COOPER’S GOT FAITH LEFT EDGE CAN CUT IT
JOHNATHAN Thurston’s trusty sidekick Gavin Cooper says Queensland will pose threats down their left side despite the champion playmaker’s unavailability for Wednesday’s series decider.
Cooper will inherit a new pair of left- side teammates, with Cameron Munster in the five- eighth spot inside left centre Michael Morgan in the line.
Cooper has forged a prosperous association with the injured Thurston with the Cowboys over the years, but insists the Maroons can thrive in Origin III in attack down their left.
“No one is JT by any stretch but we still have people who can create some damage with the ball,’’ Cooper said.
“I’ve played a lot of the season at the Cowboys without JT and we’ve still created a lot of opportunities down our left edge with whatever half is there.’’
The Cowboys second- rower succeeded in his brief in Origin II to stiffen up the Maroons defence, making 45 of the 46 tackles he attempted in his recall game.
Queensland missed 51 tackles in their Game One drubbing by NSW and 36 in their two- point win last month in Sydney.
“It was something we spoke about improving on from Game One,’’ Cooper said.
“I was brought in to try to help and looking at that ( statistic) it might have worked. Everyone worked really hard.
“I found myself doing a lot of work.”