Round 23 vs. North Queensland Cowboys Discussion

[Big Pete]

North Queensland Cowboys vs. Brisbane Broncos
Queensland Country Bank Stadium, Saturday 5 August 2023
Kick Off: 3:00pm

1. Scott Drinkwater 2. Semi Valemei 3. Valentine Holmes 4. Peta Hiku 5. Murray Taulagi 6. Tom Dearden 7. Chad Townsend 8. Jordan McLean 9. Reece Robson 10. Jason Taumalolo 11. Luciano Leilua 12. Coen Hess 13. Reuben Cotter

14. Jake Granville 15. Griffin Neame 16. Heilum Luki 17. Jamayne Taunoa-Brown

18. Sam McIntyre 19. Kyle Feldt 20. Riley Price 21. Brendan Elliot 22. Jack Gosiewski

1. Reece Walsh 2. Jesse Arthars 3. Kotoni Staggs 4. Herbie Farnworth 5. Selwyn Cobbo 6. Ezra Mam 7. Adam Reynolds 8. Thomas Flegler 9. Billy Walters 10. Payne Haas 11. Kurt Capewell 12. Brendan Piakura 13. Patrick Carrigan

14. Tyson Smoothy 15. Corey Jensen 16. Kobe Hetherington 17. Keenan Palasia

18. Deine Mariner 19. Xavier Willison 20. Jordan Riki 21. Jock Madden 22. Tristan Sailor​

 

[Big Pete]

It's strange that a season defining game for both clubs will be held at 3:00pm.

Despite the result last week, the Cowboys are one of the form teams of the competition and will have a big point to prove when they take on the Brisbane Broncos.

The Broncos themselves welcome back Brendan Piakura who has missed the past couple of weeks with a virus. He'll be joined by Kobe Hetherington after Kobe sustained a knock that kept his time on the field limited against the Roosters.

Interestingly Jordan Riki has been named as a reserve after sustaining a serious foot injury against the Gold Coast about a month or so ago. The word is that he'll be back for the Eels clash, but that's a good sign for the Broncos that he is in the frame for this week.

Brisbane have all but guaranteed their spot in the 2023 finals, it's just a matter of whether they're contenders. To get there they'll need to finish Top 4 and winning games like this will go a long way. I'm expecting a much improved Cowboys outfit, can the Broncos beat this team on its day?

 

[Big Pete]

The loss of Adam Reynolds changes the complexion of the game. It makes it difficult to get a read on the Broncos - that's now three big clashes where they've lost him either before or during the contest.

It does seem like Kevie is picking his battles here, choosing not to risk Reynolds with a view towards the finals. I wonder if the Cowboys beat the Titans whether Kevie would have put more stock into this and viewed the win as critical towards morale?

It certainly makes life difficult. Madden will come in and he'll be looking to improve on his two starts. Kobe has also been rested with Willison returning to the bench.

 

[Showtime]

Pretty impressive win considering Reynolds was out. We probably left at least 18/24 points out there. I thought Madden played quite well steering the side around which was an improvement on his previous games.

Haas, Carrigan and Piakura were immense. Mams defence was impressive, he was folding some of their bigger blokes. Palasia was impressive off the bench

Fleglers brain explosions might cause us some grief during the finals.