O’Neill uses upset as fuel to tackle Storm
NO one was more disappointed at his Round 10 Leichhardt Oval horror show than Justin O’Neill.
And the Cowboys centre concedes the club’s young guns are putting pressure on senior players to perform after mainstays Lachlan Coote and Ethan Lowe were dropped from the team that lost to Souths last week.
O’Neill made five errors in the defeat to the Tigers a fortnight ago, but after avoiding the axe put together a far more solid performance against the Rabbitohs.
Teenage centre Enari Tuala did little wrong when he came off the bench in his second NRL game and is pressing for a starting spot.
Asked if he felt the need to repay the club’s faith, O’Neill said: “I knew myself that I was disappointed in my own performance and whether I was in the team or Queensland Cup ( last week), I needed to put in a better performance that I could be happy with.
“The Leichhardt game was definitely an off one for me. It was a lack of focus and not staying in the moment.
“It ( pressure from young players) has always been there. The younger players going back to Queensland Cup are playing some good footy, and definitely putting some pressure on. A lot of those players have been in the squad for a while now and because we haven’t been doing so well, it definitely puts a lot of pressure on.”
Cowboys coach Paul Green urged O’Neill to lift as a senior player before Friday’s mustwin grand final rematch with Melbourne.
“I think he’s still capable of a lot more and it’s important guys like ‘ Juzee’ find that for us,” Green said.
“He’s done it before. You don’t forget how to play. He’s still just as quick and knows how to play the game, it’s about finding that confidence.”
The Cowboys looked destined to beat the in- form Rabbitohs to get their season back on track before Friday’s grand final rematch against Melbourne at 1300SMILES Stadium.
But a Souths penalty goal after the siren consigned them to a 3- 8 record, and O’Neill said they need to recover mentally from the setback.
“The boys really played their guts out and in the end we lost, it’s about trying to bounce back from games like that,” O’Neill said.
O’Neill and fellow Cowboys centres Kane Linnett and Javid Bowen are all off contract at the end of the year.
However O’Neill confirmed he had an option in his favour to stay at the Cowboys next season.
“I’ve got the option in my contract for next year. That’s there and I’m thinking about my options and what to do next,” he said.