WHAT HAPPENS NEXT FOR COWBOYS? Hard work can save misfiring side, says Hess
COWBOYS forward Coen Hess has labelled his side’s second half as “diabolical” against the Roosters, as the team searches for answers amid a harrowing run of form.
Hess and his left-edge teammates were torn to shreds by a rampant Sydney outfit, with Matt Ikuvalu the beneficiary in a five-try performance.
The 23-year-old Hess helped himself to a consolation try late in the contest, however it did little to downplay the lapses in defence that have hindered the side since the NRL resumed from its coronavirus pandemic hiatus.
Hess came into the line-up when the Cowboys were riding high on a mountain of success.
Debuting in their 2015 premiership year, he established himself as a first-grade regular in their following preliminary finals campaign before representing Queensland during the Cowboys’ 2017 charge to the grand final.
Now the bullocking backrower finds himself in foreign territory, as the side faces a third consecutive year without finals football.
“It’s extremely tough,” Hess said. “I was lucky enough to come into the Cowboys when we were really successful, and now I’m obviously on the other end (of the scale).
“We’re copping a fair bit of criticism at the moment but as a club I think we just have to keep digging deep, keep turning up.
“We have a lot of hard work to do to get us out of this mess.
“I think it’s more so learning more about yourself personally.
“Obviously the guys are hurting, you can see it out there on the field, but the only way to get out of it is to do a lot of hard work and that starts at training.”
After the home side had made a promising start against the Roosters, taking an early lead, the wheels started to fall off as unforced errors and defensive lapses began creeping into the Cowboys’ game. However given the hosts actually completed their sets at a better rate then their rivals (76 per cent to 72 per cent), the key factor was the nature in which those mistakes were capitalised on by the other side.
The Roosters are the backto-back champions for a reason, and they were emphatic in punishing the Cowboys’ misgivings.
Hess said it was difficult to determine when the momentum began to shift, rather it was the culmination of several issues that steamrolled uncontrollably.
“It’s probably pretty hard to pinpoint it down to one particular moment, I think it just sort of snowballed and then it got worse and worse,” he said.
“They scored probably four tries in the first 11 minutes of the second half, and that’s just not up to NRL’S standards. It’s a bit of a snowball effect, one thing happens, then we drop our heads.
“We’re not communicating … and if your head’s not in the right place on the field against a quality opposition like the Roosters, they’ll pick you apart and make you pay.”
Across the park the Cowboys were bulldozed, however it was hardly the fault of the team’s representative backrowers, Josh Mcguire and Jason Taumalolo.
The pair churned out 199 and 227 running metres respectively, fearlessly throwing themselves at a daunting opposition forward pack led by Siosiua Taukeiaho.
Hess said the rest of the group needed to follow the example those two were setting weekly.
“Moose and Jase are punching out big minutes and they’re doing their jobs,” he said.
“I think it comes down to a lot of us other boys that aren’t executing as well as what we’re expected.
“You can’t fault what they’re tossing up, they’re going out there and having 20 carries a game, making 40-odd tackles.
“I guess it’s probably just about everyone else taking a bit of the load they’re trying to take upon themselves to get us out of this mess.”