Robbie Farah’s 300th game celebrations get a hometown encore on Thursday night as Wests Tigers host North Queensland at Leichhardt Oval.
It’s an interesting match-up between 11th and 13th. If the Cowboys weren’t already too far behind the finals chasing pack, a loss to Michael Maguire’s men guarantees a second straight bottom eight finish since making the grand final in 2017.
The Tigers’ stirring 28-26 win over Newcastle last Friday kept them alive on 18 points, one behind eighth-placed Brisbane and two behind seventh placed Penrith. It was a much needed victory which broke a run of three straight losses.
Wests’ 66-point deficit is the worst of the finals contenders, so nothing less than victory will do from here on in if they want to extend their season.
North Queensland dropped a 14-4 lead at Cronulla to go down 16-14, all but ending their chances of making eighth place. It was a hard luck loss but still a loss, their fifth in six starts. Two missed conversions from rookie halfback Jake Clifford proved critical in the end.
Last time these teams met, Wests took a golden point win 27-26 off the boot of Benji Marshall. They’d needed to fight back and got out of jail after blowing an 18-0 lead up in Townsville. It’s 6-4 Wests’ way in the last ten match-ups, including five of the last six.
There’s a much needed boost for the Cowboys with five-eighth Michael Morgan cleared to play after three weeks off recovering from the savage concussion he copped in the State of Origin decider. With Morgan back, the athletic inspiration for all husky gentlemen John Asiata will come off the bench.
Michael Morgan. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)
Winger Kyle Feldt has also come through concussion protocols and will take his place the side.
For Wests, Maguire has decided to stick to a winning formula with an unchanged side. Josh Reynolds was cut from the squad on Wednesday night.
There could (and maybe should) be at least one late out for the Tigers. Forward Michael Chee-Kam has been named in the squad less than one week after his head was introduced to Kalyn Ponga’s shoulder last Friday.
If Chee-Kam is cleared and good to go it will be amazing, but with concussion protocols in play don’t be surprised if there’s a late addition to the bench. Head knocks are not to be trifled with, as the Cowboys have shown by keeping Morgan out for an extended period.
Both teams have decent forward packs who make good metres, helped by hookers who like to get on their bike and get play moving as fast as they can. Number nines Jake Granville (78) and Robbie Farah (74) sit fourth and fifth for dummy half runs respectively.
A more concerning statistic is that both teams are in the bottom three for conversion accuracy, the Cowboys on 70 per cent accuracy and the Tigers 67 per cent. Jake Clifford has had to take over for North Queensland with Jordan Kahu injured, but Kahu was hardly setting the goalkicking world on fire to begin with.
For Wests, their problems front of goal sit squarely on the toe of kicker Ersan Marsters, who has spent 2019 missing kicks at an alarming yet consistent rate. His wayward boot has cost the Tigers badly on more than two occasions. It’s these small but important things that contribute to playing finals or missing out.
Tigers fullback Corey Thompson is on track for career high numbers for tries, line breaks and run metres. Thompson has scored nine times and has been a handful for any opposition.
Prediction
On paper, this is a pretty good match-up across the park. Victory or defeat may come down to a game changing moment from Jason Taumalolo, Benji Marshall, Thompson or Morgan.
Don’t expect an offensive explosion – these teams average a combined five tries per game and there’s absolutely nothing in their recent form lines that suggests they’ll blow that out tonight.
Hopefully Tigers fans can set aside the Thursday night fixturing inconvenience and turn out in good numbers to join the (continued) celebrations for their favourite son Robbie Farah.
Tigers by 6.
Teams
Tigers
1. Corey Thompson, 2. Paul Momirovski, 3. Moses Mbye, 4. Esan Marsters, 5. David Nofoaluma, 6. Benji Marshall, 7. Luke Brooks, 8. Josh Aloiai, 9. Robbie Farah, 10. Oliver Clark, 11. Luke Garner, 12. Michael Chee-Kam, 13. Ryan Matterson
Bench/Reserves: 14. Matthew Eisenhuth, 15. Thomas Mikaele, 16. Alex Twal, 17. Chris Lawrence, 19. Tommy Talau, 20. Chris McQueen
Cowboys
1. Scott Drinkwater, 2. Kyle Feldt, 3. Coen Hess, 4. Tom Opcacic, 5. Murray Taualgi, 6. Michael Morgan, 7. Jake Clifford, 8. Josh McGuire, 9. Jake Granville, 10. Jordan McLean, 11. Gavin Cooper, 12. Shane Wright, 13. Jason Taumalolo
Bench/Reserves: 14. John Asiata, 15. Matthew Scott, 16. Scott Bolton, 17. Francis Molo, 19. Tom Gilbert, 20. Gideon Gela-Mosby
Noosa Duck
Roar Rookie
well you got that right , I did tip the Tigers and I do not know why Green is babbling about it, I thought it was a try but gee Paul your lot were never in it from the get go.....did you bother to look a the score ...????
Albo
Roar Rookie
Seems the Cowboys have won just the once there in 2004. Tigers have won all other 9 matches played at Leichhardt.
