Injured duo close to Cowboys return
NEW Zealand coach David Kidwell has ruled captain Jesse Bromwich and Kevin Proctor out of this year’s World Cup following their drugs scandal last weekend.
Bromwich and Proctor were accused of consuming an illegal substance in the early hours of Saturday after their Test loss to Australia in Canberra.
“We have values to uphold, and I can’t express enough that they have broken my trust, their teammates’ trust and the New Zealand public’s trust,” Kidwell said in Sydney yesterday. The pair will also face sanctions from their respective clubs and the NRL. THEY’RE missing their main man but the Cowboys are set to finally receive some welcome good news with Lachlan Coote getting ready to return from injury this week, and Jake Granville a chance to join him. Coote trained strongly yesterday and looks to have overcome the lingering calff issue which has plagued his start to the season. While hooker Granville didn’t train with the main squad, he is some hope of returning from a broken leg he suffered late in the round five win over Souths. The return of the pair would be a huge boost to North Queensland’s playmaking stocks as they prepare for another stretch without champion halfback Johnathan Thurston. They have struggled to score points without Thurston, who has missed the last three weeks with a calf issue before injuring his shoulder in his return for Australia on Friday. Coote could be an option to replace Thurston in the halves, which would allow the Cowboys to leave in- form Kalyn Ponga at fullback. Halfback Kyle Laybutt is a huge chance for an NRL debut against the Bulldogs on Thursday night after he starred in Queensland Residents’ win on Sunday. Forward Shaun Fensom is also set to come back from an ankle ligament injury. The Cowboys have a poor record without Thurston, although most of those games have been in the Origin period where they’re missing several other stars. They are looking to rebound against the Bulldogs in Sydney on Thursday night after a disappointing 26- 6 last- start home loss to Parramatta.
“It’s going to be tough, it’s always tough without Johnno but we’ve got roles individually we can do better,” winger Antonio Winterstein said.
“We haven’t done that the last couple of weeks, we’ve all been under par there.”
Back rower Coen Hess said the signs were promising for Coote and Granville, who will add some much- needed creativity.
“They were out there running today. I think it’s up to the physio but they looked good,” Hess said.
“Cootey talks a lot at the back, organisation is probably the best thing about Cootey’s game.
“This week we’ve been talking about focusing on the fundamentals of our game. Obviously the last few weeks have been pretty disappointing on our behalf.
“Our completion rate has been down and we’re not defending as well as we’d like, leaking a lot of points.
“Last week was pretty tough ( at training during the bye round), it was more about ( improving) effort under fatigue. We got put through our paces but it will bring out the best in us.”