Cowboys happy to be grand final no-hopers

THE North Queensland Cowboys are delighted to be rated no-hopers against Melbourne Storm for next weekend’s National Rugby League grand final, coach Paul Green said yesterday.

The Cowboys pulled off yet another surprise when they stunned the Sydney Roosters 29-16 on Saturday to reach their third grand final.

It capped an exhilarating run for North Queensland through the postseason finals series from eighth posi- tion with upset wins over defending champions Cronulla Sharks, Parramatta Eels and the Roosters to reach the season decider on Sunday.

The Cowboys will be facing Craig Bellamy’s formidable Melbourne Storm, who are strong favourites to claim their third NRL title at their eighth grand final appearance.

“No one has given us a chance, and they won’t give us a chance next week,” Green said. “Melbourne deserve to be favourites. They’ve been the best team all year, and they have strike players across the park, we have nothing to lose.”

Asked if he believed his side can topple the Storm, Green said: “I think we can. What matters most is what we believe and that is what’s there.”

It has been a fairytale late season charge for the Cowboys, who just squeezed into the top-eight playoffs after losing five of their last six games in the regular season.

They have also reached the grand final without their mercurial Test star Johnathan Thurston and international front-rower Matt Scott, both who have been sidelined through injury.

But in Thurston’s absence Michael Morgan has stepped up to become an influential team leader at scrum-half and he had a hand in three of the Cowboys four tries in the win over the Roosters.

Melbourne Storm will be looking to send off their Test scrum-half Cooper Cronk as a grand final winner after he announced earlier in the year that this would be his last season for the club.

Cronk, Test skipper Cameron Smith and international fullback Billy Slater are figureheads of the benchmark Storm outfit, who finished top of the season standings, losing only four games.

The Storm qualified for the grand final with an impressive 30-0 shutout over the Wayne Bennett-coached Brisbane Broncos in Melbourne on Friday.