Injured Scott and Thurston give us a glimpse into the Cowboys' future

As always , the spine is the key ! You can put together any other 13 players of average NRL ability and create a winning squad, if you have a good spine ! Right now the Cows are missing their 1, 7 & 9 and the 6 is still a query about being a real 6 ? They are in big trouble without JT and Co. It will be a difficult task to find a replacement set of halves going forward and I'm not sure Granville & Coote will operate as well without JT calling the shots. But the Cowboys are in a similar position to a lot of other Clubs . Footy is like farming .... you reap what you sow but you can have good years and bad years depending on the quality of your crops ! The Cowboys have been having bumper harvests in recent years during the JT era, as the Storm have had under their BIG 3 era, but crop rotation is now needed to grow a new spine ! Right now I can see the Panthers coming up to their bumper harvest era on the back of their developing spine ( Cleary, Martin & Moylan), but many other Clubs are still tilling the dusty playing fields of the local leagues in search of theirs.

3 halfbacks from the NQ region in the last 10 years are Sandow, Cherry Evans and Rob Lui. Before that Prince and M. Bowen. There is plenty of talent in the local area. The trick will be to identify it and not let it go south. Missing Billy Slater, Hodges, Thaiday, Guerra, Holmes, Nene Mcdonald, Nate Myles and now Ponga has always been disappointing.

They never talk about the other 4 or 5 players that are also usually playing rep with Thurston. It's all because JT is missing when they get beat around SOO time.

How many of those games with no JT have also been without other origin players though?

Rakshop, Michael Parker-Walsh has said he won't ever likely play in the NRL as he doesn't believe that is whats best for him mentally. With regards to Ghietti, he's already 27 so would be a mature aged rookie (ala Cody Walker) but he hasn't exacty lit any fires demanding to be selected. With regarsd to our young halves we do have Bambling and Laybutt, but I am unsure how those 2 have gone this year in QCup. We may have a couple of tough seaons coming up, but ultimately we are invested in local product and will see the benefit.

Aside from our season ending injuries we should have everyone back on deck by Round 13. In the 6 rounds before that we face: Dragons, Knights, Eels, Bulldogs, Sharks and a bye. If we can leave this period with a 2-3 from 5 win loss record we should be fine for to make the 8. That would leave us at 6W-5L or 7W-4L and we would still be in a good position. Need the injuries to stay calm however.

You say that " The team were exposed against the Tigers with Thurston Off the field" .......please, he limped off with the 3 minutes to go and a Tigers ball. The damage was done way before the last 3 minutes, for which they would have had maybe one possession. I will grant that the Cowboys have scored plenty at the death of games to pull off miracle wins, but when we talk about exposure against the bottom side (By a long way) we are talking about the 77 minutes that had seem them on the wrong side of a dogfight. They played a team that averaged 30 pints a game against until that night and could only put about half of that on them. This with the worlds best 7 and the Qld 6 and a decent balance in the backline and a forward pack being talked up by the media, says to me that it wasn't Thurstons absence in the nano second he was out of the game, but the attitude of both sides. I still think they have plenty of upside. Their forward pack is reasonable in terms of age. Scott is ageing and his game was leveling if not going South anyway. It is obvious when the worlds best player and traffic cop of the team retires, they are going to struggle for awhile, but NQ is a great breeding ground for players. It would be hard for the Cows to attract anyone of the good current halves to the club because they have such high profile players in front of them. Good halves don't want to play QCUP and step up for Origin and injury. They want to be in the team. Thats the Cowboys biggest problem.

In the short term, Cowboys are not in a good place. You can’t replace Scott, Hannant, Winterstein, Granville, Coote, O’Neil, Thurston, Chudliegh, Fensom and expect to win games. Period. It just doesn’t happen. I mentioned yesterday in a post that I was prepared to write off 2017 once Matt Scott got injured, simply because we didn’t have the depth to cover him. I stand by that statement. In the long term however, the future looks much brighter, IF (and this is a big IF) we can find a set of halves to replace Thurston and Morgan. I say both because the more I see of Morgan the more I don’t believe is a 5/8. He plays more of Darius Boyd type role in attack, and I suspect Thurston makes him look allot better as his halves partner. Once Thurston retires, I suspect Morgan will slowly make his way a little wider into the centres has he loses his raw speed. That means the Cowboys will be looking for two halves. Ash Taylor has been mooted – and would be an unbelievable gain if they could pick him up. But I am not sold on Ghetti or Parker – I just don’t think they are long term replacements. I suspect the Cowboys will rely on the open market to find their new halves pairing. Apart from the halves, the stock of younger players that are currently coming through the ranks is promising. C.Hess was always going to be something special, any Cowboys fan knew that 3 years ago, I really rate Sam Hoare (injuries pending). The jury is still out on Kafusi, although he does remind me of a young James Tamoau. If he can get the rubbish out of his game like giving away the stupid penalty the bad mistake at the wrong time of the game, I think he has potential. Gideon Moseby is a young Uate and Javid Bowen has matured over the past 12 months (he copped allot of flak for the two mistakes and the fact that Idris brushed him off against the Tigers. But his defence has been very tight, he looks dangerous when he gets the ball, and has been eating up the meters coming out from his own line. I actually think he has been one of the Cowboys best players so far this season.¬) Linnet and Winterstein will be shown the door after their contracts expire, Bolton, Scott, Thurston and Cooper will retire in the next two years. As a Cowboys fan, throw in JT13, Granville, Lowe, Chudleigh and Coote, and picking up McLean next year, I think this a pretty good starting point for a rebuild.

The majority of 'Mexicans' have a deep respect for what Paul Green and what his team have accomplished. There is goodwill without reservation. Let's face it, The Cowboys are in for a rough ride and that 29% success rate in the absence of JT is alarming. A key player injury plague seems to have hit Queensland. I don't find that something to cheer about. It robs us of viewing the best in action.

As long as the Cowboys keep bringing through the local talent they will be fine. In the early years they spent up big buying old southerns who came for the cash and fishing. People forget the club went within a whisker of playing in the 2004 GF before JT arrived. They also beat the 2004 Premiers the Bulldogs in the Semi Finals. It was a team full of local boys that had come through the system and some who had returned to the North. JT was a good signing because he was a good young Queenslander looking for an opportunity. As we are seeing at the moment M. Scott loss is affecting the team and JT is struggling. The Cowboys are not a one man team like the southern media like to think.

Oh Matt Jones, do you also enjoy pulling the wings off flys? The Cows BELONG where ever they end up. JT is an irreplaceable member of the team but Cronulla don't have a. JT and Souths didn't have a JT when they won the comp. The Cows will be fine. Green is a very good coach and we have the bones of a decent side. Some new blood and the North will rise again.

i hope you cowboys fans enjoyed your 4 years in the sun. back to where you belong (down the bottom of the table)