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Cowboys coach Paul Green is either a genius or a galoot.
I cannot understand the logic – if there is any – behind playing Johnathan Thurston against the Titans on Saturday at Townsville.
JT is the very best thing going for the Cowboys. Can Green win the comp without him? We all know that answer. So why temp fate over 80 minutes?
I can hazard a guess that JT insisted on playing in the Cows’ last home game of the season. He is the team and club captain and would want to be out there.
But it’s ridiculous, pure folly, to risk the world’s best player in a nothing game when there are so many bigger rewards in the offing.
With one round to play, North Queensland are running third on 36 points. Even if they lose, they will still finish in third position. And they are playing the Gold Coast Titans, one win from the bottom of the league and playing for beer money.
The Cowboys are playing for a maiden premiership. Why would any coach risk his stars – and primarily the code’s superstar – in a game with absolutely nothing riding on the result?
Perhaps Thurston insisted he was playing. Okay, as the club’s senior player he is entitled to his opinion, but in this instance coach Green should have told him who is in charge.
“Thanks, but no thanks,” should be the mantra from the head man.
“We cannot win this comp without you and I think you could benefit from a week off to freshen up for the finals. You won’t be playing.”
All it would take to shatter the Cowboys’ title hopes would be an injury, an unlikely suspension; anything untoward that could rub Thurston out of Week 1 of the finals.
The Cowboys are one of the most dangerous teams heading for the finals. Sure they have drifted in the betting, but they have the material from fullback to the front row to go all the way and create history.
Thurston is North Queensland’s engine, the driving force, their inspiration. If he weren’t there in the opening finals week, his team would be a $12 chance or more to advance.
Surely naming Thurston is a smokescreen for this weekend’s game. And surely Green is smarter than what this all seems.
I have no inside mail, but I am expecting JT to come down with a late cold, a hamstring niggle, an ingrown toenail, or a sick family pet that will sideline him an hour or so before kickoff.
Take a well-deserved week off JT. There are far bigger fish to fry than the Titans.
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