No finals, but still plenty to play for
TONIGHT is our final game of the season. Our final chance to go home winners. Our final chance to give back to our fans.
And the confidence within the club is high.
The past couple of weeks we have played some of our best footy for the year. If we can build off that, it will be a challenge against Melbourne but it is a good challenge.
They are sitting in first and they can’t move. Hopefully we can just go down and put in a good showing.
We have said all season there has been a lot of “if only” moments this year. If nothing else, to finish the year with three wins in a row would be really nice.
We have trained really well this week. You are always confident going into a game, and given the past couple of weeks, it feels like we have played some of our best footy with the ball in hand, but the better part is how we have defended.
That is something we are going to need against the Storm.
We also have a bit of a secret weapon against the minor premiers: Scott Drinkwater.
It will be the first time he has gone up against his former club. He knows their style of play a bit more than we would, he has been on the inside of it.
He has given us a few little pointers this week, but a lot of teams do the same things they do, it is about trying to stop it when it comes. I think Drinky will enjoy the challenge of it.
We have also been in a good headspace, all year we have trained well. As a group we have had challenges throughout the season, but we have all stuck together. At no point have we pointed the finger at anyone in the team.
We have always accepted the responsibility as a group and everyone has turned up each week to try to turn it around and move past the bad weeks. That is what you want
NORTH Queensland’s finals hopes are already done and dusted, but five-eighth John Asiata insists the respect for the jersey is all the motivation they need to knock off the Storm tonight.
The Cowboys face an imposing trip to Melbourne to close out a disappointing season after missing the top eight for the second year in a row.
Few have given the inconsistent Cowboys much hope against the powerhouse Storm, who have already wrapped up the minor premiership. in a team sport. When things aren’t going well you don’t want it to separate the group, you want it to tighten it up.
The emotions are also at a high after last week’s home ground farewell.
It was really enjoyable, you couldn’t have asked for a better night. From a fan’s point of view, it was a close game, so it was exciting, and from our point of view we had to defend well to get the win, we had to grind it out.
Then you have Bolts’ (Scott Bolton) point of view. He got to slot the final two points to secure the win.
In terms of finishing off our time at the stadium, it was a really good way to do it. I think that is why it has been a really enjoyable week for us as a team.
We still have that emotion. Given the year we have had, we want to get any win we can. We aren’t playing for a finals spot, but we are trying to finish Bolts on a good note and trying to finish the year on a good note. As a group we can take a lot out of the last three weeks.