2018 was a year of disappointment for Cowboys fans, but the season began with much anticipation and excitement.
The team had just contested a grand final. Co-captains Matt Scott and Johnathan Thurston were returning from extended injuries. The talismanic Thurston would partner Michael Morgan in the halves to form a Kangaroos combination.
Recruit Jordan MacLean was joining a formidable pack including Tongan test star Jason Taumalolo and Origin backrowers Gavin Cooper and Coen Hess. Every league expert and journalist predicted the team to finish in the top four and once again, battle for the premiership trophy on the last day of September.
Yet, things did not pan out this way. By the middle of the season, the Cowboy’s finals hopes were dashed. It took a drubbing of the Parramatta Eels in the penultimate round of the season, in Thurston’s final home game, to stave off the undesirable honour of ‘winning’ the wooden spoon.
Things started off well. Kyle Feldt grabbed a hat-trick, including a try on the buzzer, to down the Melbourne Storm in the pre-season testimonial match at Suncorp stadium. In Round 1 the Cowboys defeated the Sharks in an expectedly rusty performance.
Then the famous ‘goal post’ try-saving tackle occurred in Brisbane during Round 2. Several members of the club, including Morgan and head coach Paul Green, have cheekily referred to this moment as the point their campaign was derailed.
The team went on to lose four more games in succession. I remember watching the Panthers match played at 1300 Smiles stadium on Holy Thursday. The chocolate soldiers got out to a 16-0 lead on the back of hard running, poor defence and some brilliance from James Maloney.
It was then I thought we would be in for a long season. This was because, in previous seasons, I would back the boys to run down such a deficit. But I turned the television off at half time.
When I ventured onto the patio, swatting away moths and cracking a XXXX, one of my friends asked me:
“Why did you stop watching?”
I replied that the team wasn’t playing well enough to claw back such a lead. The Panthers went on to win the game 33-14.
Lots of people, including myself, wondered what the cause of the Cowboys’ fall from grace was. Some pointed to the lack of speed in the outside backs. Forwards getting injured at unfortunate times.
A loss of form to key players. Thurston had gone on a year too long. To be honest, it was probably a contribution of all these factors.
A few critics noted Paul Green’s inability, or unwillingness, to alter the structure of the team. The line “they’re running the same plays from 2015” got thrown around a lot.
The Cowboys had a terrible 2018. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)
Melbourne use the same plays, year in year out. And they still yield points. Opposition teams know what to expect when they suit up against Cameron Smith and Billy Slater. Yet, most of the time opposition teams are unable to stop them.
This is because the Storm execute their plays with speed and precision. Speed creates doubt in opposition defensive lines, and you only need one person to make a mistake for an opportunity to pop up somewhere.
During 2018, the problem wasn’t that the Cowboys were running the same plays, but they were running them slowly. It’s no coincidence that during the final few rounds of the season, when the Cowboys started shifting the ball quickly, that they looked so much more threatening.
Compare the Round 24 game against the Eels, against the Round 13 match against the Sea Eagles. In the Round 24 game, the Cowboys hit the edges early and often when leaving the “red zone”. There were always players in support around the ball.
Speedsters Ben Hampton and Gideon Gela-Mosby came in looking for opportunities and capitalised on a few.
In the Round 13 game the Cowboys ran the same plays, but slowly. Thing looked clunky, passes were mistimed.
Perhaps the team lacked energy. Either way, it’s not the coach who instructs the players to execute the plays slowly.
So this begs the question, how does the team return to executing them quickly with regularity? The answer is: bust out the chequebook.
The Cowboys board and management must be commended on many tough decisions they have made over the past several years. At the end of 2010, the club ordered a cleanout, saying goodbye to loyal servants Steve Southern and Carl Webb, amongst others.
Brought in were the likes of Tariq and Ashton Sims, Brent Tate, Dallas Johnson, Gavin Cooper, Glenn Hall and Antonio Winterstein. Club hero Matthew Bowen was sadly not re-signed 2013 to make way for Lachlan Coote. A few of these players won a premiership with the club in 2015. All of them succeeded in changing the culture of the team.
Lachlan Coote during his time with the Cowboys. (AAP Image/Paul Miller)
The Cowboys transformed from battlers to finals regulars in the space of a few seasons, culminating in the grand final victory. The point being, in recent times the management have made tough, but correct decisions necessary to keep the team successful on and off the field. The same is occurring over this off-season.
Several players have been released from the squad. Tom Opacic, Nene MacDonald, Dan Russell, Kurt Baptiste and Ben Barba have signed up. All these men, especially MacDonald and Barba, are crucial additions to the roster.
The Cowboys now possess genuine strike and attacking weapons on both flanks. MacDonald is like Corey Oates, except he’s about $400,000 less expensive. He and Feldt will get their sets off to a good start.
Playing like extra forwards, they’ll truck the pill into the line, make some yardage post contact, get to the grass and produce a quick play the ball. This will generate some ruck speed for the next set.
