Cowboys sweat on fitness of star pair
THE Cowboys are expecting star duo Valentine Holmes and Jordan Mclean to miss game time, but refused to speculate while the club awaits the results of scans.
Holmes hobbled off the field at Central Coast Stadium with an ankle injury on Friday night, while Mclean failed to return in the second half due to a calf complaint.
Cowboys director of football Peter Parr said the pair may miss game time, joining skipper Michael Morgan and experienced forward John Asiata in the casualty ward.
Rookie forward Tom Gilbert could also be set to miss game time after he was charged by the match review committee with a grade two dangerous contact charge for a crusher tackle.
An early guilty plea would see the young forward rubbed out for three weeks, but Parr said the club was still looking over the footage before taking any action.
It adds to the headache for Cowboys coach Paul Green who was left to lament his side’s inability to fortify their defence for a full set following Friday’s loss to the Warriors.
Five of the seven Warriors tries were conceded on the last play, sparking Green’s disappointment at his side’s defensive resilience.
After last week’s loss to Cronulla – during which all five of the Sharks tries were scored down the Cowboys’ left side – the North Queensland mentor changed that edge.
Coen Hess returned from injury and slotted into the backrow, while Hamiso Tabuai-fidow earned a debut on the wing at the expense of Ben Hampton.
However at Central Coast Stadium it was the right side that failed to click, with Peta Hiku scoring a hat-trick and his outside man Adam Pompey also crossing.
“We’re building new combinations, and so with that comes confidence and you only build confidence through experience,” Green said. “We made a couple of changes, last week it was the left edge this week it was the right edge, but the bottom line is we’ve just got to be tougher mentally defensively.
“We’re improving, we’re creating some opportunities there, but again the most disappointing thing from our point of view is our defensive reliance, particularly around our last plays there. It’s like if the game only went for five tackles we’d be a good side.”
The main positive to come out of Friday’s loss was the early glimpse of teenage speedster Hamiso TabuaiFidow, who slotted into fullback to replace the injured Holmes.