Cyclone could be blessing of sorts

CYCLONE Debbie threatens to upend their preparations but Cowboys assistant coach Todd Payten says a light week on the training paddock may be beneficial for their clash against Souths on Friday.

The Cowboys have made contingency plans to prepare for the home game, with the cyclone expected to cross the Queensland coast between Ayr and Bowen south of Townsville by this morning as a Category 4 system, with wind gusts of up to 260km/ h.

The Cowboys closed their main office yesterday while the team were kept indoors with a video and weights session as wild weather threatened.

North Queensland said they were still planning to host the game on Friday night.

The Cowboys had hoped to hold their first field training session today, but that is expected to be rescheduled with indoor venues being sought.

It means the captain’s run on Thursday could be the only time they train this week.

But after two tough golden point wins and four games in the Queensland heat to start the year, Payten said it could be a timely refresher.

“We have ( contingency plans), but haven’t spoken about it at length,” he said on Sunday. “We expect tomorrow ( Monday) to be normal and Tuesday, Wednesday and possibly Thursday to be interrupted.

“I don’t think that’s going to hurt us. We’ve had a tough month of footy. Our first two games were tight, we were flat against Manly and even last night was still pretty warm.

“Being a short turnaround I don’t think will hurt us at all.”

The Cowboys are no strangers to dealing with cyclones, having been stranded in Sydney for 24 hours in April 2014, due to the effects of Cyclone Ita in North Queensland.

Meanwhile, South Sydney’s Adam Reynolds said it was business as usual and the team was preparing to fly to Townsville on Thursday afternoon.

“Firstly our thoughts are with everyone who lives up in North Queensland and the areas that are going to be affected,” he said. “We hope they’re safe and well prepared.”

– With AAP