JT says team must win mental game
SHATTERED Cowboys skipper Johnathan Thurston says his misfiring team “needs to have a good, hard look at ourselves” after their horror season hit rock bottom with a 20- 14 loss to last- placed Parramatta in Darwin on Saturday.
Thurston and Cowboys coach Paul Green believe the reason behind their disastrous form lies between the ears after they failed to secure back to back wins for the first time this year.
Now 4- 10 and with a tough draw featuring heavyweights the Warriors, Dragons and Souths to come over the next month, Thurston looks set to end his farewell season as a finals spectator.
An understrength Cowboys showed glimpses of a revival with a stirring win at Manly last week, but racked up 20 errors in arguably their poorest display of the year in the Top End.
“It’s disappointing and we need to have a real hard look at ourselves,” Thurston said. “Mentally, we try to go for the kill straight away instead of trying to build some pressure.
“It’s all mental, and we really need to get to the bottom of it. ( It’s) just basic footy. Catch the ball first before you pass, that would be nice. ( Incorrect) play the balls, it’s stuff you’re taught as a kid and we were very ordinary.”
The Cowboys had two tries disallowed for dubious forward passes, but Thurston refused to play the referee blame game.
“Individually, it’s your responsibility for the team’s completion rate,” Thurston said on Fox League. “If you turn the ball over as much as we did, we’ve only got ourselves to blame.”