Matt Scott is a chance to make a fairytale return in next week’s NRL grand final after North Queensland coach Paul Green refused to rule his co-captain out of selection.
The Cowboys advanced to the season decider against Melbourne after upsetting the Sydney Roosters 29-16 at Allianz Stadium on Saturday night.
Scott was omitted from the final line-up against the Roosters despite being included in a 21-man squad last week for the first time since undergoing a knee reconstruction in April.
Green now faces the challenging decision of whether to recall the Australia and Queensland star as the Cowboys chase a second premiership in three years.
Asked after the preliminary final win whether Scott would come back for the grand final, Green said: “We’ll worry about that next week.”
Pressed on how close Scott was to facing the Roosters, he said: “Tonight was a great win, so let’s just enjoy the win for what it was. We’ll talk about what happens next week, next week.”
Green was adamant in the lead-up that Scott would only return should any of his players succumb to an injury before the match.
All came through unscathed from the win, including interchange weapon Coen Hess, who overcame a niggling knee injury to carry the ball for 84 metres in a 29-minute stint.
Veteran Scott Bolton (137m, five tackle busts, 20 tackles) was immense against the Roosters alongside makeshift prop Shaun Fensom (65m, 17 tackles).
Lock Jason Taumalolo again carried the pack with a game-high 237m.
Rookie Corey Jensen, who made just 49m in 15 minutes on Saturday, is the forward most likely to make way should Green make space for Scott.
Asked a third time how a tough a call it would be to leave Scott out, Green said: “The boys that are there have done a fantastic job to put us in this position.
“As I said before, let’s just enjoy tonight for what it is.”
Fellow injured skipper Johnathan Thurston is adamant Scott would be fit to play, while Taumalolo described his potential return as “inspirational.”
He is likely to again be included in a 21-man squad when teams are named on Tuesday.
“It’d be a huge confidence boost, but at the same time someone gets to miss out. Everyone who’s taken the field the last month has been doing a great job for the team,” Taumalolo said.
“To see them miss out on potentially winning a grand final would be devastating. At the moment it’s a tough decision. I’ll leave that to Greeny.
“Everyone that’s been playing has been great, but I think it’s inspirational to see our co-captain make himself available.”
David
Guest
He sffered an injury Round that takes months to recover from. As good as he is and as much as he would bring it is not worth it for his or the clubs sake. His career could easily be over if he plays and it goes wrong because it has not fully repaired.