Really big effort for Cooper’s 250th
“Morgo said to the boys he wanted some more effort out of the boys for me. I felt awkward when he said it, so I stayed out of the group,” Cooper said.
“I’m lucky to wear the Cowboys jersey every week. To play my 250th up here makes it pretty special.
“My boys don’t go to too many games but being a day game I got to muck around with the boys on the paddock, and the wife was out in the crowd, too.”
Cooper was adamant the Cowboys can still make a mark on the competition without Thurston: “We’ve still got a lot of talent in our team. Don’t get me wrong Johnno’s going to be sorely missed and everyone knows what he brings to a team but we’ve still got some boys in our team who are pretty special.”
“Morgo ( Michael Morgan) really took control at the end of the game when we needed to. It doesn’t matter if someone’s out, everyone steps up. We’ve still got a lot of good players here.”
Lowe said the result had given them confidence they could defy the critics and soldier on without their four- time Dally M medallist.
“That’s what we were talking about in the huddle at the end of the game. This is our squad for the rest of the year,” he said.
“We’ve lost a couple of key leaders and it’s opportunities for young kids to step up. I feel like we’ll be better for it in the end.”
The Cowboys’ sharpness in attack was lacking without Thurston, but coach Paul Green is convinced his side can alter their game plan and enjoy success.
“We’d love to have him playing but there's plenty of talent throughout the team that can come up with a game plan where we can still win games,” Green said.
“It’s about putting a game together where we can execute and still be more than competitive, which I’m very confident we can do.
“There was a lot of talk at the start when JT was out with his calf that Morgo was a bit reluctant.
“He was saying I’m not sure about taking over from JT and I think people took that the wrong way.
“Once he understood what was required from him he’s embraced that and gone from strength to strength.”