The Toyota Cowboys are enjoying some different surroundings this week, basing themselves at Royal Pines Resort on the Gold Coast to finish off their 2014 NRL pre-season preparations.
The full NRL squad, minus injured fullback Lachlan Coote, is undertaking an intensive week of training less than a fortnight out from round one against the Canberra Raiders at 1300SMILES Stadium on 8 March.
After a recovery day on Monday, which included team meetings and a friendly nine-hole golf competition, following Saturday night’s pre-season trial victory against the Titans in Toowoomba, the Cowboys hit the training field for two sessions today.
They will have weights training off-site on Wednesday morning followed by two more field sessions before heading back to Townsville late on Thursday.
“It’s a really good opportunity for us to spend some good time together being in that camp-type environment,” head coach Paul Green said.
“We’re getting a fair bit of work done in preparation for round one.
“So far the camp’s been great. The boys are enjoying the change of scenery and hopefully we’ll get plenty out of this week.”
Green confirmed he had yet to settle on his final 17-man squad to face the Raiders and performances this week would play a part in who he takes into round one.
The choice of who plays fullback has been narrowed down to Michael Morgan or Zac Santo, who both spent time at the back against the Titans, while the make-up of the back-row and the interchange bench is also still in some doubt.
“There’s probably about 20 players who are in the mix at this stage,” Green said.
“We’ll see how this week pans out and that will go a long way to determining who’s going to be playing in round one.”