Granville can then either scoot or throw a short ball to Matt Scott. Once Scott has a run, MacLean goes in. Then Taumalolo. Then Hess.
At this point Granville will have one of three players to find the best option to finish the set (Morgan, Clifford or Barba). Any one of them would be more than capable of putting the cherry on the last tackle option. I can see it now.
Providing the starting props have more luck with injuries next season, as depth isn’t great in this department, making territory shouldn’t be as much of an issue. With younger players in the backline and an electric Ben Barba chiming in, there is cause to be optimistic about 2019.
While the team will be inconsistent with several new faces in the spine, when things gel, the Cowboys will be a potent attacking threat. I am eagerly awaiting the beginning of 2019.
2019 Cowboys best side
1. Ben Barba
2. Kyle Feldt
3. Justin O’Neil/Enari Tuala/Ben Hampton
4. Tom Opacic
5. Nene MacDonald
6. Jake Clifford (G.K.)
7. Michael Morgan
8. Matthew Scott (C)
9. Jake Granville
10. Jordan MacLean
11. Gavin Cooper
12. Coen Hess
13. Jason Taumalolo
14. Kurt Baptiste
15. Scott Bolton
16. Corey Jensen
17. Ethan Lowe
Muzz
Guest
Next season will be interesting for the Cows. Hard to predict. Who knows where they will finish!
Larry1950
Guest
Interesting perspective from a fan, obviously hoping it turns out. I reckon if they go with O'neill & Opacic in the centres it won't matter much how good the wingers are, both centres lack pace & quick hands so Tuala is a better option. That's still the Cowboys glaring weakness, along with their use of JT2 as a middle battering ram instead of him hitting the edges where there are generally weaker defenders (e.g. Milford, Cronk & other halves) who he could terrorise and make opposition forwards adjust outwards. Other than adding Baptiste as backup hooker, their forwards roster looks the same so you'd expect one or two of their young bucks to get the odd run. Hoping for Morgan to come back as a dominant playmaker for Qld's sake.
Rob
Guest
BA. Thurston is not even in the TB ball park as Morgan running the ball. I'll give you the Thurston dummy was special but it was most successful against tired forwards or retreating defenders when he had weapons like Lockyer, Hodges, Inglis, Slater, Bowen, Morgan and Taumalolo to dummy too. JT dominated the ball so much playing for the Cowboys in the attacking 20m. He also played flat and took the ball to the line so much it stands to reason he leads those stats. JT also limited the time and space for those outside. I can only recall JT kicking a solitary 40/20 such was his limitation with boot in general play. Morgan has kicked more 40/20 in 1 season than JT in his career. The strength of Morgans all round kicking is one of the main reasons they made the 2017 GF. Clifford at 20 has arguably a better kicking and passing game than Morgan. They both possess the ability to ball play left and right. JT was predominantly limited to playing right to left. Thurston was regularly shut down in finals football such was the predictability of his attack. Morgan and Clifford are both stronger 1 on 1 defenders than JT which was a major problem during his career.
Rob
Guest
Asiata and O’niel will be in the team. Scott was coming off a knee reconstruction last year so I suspect he’ll be better this season. I would love to see GGM coming off the bench at certain times. Bolton wouldn’t be required unless injury comes into play. Molo looks more of an impact player than Bolts morning forward IMO.
Rob
Guest
Yep. Even someone with half a football brain could see that Ponga is a special talent.
Elijah Weightman
Roar Rookie
That's true Adam, it really is a fine line. I think we can both agree that the coach left the changes too late last year. If things start poorly this season, there will be no reason to dawdle. Or like you wrote in your piece, Green will be under serious pressure.
Elijah Weightman
Roar Rookie
Maybe left of field for Green, but we'll see. I can see the merit to it.
Elijah Weightman
Roar Rookie
That's a good point Speep. The players definitely looked sluggish, perhaps this was due to a large workload over the previous two years. I wouldn't like to hear it used as an excuse but mental and physical fatigue do take a toll, that's why I like the Cowboys recruiting a high performance manager from the Freemantle Dockers.
Elijah Weightman
Roar Rookie
I am looking forward to it as well Big J. I think the storm will sink a bit, probably finish between 5-6th, although with Smith (both Cam and Brandon) I can still see them making the top 4.
Elijah Weightman
Roar Rookie
I have to appreciate the production Adam and clearly Lowe's is lacking. I could go either way on his selection but agree, based on those numbers, the team will lose nothing by picking Wright or Dunn.
Speep
Guest
I haven’t worked out the numbers exactly, but I think a contributing factor of their poor 2018 could be down to the fact the cowboys played probably the most games from 2015-2017 than just about all other clubs. 2 GFs and 1 prelim final.. They never had a week off in finals either while teams like Brisbane and storm did, half the players played with injuries through the 2017 finals. Then the WC happened and a few cowboys played n that. I just think they weren’t at their usual pace due to never fully recovering with a proper of off season. Poor selection was also a factor and greens inability to adapt their playing style contributed to them being unable to keep up with other teams, but everyone over looks the fact they had probably just didn’t have the fitness built up from the pre season. This years missing out on the finals is probably a godsend for them for 2019 and I’m highly doubting they’ll miss the finals next year. Hopefully...
