A tale of blown chances
Tough loss but Cowboys ready to bounce back
It’s a great example for younger guys to stick solid and be ready for your opportunity when your name gets called.
Rugby league, the greatest game of all, can also be the most heartbreaking of all.
Our round 5 encounter saw us head to Sydney for the first time this season to take on a new-look Bulldogs team.
Our week was quite long coming off the previous Saturday evening game against the Titans.
Preparations began without Jeremiah Nanai, unfortunately suspended, and Murray Taulagi and James Tamou, who were both out with injuries.
This gave guys an opportunity back in the NRL like Mitchell Dunn and Brendan Elliot and also an exciting occasion for Riley Price as he made his NRL debut.
Before I get into the game I want to quickly touch on the professionalism of Brendan ‘Shredder’ Elliot.
Shredder has been our 18th man on so many occasions and is one of the most professional guys we have in the club.
He had an outstanding game, running for 193m from 18 carries.
It’s a great example for younger guys to stick solid and be ready for your opportunity when your name gets called.
On the game, obviously a bitterly disappointing result.
In what were some of the trickiest conditions we’ve played in so far this season I thought we had control of most of the game.
Some things went against us, they always do, but it’s how you respond that’s most important.
We had number of chances go begging and that was a tough pill to swallow. But we had to continue to stay focused on our processes.
Although we took a golden point loss I was really happy with the style of football we played. We managed to control most of the game.
We completed at our highest percentage all season at 86 per cent, six above the benchmark of 80 per cent, with less ball than the Bulldogs but that just goes to show we were still using the ball effectively.
After the game there was a pretty sombre mood in the shed. How can you not be down after losing the way we did?
The first thing we did was have a chat about the game. Our coaches do a fantastic job at making us players speak up and be accountable for what happened on the field.
Because like life, it’s always better to talk about something and be open and honest instead of holding it in.
We flew back to Townsville early the next morning with a number of players picking up injuries. That’s footy, some times things go your way and sometimes they don’t.
Regardless, I speak on behalf of all of our players in saying that we will continue to work hard to get a win this Friday against the Dolphins.
It’s the first time we get to play against the Dolphins and I know a lot of the boys are looking forward to putting in a good performance for our members and fans.
See you at the game.
CT.