Even though he hasn’t been named in the Toyota Cowboys’ 18-man squad for the round 22 clash with Wests Tigers, James Tamou remains a chance of playing at 1300SMILES Stadium on Saturday night.
The front-rower took part in skills training this morning after being withdrawn from last weekend’s clash with the Gold Coast Titans due to continuing problems related to a neck injury.
Coach Paul Green today named Ashton Sims in the Cowboys’ starting front-row in Tamou’s usual No.10 jersey but will keep a close watch on the Test and Origin representative’s progress in training.
“He’s still in doubt (for Saturday) so I can either name him (today) and drop him out or I can not name him and bring him in,” Green said of his decision not to include Tamou on the Tuesday team list.
“At this stage, he’s still a chance to play.
“We’ll just prepare as if he’s not playing and if he does play…it’s a bonus for us.
“He got through most of that session. We’ve just got to be careful with his contact at this stage of the week. We don’t want to stir it up again.
“It’s one of those things where it’s very hard for the medical staff to say definitively how long it’s going to take.
“He’s been through it before so we’re hopeful about this week but it might be next week.”
Green said he wasn’t sure whether Tamou would start or come off the interchange bench if he is a late inclusion.
The Cowboys have another two training sessions to complete before attempting to make it four wins in a row when they take on the Tigers, who are coming off a Monday night loss to Melbourne.
