GREEN TO REPAIR DEFENCE HOLES

IT WAS a case of two steps forward one step back for Paul Green’s men, as the Cowboys were handed an emphatic reality check by the Parramatta Eels.

Promising signs of a season turnaround were evident in the Cowboys’ strong win over Newcastle last week, but defensive lapses down the right edge cost North Queensland dearly — Eels flyer Maika Sivo the beneficiary with four tries in the 42-4 blowout. The right-side combination of Shane Wright, Esan Marsters and Kyle Feldt missed 13 tackles between them as Sivo, Clint Gutherson and Michael Jennings put on a clinic.

Ultimately for Green it comes down to trust and having the confidence to pick themselves up off the ground when the going gets tough.

While he put some of it down to inexperience, as several of his players find their feet in the NRL, he said they needed to close the widening gap between their best performances and their worst.

“It’s a bit of a thing with us, we just cannot put two halves together,” Green said. “I didn’t think we were out of the game at half-time, when we got our game on in that first half I thought we were creating some opportunities. But … defensively we’ve got to find more consistency. It’s a little bit of trust (and) not working together. Some of those guys are learning that at NRL when the game comes your way, you have to be ready to do what you have to do, and we missed our chance … in the first half and didn’t learn our lesson …

“(It’s) a bit of a lack of trust and probably when something goes against them there’s a bit of a lack of confidence.”

The holes in defence were expertly exploited by Eels skipper Gutherson, whose 234 running metres and three try assists covered the absence of halfback Mitchell Moses and gave young five-eighth Dylan Brown freedom to play his game.

Green has had to change his backline regularly through injury and form, with Tom Opacic forcing his way into the centres and shifting Justin O’neill to the wing.

The return of Valentine Holmes also came at the expense of teenage sensation Hamiso Tabuai-fidow, but the inability to have the same combination gelling regularly has begun to show its drawbacks.

Green said after the win against the Knights it was evident pride in the jersey was not the issue — it was getting the experience into his team to rebound on a consistent basis.

“When you’re so inconsistent with your performance that makes trying to find a combination with a bit of confidence more challenging – individually and as a team,” he said.