Round 21: North Queensland Cowboys vs Sydney Roosters

[Admin Team]

North Queensland Cowboys vs Sydney Roosters

Dairy Farmers Stadium, Saturday 7.30pm

COWBOYS
1. Ash Graham 2. Ty Williams 3. Mark Henry 4. Ben Harris 5. John Williams 6. Travis Burns 7. Aaron Payne 8. Carl Webb 9. George Gatis 10. Shane Tronc 11. Luke O'Donnell 12. Sione Faumuina 13. Steve Southern

Interchange: 14. Ben Farrar 15. Dayne Weston 16: Ben Vaeau 17. Ray Cashmere; Reserves: 18. Luke Harlen

ROOSTERS

1. Brent Grose 2. Amos Roberts 3. Mitchell Aubusson 4. Sia Soliola 5. Sam Perrett 6. Braith Anasta 7. Mitchell Pearce 8. Mark O'Meley 9. Riley Brown 10. David Shillington 11. Willie Mason 12. Anthony Tupou 13. Craig Fitzgibbon

Interchange: 14. Lopini Paea 15. Shane Shackleton 16. Anthony Cherrington 17. Jake Friend; Reserves: 18. Mickey Paea

THEY say the more losses you endure, the closer you are to a win.

Well Cowboys fans must feel like they are REALLY close to a win after suffering through 12 straight defeats – but it doesn’t get any easier against the high-flying Roosters.

After a small lull post-Origin, the Roosters got back on track last weekend by smashing Manly, a result which has them in third and within striking distance of the minor premiership.

On the other hand, the Cowboys battled hard but where beaten by Parramatta in a game that never reached any great heights… in fact it failed to reach any average heights, so form is against the home side.

Still four points adrift of their nearest rival at the foot of the table, the Cowboys have to win a game soon or the wooden spoon will be gift-wrapped and posted out early.

Ashley Graham returns to their side at fullback, with Jackson Nicolau making way, while former Test star Luke O’Donnell returns from suspension ready to rip and tear.

His inclusion sees Dayne Weston go to the bench.

For the Roosters, winger Shaun Kenny-Dowell is out which sees Amos Roberts move from fullback to wing and Brent Grose come into the side at fullback.

Prop Frank Paul-Nuuasala is out with both Shane Shackleton and Mickey Paea added to a five-man bench.

Watch out Cowboys: The Roosters have been the most successful side in the NRL at posting tries directly from turnovers, they have seven for the year, and considering the Cowboys are ranked 14th in errors they could just provide the tri-colours with quite a few chances to increase their success.

It’s important that the home side limits the errors in the match to starve the Roosters’ attack of the ball and provide extra opportunities to wreak havoc.

Watch out Roosters: You have seen first-hand what complacency can do with both an under-manned Titans and an eager Raiders side putting you to the sword when you turned up too “****y” recently.

The Cowboys are certainly down on confidence but they welcome back Luke O’Donnell this week and there is not a more determined footballer on the planet right about now.

O’Donnell still feels hard done by when it comes to his lengthy suspension and you can bet one or two Roosters will feel his anger through his shoulders. Should the Sydney side travel north expecting a roll-over victory… well, they’ll come back plucked.

Where it will be won: Kick defence.

Everyone knows the Roosters rely on the boot to score points… they now have a whopping 32 tries from the boot for the year.

If the Cowboys can find a way to shut down the Roosters’ kicking game then they can match it with them in the attacking stakes.

Easier said than done though; the Cowboys fail to defuse 27 per cent of chip kicks, 28 per cent of grubbers, 67 per cent of banana kicks, 32 per cent of bombs and 62 per cent of cross-field kicks, giving the Roosters plenty of reasons to continue their kicking assault on this premiership.

The History: Played 21; Cowboys 3, Roosters 18. The Roosters have had the wood on the Cowboys since the North Queensland side entered the league in 1995, having won 86 per cent of the matches between the sides.

The Roosters aren’t afraid to travel to Townsville, where they have an 8-2 advantage at Dairy Farmers Stadium.

The one plus for the home side is they won the last encounter at the stadium, 43-6 last year.

Conclusion: As much as you might like to see the Cowboys snare a win to make the wooden spoon battle a bit more “interesting”, it’s hard to bet against the Roosters when they have so much at stake leading into the finals.

Up at home you can be sure the Cowboys will give it their all and hopefully that’s enough to make a real game of it, but in reality if the Roosters don’t win here then they’ve got serious problems going forward.

Stick with Brad Fittler’s men.

Match officials: Referee – Sean Hampstead; Sideline Officials – Daniel Eastwood & Jeff Younis; Video ref – Tim Mander.

Televised: Fox Sports 2 – Live 7.30pm.

Source: http://www.nrl.com