How many journeymen players have gone to the Melbourne Storm and suddenly looked liked world beaters? Likewise how many quality players have left the Storm only to struggle at their new club?
The Storm have a winning culture, an ultra professional attitude and a coach who is one of the best in the business. Not to mention the ‘big three’ of Slater, Smith and Cronk.
This leads to journeymen players reaching their maximum potential at the Storm.
However there are some players who are an exception to this. Which brings me to Rory Kostjasyn.
At the Storm Kostjasyn struggled for game time. Ryan Hinchcliffe played the role of hooker/second rower meaning Kostjasyn’s main opportunities came around State of Origin when Smith and Cronk were out.
Last year, when Aaron Payne announced his retirement and James Segeyaro signed with Penrith, the Cowboys needed more depth in the hooking role. Ray Thomson looked to be the Cowboys best internal option, while they also signed Townsville junior Anthony Mitchell.
Scott Moore was also eventually recruited as well to give the Cowboys another genuine hooker.
Kostjasyn seemed like he had been recruited more to add depth rather be a starting player. After Kostjasyn was injured in the preseason it seemed Moore had a mortgage on the hooking role with Thompson or Mitchell to come off the bench.
Kostjasyn was outstanding in the only trial he played, after impressing at training. This, combined with his ability to play lock, led to him earning a spot in the Cowboys NRL side.
After Scott Moore showed so much promise, he seemed to struggle adapting to NRL. Kostjasyn got his opportunity to start and hasn’t looked back since.
While he hasn’t set the world on fire he has played his role to perfection. With Thurston and Bowen the Cowboys main playmakers, and a promising young half in Michael Morgan, they needed a serviceable and reliable hooker.
He has shown patches of class though. Against the Broncos there was no Bowen and Morgan, returning from injury, was very quiet.
After the Broncos had targeted Thurston all night Kostjasyn threw a dummy for Thurston, fooling Sam Thaiday and putting Clint Greenshields in for a simple try.
Kostjasyn may not be the long term hooker at the Cowboys, but there is no doubt he is proving to be a very valuable recruit.
After the Cowboys had a disastrous year in 2010 they signed key players in Dallas Johnson and Brent Tate. Players such as Antonio Winterstein, Tariq Sims and Glenn Hall were also recruited.
At the time Neil Henry spoke about signing players with the right attitude. He spoke about the benefit of recruiting players who had been part of successful sides to build the right culture at the club.
Kostjasyn played for Storm where laziness, lack of fitness and poor attitude is not tolerated. He probably left hoping for more NRL time at the Cowboys, but he has brought these positive attributes with him.
In the preseason he spoke a trying to secure a spot in the 17, rather a starting position, as he believed that was his best chance of playing NRL. But Kostjasyn’s hard work and professional attitude has lead to him securing a starting spot.
On a different topic the Cowboys clash against the Rabbitohs shapes as a fantastic gauge for Cowboys premierships credentials.
A lot has been said about the Cowboys inability to win in Sydney. Being competitive with the Rabbitohs in Sydney would give the Cowboys confidence a boost and may silence some doubters.
I’d like to see the Cowboys counter the Rabbitohs’ pack with mixture of mobility and strength. I’d like to Jason Taumalolo on the bench. He can play prop early in the match and later be utilized on the right edge to target tiring defenders.
Joel Reithmuller deservers his spot on the bench after filling in so well for Dallas Johnson. The Cowboys generally have a hooker on the bench, likely Ray Thompson.
That leaves Scott Bolton, Glenn Hall and Ashton Sims to compete for one spot. I’d probably go for Bolton, however any one of three could the job of bench frontrower
After an extremely tough week off the field the Cowboys managed to escape with a win against Parramatta.
No doubt there will still be a lot of emotion at the club, but this an excellent opportunity of the Cowboys to test themselves against one on the competition’s best teams.
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