REUBEN BAGS 4 TRIES IN BLACKHAWKS’ TWEED BLITZ
AFTER the final siren sounded against Penrith, Gavin Cooper gathered his Cowboys teammates in a huddle and issued a rallying cry: We don’t have JT, get used to it.
It’s a mentality the Cowboys stand- in skipper wants his team to embrace for the rest of the season after they won their first game since co- captain Johnathan Thurston was ruled out for the year. The overriding message was: we’ve got enough talent to compete without him, that it isn’t an excuse and we need to stick together.
Kyle Feldt’s spectacular late try and Ethan Lowe’s sideline conversion ensured Cooper’s 250th was one to remember in Townsville on Saturday.
When Panthers halfback Nathan Cleary scored with 15 minutes left to give the visitors a 12- 8 lead, Michael Morgan issued a demand for the team to lift for Cooper.
It made Cooper uncomfortable, the team man that he is, but it was fitting he walked off a winner after backing up from a monster display for Queensland on Wednesday.
The 31- year- old got emotional when recounting how much it meant to him that his wife, Tenille, and sons, Archie and Reggie, were able to be at the ground. “It wasn’t about me. I actually felt a bit awkward in the in- goal after they ( Penrith) scored their second try, which I let in,” Cooper said.
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