Young duo out but Taumalolo returns
COWBOYS young guns Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow and Reuben Cotter will miss this week’s clash against the Bulldogs, with injury depriving North Queensland of two of its stars from Sunday’s breakout victory.
Cotter has taken to his new role as a middle forward with aplomb, and he vindicated the move against Wests Tigers with 141 running metres and 45 tackles — the most in both statistic for his side.
But he has been ruled out with a foot concern, with Jason Taumalolo set to start in the 13 and Corey Jensen named on the bench.
Fresh off his breathtaking individual try in the opening minutes on the weekends, Tabuai-Fidow will also be confined to the casualty ward after picking up an ankle injury late in the contest.
Cowboys coach Todd Payten confirmed the teenage tearaway was sent for scans yesterday, after a delayed flight from Sydney caused him to miss an appointment with a specialist.
“It could be two weeks, it could be surgery which means longer, it wasn’t overly swollen today which was positive, and he said it wasn’t too sore,” he said. “I think he’s disappointed he was out for a period, I think he had a really good game.
“He’s feeling confident in the centres, we got some early clean ball and showcased what sort of talent he possesses.”
Payten confirmed Taumalolo would assume his place in the starting side, as will Coen Hess who stepped in at lock. Hess lines up at prop, with Francis Molo on the pine.
Payten also confirmed dynamic forward Tom Gilbert was still at least another week away from being able to come back into the Cowboys fold.
The 20-year-old made his comeback from a broken fibula on Saturday for the Townsville Blackhawks, running for 117m and making 23 tackles in his 49 minute stint.
While the exciting lock demonstrated enough to impress Payten, ultimately in the later stages of the game the toll of his injury and time on the sidelines showed.
But once he feels match ready and confident again, he will tussle with the likes of Molo and Hess for those bookend positions — more so now that Josh McGuire has left the club for the Dragons.
“Tommy needs another week or two; his first stint was very good, he moved well, but once the fatigue set in he had a bit of a hobble and didn’t get around the ground that great,” Payten said.
“NRL is a lot faster than QCup, we just have to be patient and give him the opportunity to get some confidence in his own body before we throw him into a much faster environment.”
While buoyed by the Cowboys drought-breaking win,
Payten said there would be no reason for his side to go into this weekend’s home game against Canterbury with any complacency.
Throughout the opening five rounds he said they had “put 40 minutes of football together”, and they now needed to build on that and show some consistency.
Among those he has called for a similar showing is fiveeighth Scott Drinkwater, who impressed with three try assists and a try in an enigmatic Leichhardt Oval display.
“I thought he defended pretty well, people think he’s not a great defender but in the front line within our system – which is a different system to last year – he can make his tackles,” Payten said.