GREEN FEELS HEAT
ORIGIN GREAT SAYS GREEN’S TENURE IS IN DOUBT
QUEENSLAND Origin great Billy Moore says Cowboys coach Paul Green’s tenure is on tenterhooks following North Queensland’s horror-show loss to the Tigers, which has all but scuttled the Cowboys’ finals hopes.
QUEENSLAND Origin great Billy Moore says Cowboys coach Paul Green’s tenure is on tenterhooks following North Queensland’s horror-show loss to the Tigers.
Former Blues coach Laurie Daley publicly backed calls that a change needed to be made at the Cowboys amid a run of poor form over the past two seasons.
“I think you are right. It just looks as though something is not right up there at the Cowboys,” Daley said yesterday.
“Whether it is the players not getting along with the coach or his ideas have gone a little bit stale and they are just not responding.”
Green believes he still has the faith of the Cowboys’ hierarchy and is aware of the pressure he is under, but Moore said Green’s tenure was in doubt.
“There will be pressure for sure but he only just signed an extension. He has got time on his side with that contract. He will be fine for next year,” Moore said.
“But if they are in the same predicament this time next year, then that will be curtains for him.”
Moore said it was baffling how the club was in its current position with the forward pack they have.
“You can’t have (Jason) Taumalolo, (Josh) Mcguire and (Jordan) Mclean rolling you down the field and still be in the position they are in. It is bulls--t,” he said.
“They go down the middle as good as anybody but when they get to the other end they just can’t score any tries.
“I think there is going to have to be some changes in the squad and that is what the next five weeks is for. That is their season done now.”
The Cowboys slumped to their third consecutive loss, and 12th for the season, at Leichhardt Oval.
Green said the flak he faced was to be expected.
“It is two disappointing seasons in a row so obviously questions are going to get asked,” he said. “There has been circumstances around that, it has been a fairly disrupted year for a number of different reasons but that is no excuse going into last night’s game in particular.
“I thought we had been competing pretty well up until that, we just lacked a bit of polish in a few positions. We felt last night was a good chance to knock up a win, so it was disappointing the way it panned out.
“It is a part of the job, it comes with the job, particularly when you are losing games.”
The Cowboys have struggled from the pre-season after losing marquee signing Ben Barba due to off-field indiscretions.
He was not the only player to part ways with the club through the season with Nene Macdonald and the club coming to a mutual agreement to terminate his contract in June.
The club has also struggled with injuries and consistency in their ranks with at least eight different players moving in and out of the Cowboys’ spine throughout the season.
Long-term injuries to Te Maire Martin, Ben Hampton and Justin O’neill have also hurt.
But Green said it was no excuse. “It is not just injuries, we have had a couple of other things not go right and it just disrupts your season,” he said.
“Just not having that consistency with the team week in and week out, particularly in key positions.
“That is playing in the NRL, it is not an excuse, we are disappointed and accountable for the way we have played and we want to fix it.”
Green has been the Cowboys’ most successful coach in the club’s history winning 82 of his 152 games at the helm, including taking the club to its maiden premiership in 2015.
… if they are in the same predicament this time next year, then that will be curtains for him
BILLY MOORE