Green said the flak is to be expected after another tough season.
The Cowboys slumped to their third consecutive loss, and 12th for the season, at Leichhardt Oval on Thursday night in what was a horror show.
The loss has effectively ended the Cowboys’ finals hopes and, after missing out on September football last season, the pressure has begun to mount on the coach.
Former Blues coach Laurie Daley publicly backed calls that a change needed to be made at the Cowboys but Green believes he still has the faith of the club’s hierarchy.
“It is two disappointing seasons in a row so obviously questions are going to get asked,” he said.
“There has been circumstances around that, it has been a fairly disrupted year for a number of different reasons but that is no excuse going into last night’s game in particular.
“I thought we had been competing pretty well up until that, we just lacked a bit of polish in a few positions. We felt last night was a good chance to knock up a win, so it was disappointing the way it panned out.
“It is a part of the job, it comes with the job, particularly when you are losing games.”
The Cowboys have struggled from the pre-season after losing marquee signing Ben Barba due to off-field indiscretions. He was not the only player to part ways with the club through the season with Nene Macdonald also coming to a mutual agreement to terminate his contract in June.
The Cowboys have also struggled with injuries and consistency in their ranks with at least eight players moving in and out of the team’s spine throughout the season. Longterm injuries to Te Maire Martin, Ben Hampton and Justin O’Neill have also hurt the club.
But Green said it was no excuse for the club to be in the position it is in.
“It is not just injuries, we have had a couple of other things not go right and it just disrupts your season,” he said.
“Just not having that consistency with the team week in and week out, particularly in key positions.
“That is playing in the NRL, it is not an excuse, we are disappointed and accountable for the way we have played and we want to fix it.”
Queensland Origin great Billy Moore said it was baffling how the club was in its current position with the forward pack they have.
“You can’t have (Jason) Taumalolo, (Josh) McGuire and (Jordan) McLean rolling you down the field and still be in the position they are in. It is bulls--t,” he said.
“They go down the middle as good as anybody but when they get to the other end they just can’t score any tries.
“I think there is going to have to be some changes in the squad.”