STANDING UP WHEN IT COUNTS Courage tested in darkest hour
IT was the moment where the Cowboys, in particular the young players, could have turned their toes up.
Down 8- 2 to the Sharks at halftime on Sunday, the Cowboys scored through Kyle Feldt to reduce the lead to 8- 6 with half an hour left.
Like they were injected with adrenaline, they found belief.
In the 55th minute the team that everyone had written off stood up to the NRL’s schoolyard bullies.
Their forwards took turns rushing off the defensive line and monstering Paul Gallen, Andrew Fifita and company, restricting them to just 20 metres gained from their own line.
But a last tackle penalty undid the good work. The Sharks marched down the other end, scored a try through Jack Bird, and took a 14- 6 lead.
Most of us in the media box thought that was the final nail in the plucky Cowboys’ coffin.
I’ll confess – I tentatively wrote “it was the turning point which knocked the wind out of the surging Cowboys’ sails”. I bet I wasn’t alone. For weeks they had earned praise for showing guts and character without marquee players and others playing on injured, but for little reward.
Their only win in six previous games was against the lowly Wests Tigers.
Surely this was the moment North Queensland would finally lose belief they could stick it to the critics.
They certainly would not have been savaged by the media had the defending premiers gone on with the job from there.
However, with the dismiss- ive words of their detractors still ringing in their ears, they refused to yield.
Jason Taumalolo’s incredible solo try gave them a lifeline, and they didn’t let it slip.
Cowboys halfback Michael Morgan said the team’s response to the Bird try was vital in keeping their season alive.
“That ( try) was very disappointing. We worked so hard in that set, only to give away a penalty on the last tackle,” Morgan said.
“They made us pay, but it’s how we reacted to that which was pleasing.”
Cowboys prop Scott Bolton agreed it was the moment which could make or break their finals aspirations.
“That defensive set of six in particular was massive,” Bolton said. “It was a real opportunity for us to get on top and the boys defended well that set, but let themselves down on that last tackle.
“The chat behind the tryline was good, we concentrated on how we were going to get back into that game and we did what we said. We found a way to win.”
Stand- in captain Gavin Cooper’s words on Friday are now eerily on the money.
“People have written us off before the game and they’ll keep writing us off, even when we beat the Sharks,” he said.
The key word he used is when. Not if. It sent a message to his young teammates in particular they weren’t just hoping to win, they expected to.
“It’s a great opportunity for us to prove people wrong and there’s nothing more rewarding than doing that,” Bolton said. “We use it as motivation that no one gives us a chance.”
Who says the Cowboys can’t repeat the dose on Saturday at ANZ Stadium, and spoil the party of Parramatta’s blue and gold army? This journalist certainly won’t be jumping the Shark again.