Thurston says faith is key for Cowboys

JOHNATHAN Thurston believes confidence is king for the rejuvenated Cowboys as they look to drag themselves off the bottom of the NRL ladder.

The team travels to Cronulla to take on the Sharks on Saturday night with everything to play for after finishing the previous round in 16th place.

It was a cruel blow for a Cowboys side which has started to click over the past month with wins over the Knights ( 20- 18) and Broncos ( 34- 30) and a narrow loss to the top- ofthe- table Roosters ( 26- 20).

Thurston insisted he hadn’t dwelled on what might have been for the Cowboys this season, but he felt recent form showed they were capable of toppling the Sharks.

“I think we’re playing a good brand of footy the last couple of weeks now and hopefully that gives the team a lot of confidence going forward,” he said. “We’ve just been letting ourselves down at the starts of our games or there’s been a period of 10 or 15 minutes where we’ve been bad and teams have laid on points.

‘ That’s the inconsistency we’ve had throughout the year, but I think the last month our best to our worst hasn’t been as bad as what it has been. We need to use that momentum and take the good parts out of that moving forward.”

The Sharks proved themselve genuine contenders with a 17- 14 win over reigning premier the Storm in Melbourne last weekend and are on the cusp of a top four spot. But Thurston felt there were a few chinks in Cronulla’s armour so long as the Cowboys continued to play with confidence.

“The Sharks turned over a bit of ball on the weekend, but they defended extremely well and that’s what they like,” he said. “They like to get down and dirty in the trenches and make a real scrap of it.

“No doubt it’ll be greasy conditions, but if we can get our fair share of the ball and ask some really good questions down their end then hopefully we can cause some errors from them. Both teams have forward packs that like to come after each other so hopefully they can create a bit of room for the halves and the outside backs to pile on some points.”

Thurston has just three games left in his glittering league career and the clash at Shark Park will be his final appearance in Sydney.

“For me, it’s just about enjoying my time around the playing group and coaching staff,” he said.