Stuart McLennan
Expert
I believe they have never won at Leichhardt
AJ Mithen
Expert
I’m not really sure what you’re after here Peter. I’ve stated a fact of the match and haven’t at all said it cost them the game (I actually thought the cowboys played pretty well against the Sharks). In weeks previous I’ve also talked about Shaun Johnson and Esan Marsters and their missed kicks being critical too. Happy for you to have a crack at me, but I’m not really sure we’re on the same track here.
Rob
Guest
I have warmed to Hess being in the centres with the options available. I can’t see why he can’t try and do a Meninga or Close impersonation. I’d like to have had Cotter, Asiata, Molo, GGM, instead on the bench against a smaller quicker Tigers out fit.
Dogs Boddy
Roar Rookie
Haha Didn’t they score just next to the posts and still miss?? You’re right of course, how could you not be. He should have listed absolutely every bad move the Cowboys made that night so you can sleep soundly knowing not one single player is being made a scapegoat of. You listening AJ, you heartless bugger.
Noosa Duck
Roar Rookie
My problem is the lack of forward strength with the Tigers, they actually punch above their weight with the pack they have. If you could just sprinkle magical fairy dust on Sirro & Blocker and bring them back for a few games or two really good Forwards they would be a pretty good team with the rest of the speed & cunning they have in that team.
Peter
Guest
Rob, thanks. The kid is having a bad patch with his goal kicking. My beef is about singling this out for mention as if it is the ONLY cause of these losses for the Cowboys. Clearly this is not true. And yes, I absolutely believe that every team should hav3 at least two reasonable goal-kicking options.
Noosa Duck
Roar Rookie
JT never won at Leichhardt
Peter
Guest
AJ, belated thank you for your greetings - I’ve been elsewhere, sorry. But I’d still like an answer, which it seems won’t happen. Oh well. Enjoy the game.
Peter
Guest
And getting around to score under the posts, or even, God forbid, one of the other 16 members of the team scoring another try, would have won the match. That doesn’t seem to be rocket science either, maaate. And “proved critical in the end” In my view translates to “cost them the game.” If that was not the intention, why mention it without also mentioning dropped ball, forward passes, poor decision-making, etcetera etcetera.
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
Bowen reminds me of a player who came to Manly at the same time as Matai. It was Ashley Alberts who always looked a half chance of making a break but hardly ever did.
Rob
Guest
I think the Cowboys won in 2017? Albo, JT was horrible against the Tigers most of his career even when they weren’t going well and the Cowboys were. I would be willing to bet the Cowboys had a better chance of beating the Tigers without Thurston at times.
Rob
Guest
Peter, young Jake Clifford has been below standard not only with the goal kicking but his goal kicking in general. He’s an 80% plus goal kicker. He kicks 75% against the Rooster they win, he kicks 33% over the next 2 games and they lose both. The Cowboys could and should have secured more wins if not for an abundance of poor kicking errors. I never worried about the Cowboys losing JT’s attack or defence. But I certainly can’t believe how pathetic our kicking game could be. Isn’t Green a former 7? In saying that having Morgan back as a secondary kicking option will be a huge plus as even JT struggled without Morgan’s input.
TJ
Guest
Think we might get a contender for worst game of the year.
Douglas Quinlan
Guest
Aotearoa chaingang triple M roao
Albo
Roar Rookie
Jimmy, I can't remember the last time the Cowboys won at Leichhardt ? It has long been a graveyard for them, where even JT turned in some shockers over the years.
jimmmy
Roar Rookie
I really hope Morgs is fully recovered . I would be happy to see him rested for a few more weeks but I guess they think he is OK. Cows should win the battle up front but we still look pretty weak in the centres. Still no Bowen gives us a chance here. Can Morgs and Clifford please share the kicking duties . It does my head in when only one of them gets the job. Can our forwards please be given a license to offload more than twice a game. Can someone, anyone, follow JT 13 when he runs the footy and demand he give it to them. We have tried our hearts out he last few weeks and if we play that way again, we win.
Albo
Roar Rookie
The poor goalkicking options of both these teams reflects on their overall team performances in 2019. I find it hard to believe, that in an NRL team there are not two or three players who cannot kick goals accurately on a regular basis. Surely this must be a priority to convert your goal attempts? As a schoolboy playing in my school’s first’s team, I practised long and hard and could kick goals from halfway and either sideline. But in competition matches I couldn’t even get a kick. I was rated 4th string kicker in my team. Where are all the good goalkickers today in the NRL ? You can generally count on Cleary, Maloney, Reynolds, Smith, Croker and I guess more recently Mitchell & Moses to get the job done, but most other regulars you wouldn’t want to be betting your last $10 on. And we have seen how badly that has impacted results for especially Cronulla, along with Cowboys & Warriors in recent weeks.
steveng
Roar Rookie
The Cows will win this surly?? They have come that close in their last 2 games that I feel for the Cows an Green! Morgan's return will make the difference, watch out Tigers and Madge, dont blow up Madge lol