With the summer of tennis long finished and the cricket team already on another tour, league fans feel great anticipation about the start of the NRL season.
Moreover we start feeling inevitable optimism about our club’s chance of holding aloft the premiership trophy in September.
I’ll start by admitting I’m a diehard Cowboys fan.
Every year, no matter how unlikely, I always hold onto a tiny beacon of hope that the Cowboys will finally deliver for us long suffering fans. Despite this hope, realistically I can’t see this being the Cowboys year.
I’ll start by listing my reasons to be optimistic about the Cowboys chances this year.
Many experts have labelled the Cowboys current playing squad as one of their best. It’s hard to argue otherwise.
Johnathan Thurston is unquestionably the games number one playmaker. He leads a backline that scored more points than any other NRL side in 2012.
Veterans Ashley Graham, Brent Tate and the ageless Matt Bowen provide apt support in the backline, which should once again be one of the most potent attacking units in the game.
In the forwards the Cowboys have a solid, no nonsense pack.
Up front James Tamou and Matt Scott are two of Australia’s best front rowers. Scott Moore is a creative and nippy hooker who looks to be a perfect fit at the Cowboys.
Tariq Sims, Jason Taumalolo, Gavin Cooper and Dallas Johnson provide the core of a backrow that combines a solid mixture of workers and hitmen.
With that in mind, I would like to see the Cowboys first choice side as:
1 Bowen
2 Graham
3 Linnett
4 Tate
5 Faifai-Loa
6 Morgan
7 Thurston
8 Scott
9 Moore
10 Tamou
11 Cooper
12 T.Sims
13 Johnson
14 Thompson 15 A.Sims 16 Bolton 17 Taumalolo
I think Thurston is best suited to first receiver, while Morgan would be best utilized as a wide running five-eighth.
Faifai-Loa is not as solid as Winterstein in defence but is brilliant in attack and deserves to be in first grade.
In the forwards I would also like to see Bolton used as an edge runner again rather than at prop, given he was so effective on the edges in 2009 and 2010.
The Cowboys have a number of players with a wealth of first grade experience who won’t make their first choice side.
If the side listed above was the Cowboys side, they would have depth in the likes of Glenn Hall, Ricky Thorby, Joel Reithmuller, Antonio Winterstein, Robert Lui, Rory Kostjasyn, Anthony Mitchell and Clint Greenshields.
All of these men have played a number of first grade games thus giving the Cowboys possibly the best depth in the NRL.
On the coaching front the Cowboys are well covered.
Neil Henry is tactically brilliant while also devising brilliant innovations such as bringing in sprint coach Paul Di Bella. Terry Matterson has been terrific in giving Henry much needed support as well as drastically improving the teams defence. Paul Bowman has done well working on the teams fitness in his role as high performance manager.
The combination of an excellent playing roster and astute coaching staff gives the Cowboys a brilliant chance to challenge for the premiership. However I can’t help but feel there are a number of factors that will prevent the Cowboys from breaking their title drought in 2013.
Firstly, their star player and captain is off-contract.
I believe Thurston will re-sign with the Cowboys and, like the last time he was off-contract, I believe he is only trying to increase value by linking himself to other clubs.
The last time this happened in 2010 the on-field ramifications were disastrous, with Cowboys only avoiding the wooden spoon due to Storm being stripped of all points.
Neil Henry is also off-contract. Having a their coach off-contract is always a challenging time for a club. If the Cowboys start the season poorly, there will no doubt be media speculation that Henry won’t be re-signed or even sacked.
Given that Wayne Bennett, Craig Bellamy and Des Hasler are all signed to their respective clubs I think the Cowboys best option is to re-sign Henry as soon as possible.
There are also on-field reasons I doubt the Cowboys will win the premiership in 2013. Neil Henry has worked hard trying to make the Cowboys less dependent on Thurston and Bowen, however their fitness is vital if the Cowboys are going to regularly beat the best sides.
The likes of Lui and Greenshields provide solid cover however neither is in the class of Thurston and Bowen.
The Cowboys also have to start winning more games in Sydney.
In recent years they improved their away record but still struggle in Sydney. To win the grand final they must go into the match with confidence and belief, which can only be gained by winning in the NSW capital.
Regardless of the reason for the Cowboys’ struggles in Sydney, whether be physiological, due to travel, or some other reason, they must overcome it sooner rather than later.
This year is unquestionably a wonderful opportunity for Cowboys to challenge for the premiership. They have an excellent playing roster and great coaching staff.
I just can’t help but feel this won’t be their year.
But as a diehard fan I will still hold hope that this is the year the Cowboys break their premiership drought.
After all it is a new year, with new hope.
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