Sad story of near misses

IT will go down as a season of pure frustration.

Had it not been for a rogue goalpost, last- minute brain fades or basic errors at crucial times, the Cowboys could be fighting for a finals spot, not battling to avoid the wooden spoon.

Premiership favourites during the pre- season, the Cowboys could be facing the Raiders in chilly Canberra equal bottom with Parramatta if the Eels beat Newcastle last night.

North Queensland’s aver- age losing margin of 8.3 points is the third- lowest in the league, behind only ladder leaders Souths ( 6) and the Raiders ( 6.8).

The Cowboys’ series of near misses began in round two against Brisbane at Suncorp Stadium, when Scott Bolton was denied a late matchwinner after clattering into the goalpost.

In round 11 against Souths they conceded a last- minute penalty goal to go down by a point, then lost by the barest of margins to defending premier Melbourne the next week.

The Rabbitohs again bested them by a point in their last outing in Cairns, officially putting the Cowboys out of finals contention.

“The point for us is the last six weeks our footy has been pretty good,” Cowboys coach Paul Green said yesterday.

“Of those three one- point losses we’ve had, two have been against Souths who are leading the comp, and the other against Melbourne, who are third.

“Our footy’s not far off the mark against the better teams – we have to make sure we hang on to that stuff and not lose confidence.”

Being an also- ran isn’t a role that fits comfortably with the Cowboys, who haven’t missed the finals since 2010.

Centre Kane Linnett has more motivation to perform than simply sending out retiring champion Johnathan Thurston with a few wins.

Not only is he one of several Cowboys veterans off contract at the end of the year, he and wife Erin are expecting their first child late next month.

“I’d love to stay here. I’ve been up here a long time now, my wife and I are having a baby in a few weeks,” Linnett said.

“It’s pretty massive and I’m really looking forward to becoming a father, and being a good role model.

The Cowboys will face freezing conditions of around one degree at kick- off at Canberra Stadium tonight.

Despite going down 18- 8 at home to Canberra in round 8, the Cowboys have won 14 of their last 20 games against the Raiders.

Canberra is still an outside chance at making the finals, but Raiders skipper Jarrod Croker is wary of a Johnathan Thurston masterclass in his last game in the nation’s capital.

“We know what sort of impact he ( JT) has wherever he plays the game,” Croker said.

“He’s been one of the game’s greatest ever players. You’ve always got to be on your game against him, probably even more so now that he’s finishing up at the end of the year,” Croker said.

“He’s going to bust his backside even more so now.”