Superspud
Roar Rookie
Ponga was better than Coote in 2017 and anyone with an eye for talent could see that he was more than just a kid with potential.
Adz Sportz
Roar Guru
Here's my take on the Cowboys attacking structures. In 2016 and 2017, the Cowboys lead the comp in set completions, because they played a low risk style of football, and for that reason, I think they were close to last in 'tries scored from their own half' for the past few years. They relied heavily on one-out hitups coming out of their own end and dominating the middle-third. This playing style suited the likes of Linnett and Winterstein, who lacked speed but were powerful ball runners and their contribution to the teams go forward (backing up the forwards) was invaluable. Their high completions rates also resulted in a higher 'penalties received' rate then most other clubs and they were able to capitalize, with most 'tries scored from inside the oppositions 20' than all other clubs during those seasons. Add Thurston's impeccable kicking game and the Cowboys game plan was simple, dominate the middle third, dominate field position and dominate possession. That pressure was simply too much for most opposition teams and that's why they reached a prelim (in '16) and a GF (in '17). I think their key player over this time was easily Taumalolo. In 2018, their middle-third didn't aim up on both sides of the ball. Scott went from averaging 130m per game in 2016 to an average of well under 100m for the first half of the season. Bolton, Cooper, Hess were all down on meterage by a lot in 2018 and they weren't getting great service from dummy half (Granville had an off year), therefore they couldn't achieve their game plan that worked so well in 2016-17 and their structures became too predicable. Opposition teams figured out how to combat their structures and they had no plan B. They do need a change. Not drastic changes, but perhaps subtle variations to their attacking style and more attacking options if plan A doesn't work. They have the spark and the speed at their disposal in 2019, they need to evolve and take advantage of it.
Adz Sportz
Roar Guru
I see where you're coming from but one of the biggest criticisms of Greens coaching this year is exactly that, he backed of the experience of players who did the job in the past and they failed to aim up when perhaps that youthful exuberance was needed to spark the rest of the team
Adz Sportz
Roar Guru
Ethan Lowe missed 63 tackles in 2015, missed 54 tackles in 2016 but then his missed tackle count inexplicably doubled in 2017, missing 104 tackles. 2018 he was missing almost 2 tackles per game and that was from limited game time as a bench forward. Add the error count and his numbers clearly show his fall from grace. Give Mitch Dunn and Shane Wright a chance to show what they can bring to the team
Adz Sportz
Roar Guru
I'm not sure if that's true, otherwise they would have kept Linnett. You just have to look at what the likes of Ponga and Addo-Carr bring to their clubs. IMO I would go with MacDonald (centre) and Gela-Mosby (wing) as their left edge.
Adz Sportz
Roar Guru
Barba will bring what Matty Bowen brought to the side. As long as Green doesn't stick with his usual structure of restricting his fullback to the left side in attack and allow him to pop up anywhere where he sees an opportunity (like how Matty Bowen played), I think he'll compliment the Cowboys new halves pairing nicely, more so than Holmes would to be honest.
Adz Sportz
Roar Guru
G'day Elijah, good article. Not sure how they'll use Baptiste, but he will put pressure on Granville to perform. The problem Green has had over the past 2 seasons, is he's had no backup specialist hooker so even if he wanted to drop Granville for poor form and he was out of form for a lot of 2018, he couldn't because he had no backup option as Chudleigh broke down twice with 2 ACL injuries. I support the idea that they need a genuine utility on the bench. Hampton, I think is an excellent option and as I've mentioned before, he was mismanaged and poorly used in 2018 and his confidence was shot because of it. He's more than capable to play 20 minutes at dummy half and has proven it. But lets say Ben Barba goes down 10 minutes into a game. That would require a backline reshuffle rather than a straight swap with a utility such as Hampton or Martin on the bench. Morgan goes to fullback, do you play Baptiste (a specialist hooker) in the halves? Maybe Feldt drops back to fullback. Do you play Baptiste in the outside backs? Best choice would be Morgan to shift, but the logical option would be to have Asiata on the bench who can slot straight into the halves and that's where Morgan's utility value can come into play if they use Baptiste on the bench. And let's face it. Asiata brings so much more to the team than Ethan Lowe. I'm surprised you left him out. I think Lowe will spend most of the year playing for the Pride and will only be used if players go down with injuries.
Nat
Roar Guru
It's not that left field. Like you say, it keeps the momentum after JT13 and McLean get their break.
Old mate bigJ
Roar Rookie
The boys started training up here yesterday and it will be interesting how things go. Someone said that now that Thurston is retired the cowboys will have to rely on themselves similar to the 2017 finals series and improve their form dramatically and I agree with this statement. But again it’s a new season and things will always be different and I’m looking forward to the season for 2019. The other factor is how far will the Storm sink next year???