Five talking points from Sydney Roosters vs North Queensland Cowboys NRL preliminary final

Linnett has moved to the right side and O'neil to the left. Linnett always carries the ball in his right arm. The thing is Morgan is a solid defender and he doesn't require the protection of Linnett and Cooper. Morgan is a bigger, stronger and faster player than JT with the ball in hand. Morgan has proven to posses a kicking game far stronger than JT. He can kick a 40/20, put up a floating torpedo from 50 out and land it inside the 10 with enough time for chasers to put pressure on the opposition. He can kick to the corners from his own half. JT can't do this. Morgan is adapt at passing and attacking both sides of the field. JT plays almost entirely right to left. Thurston has been consistently shut down by good defensive teams in big games. Whilst everyone has been impressed by the Cowboys completion rate of late, I would suggest the Cowboys are attacking with more depth. JT plays very flat and does have a habit have running at 45 degrees towards the sideline and passing at or in the defensive line. This leads to support players making errors. Morgan is touching the ball and firing the pass earlier than JT does, giving his teammate more time. I'm not going to say Thurston isn't a great player because he has proven over a long period to be a fantastic competitor and genius in the clutch, but Morgan has now taken ownership of this team and they are developing into a vastly different attacking team.

Love it Dave_S..! Great analogy.

Hi Scott, I think the whole cows back 5th contribution coming out of trouble has been underrated this final series. They always have given the forwards the opertunity for a rest and to start in good field position. If they can continue to do this next week they will be in the game up to their elbows. Thanks for your articles throughout the season, they are always of the highest standards and pleasure to read.

Cooper ran five times for 31 metres. He is showing some great leadership when he's rallying the troops but it wasn't really a warrior / workhorse performance.

As others have already mentioned, the players like Bolton, Lowe etc are all standing up and playing great footy. JT2 is a freak but the rest of the pack is backing him superbly. Good to see with Linnett too - I always had him down as a good defensive player but a liability in attack, but he is running some good lines (and holding onto the ball better). The whole team is playing out of their skins and it's fantastic to watch. I don't know who Green could drop for Matt Scott to be honest. If Scott's fit and raring to go, you pick him. But for who? All the forwards have done a phenomenal job to get them to the Grand Final, geez it would be harsh to then send them packing for the big game. I do have to make special mention of Michael Morgan though. Even after a break-out year in 2014, a starring role in their 2015 Premiership, match-winning plays at Origin level and representing his country, I'm sure there were still people out there thinking he was over-rated. "Yeah, he's OK I guess but wait til he doesn't have Thurstan there...then you'll see him slide" - insinuations he was only getting his Origin and Test jumpers ahead of players like DCE because Thurstan was his 'patron'. That sort of thing. Well this year (and this finals series in particular) we've been able to see just how good Morgan is without Thurstan. Pretty bloody good, it turns out...

No sour grapes here. Perhaps you didn't notice I am going for Cowboys next week. It might also have been a mistake by the TV directors to have as many wide shots as they did because the referees find it so difficult to rule on offside. Not many wide shots of the Roosters defence but each one behind the ref (not surprising really considering how little pressure was put on Morgan all night). Not one offside penalty all night so perhaps I am mistaken. Wow those Cowboys forwards are quick. I believe there is a vacancy in the Jamaican relay team now.

Good to see how often you noticed your own team wrestling and standing offside. Those grapes are terribly sour.

Wow Scott, I think it is astounding if not hilarious that you can label 2017 teams like the Roosters and the Broncos as inconsistent while simultaneously praising a team like the Cowboys because they happened to beat the Roosters once this year in a string of consecutive victories which is shorter than their previous string of consecutive defeats. I seriously think I am missing something if a team that finishes minor premiers three year's running, has a bad year then rebounds to second in the regular season is lampooned for not being contenders. The worst thing about this year's result and comments from self proclaimed experts such as yourself is that to be a contender next year The Roosters will be forced to adopt the typical Queensland grub tactics that we saw on display last night that continue to infiltrate and be a blight on the game since being pioneered in SOO in the 90's. Continuous offside, relentless shepherd plays and no attempt to bother disguising deliberate illegal blocking of attacking players (albeit one attempt was penalised and another backfired in the lead up to the Mitchell try. Unfortunately for the Cowboys, Melbourne (Queensland-lite) get away with these tactics even more. Paul Green is still learning though, a little bit more of Bellamy's wrestling and they may have a chance. Oh and by the way, it is hard to play a big game at half back if your team isn't making it across the advantage line. It is also hard to make it across the advantage line when you get the ball from a hit up and the defence is already in your face. Since you are so good at counting go back and count the number of times the Cowboys went back 10 metres. They were not even required to stand on the try line when the Roosters were just short. Fair enough the Roosters were not on their game but you have to remember the opposition are trying too. It annoys me when two teams can play a game that is decided by a bare margin and commentators can come away saying how wonderful one team is and how hopeless and inconsistent the other team was or even that they were never really contenders in the first place.

I only half agree Scott. The Rosters and Broncos were in the top three for most of the season. I think they were clearly the second and third best teams in the comp. the fact they held that status without ever really hitting their straps says more about the rest of the comp than them. I thought it was a fairly ordinary standard season - although that could partly be coming off the back of a horrible Bulldogs season. Cracking semi finals series though.

A bit like you.

Could have. Should have. Would have. But they didn't and The Cowboys won. They could have. They should have. They would have and they did. Game over.

Hmmmm.... Stadium Australia (ANZ) is a tricky place to play. Both sides have played Grand Finals there in the last 2 years. Slater, Cronk, Smith have played 5 GF each + a wealth of SOO games, Chambers 2 SOO and Glasby 1. For the Cowboys Morgan has played 4 origins there and Cooper 2. I am wondering in a close game like this will be, is it a factor that needs to be considered?

So what is the Scott Pride definition of contending if two of the semifinalists don't meet the threshold

I made a point of watching Lowe last night. All his kicks were under immence pressure snd he nailed it. Imagine the confidence that gives the team. Kicking asside , his work rate and positioning in defence is almost faultless. I don't think he missed a tackle. Is his contract up yet? perfect fit for the tigers.

Ah, Cowboys. You've gotta love footy!