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There’ll be no Matt Scott, but South Sydney veteran Scott Geddes claims North Queensland will still pose plenty of headaches up the middle in Saturday night’s NRL clash at ANZ stadium.
Scott stayed behind in Townsville as his teammates travelled down to Sydney for the match, the Test prop still another week away from returning from a foot injury.
But with the likes of NSW State of Origin hopefuls Tariq Sims and James Tamou to lean on, Geddes said the Cowboys still had more than enough forward firepower to get the job done – particularly against a Souths pack minus injured trio Sam Burgess, Roy Asotasi and Luke Burgess.
“They’ve got lots of guys there pushing for Origin spots – we really need to be on our game,” Geddes said.
“(Sims is) a young guy with lots of energy, he comes out there enthusiastic – we need to go out there and match his enthusiasm.”
Certainly the City Origin forwards struggled to contain Sims in last week’s clash against Country Origin in Mudgee, with the 22-year-old catching the eye with two tries in a barnstorming display that may have secured him a spot on the Blues bench for Origin I.
Sims missed the start of the Cowboys’ 2012 campaign as he continued his rehabilitation from a broken leg, but the signs are there that he is getting back to his best.
In his last start for the Cowboys, he produced his first 80-minute effort of the year coming up with 111 metres from 13 runs.
Geddes said the makeshift Bunnies pack was more than up to the challenge.
“We’re all confident – we were pretty disappointed with our performance (against the Warriors) – we need to up our game this week,” he said.
“We know we can go out there and do our job.”
Someone getting better at their job with each game is Greg Inglis, who admits he’s on a steep learning curve since his move to fullback.
He returned to the centres for Australia last week, but despite the expected return of Nathan Marritt to the Rabbitohs squad, Inglis will remain in the No.1 jumper at Souths.
Inglis will have to be on his game against the Cowboys with five-eighth Johnathan Thurston having hit his straps in recent weeks – his kicking game sure to be a feature of Saturday night’s contest.
“I do a lot of video during the week on the kickers – our assistant coach Kurt Wrigley helps me and the other backs,” Inglis said.
“The important ting is to try and put good kick-pressure on (Thurston).
“That’s our job to get out there and cut his thinking time down and limit his options.”
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