NORTH QUEENSLAND TOYOTA COWBOYS v SOUTH SYDNEY RABBITOHS
Round 6, 2015 NRL Telstra Premiership
7pm, Monday 13 April, ANZ Stadium
Tickets: ticketek.com.au
Live updates: twitter.com/nthqldcowboys
Referees: Adam Devcich, Allan Shortall
Touch judges: Russell Turner, Jeff Younis
Video referees: Steve Clark, Steve Folkes
Broadcast: Fox Sports 1, 4TOFM, NRL Digital Pass
Times: Gates open 4.40pm, NYC Cowboys v Rabbitohs 4.45pm
TEAMS
Cowboys: 1. Lachlan Coote 2. Matthew Wright 3. Tautau Moga 4. Kane Linnett 5. Antonio Winterstein 6. Michael Morgan 7. Johnathan Thurston (c) 8. Matt Scott (c) 9. Jake Granville 10. James Tamou 11. Gavin Cooper 12. Ethan Lowe 13. Jason Taumalolo. Interchange: 14. Rory Kostjasyn 15. John Asiata 16. Scott Bolton 17. Ben Hannant 18. Glenn Hall.
Rabbitohs: 1. Greg Inglis (c) 2. Alex Johnston 3. Daryl Millard 4. Bryson Goodwin 5. Joel Reddy 6. John Sutton 7. Luke Keary 8. George Burgess 9. Issac Luke 10. Dave Tyrell 11. Glenn Stewart 12. Chris McQueen 13. Jason Clark. Interchange: 14. Ben Lowe 15. Chris Grevsmuhl 16. Tim Grant 17. Thomas Burgess 18. Cameron McInnes 19. Nathan Brown.
CASUALTY WARD
Cowboys: None
Rabbitohs: Adam Reynolds (knee), Kyle Turner (neck), Dylan Walker (hand)
MATCH FACTS
- Johnathan Thurston will play his 220th game for the Cowboys on Monday night, putting him second on the all-time list behind Matt Bowen on 270.
- In the past two rounds Jason Taumalolo has crossed the 200 metres-plus threshold.
- Last time the two teams met was round 24, 2014 at ANZ Stadium – the Cowboys won 22-10. Kyle Feldt scored two, Antonio Winterstein and Jason Taumalolo also crossed.
MATCH UPS – Gavin Cooper v Glenn Stewart
While these two may not have a major hand in the outcome, what they do certainly is important to how both teams fare. Gavin Cooper is proven as a great clean up man and does everything right as well as being a workhorse in defence. As one of the more senior players his experience is invaluable when it gets into the nitty-gritty.
Meanwhile Stewart, who has just come to the Rabbitohs this season from Manly, adds that extra dimension in attack on the right side. He is incredibly dangerous when running the ball close to the line. The second-rower also isn’t afraid to get in and do the work in defence, racking up some big totals in tackles made.
FINAL WORD
Cowboys coach Paul Green: “Any team that loses their key playmaker will find it a big loss. I think we can defend better and that constantly trying to be better is what the season is all about. For us it’s about continually working to be better."
Rabbitohs coach Michael Maguire: “They have the likes of Scott, Tamou and many more. But they’ve also got great halves like Johnathan Thurston, and we all know what he’s capable of doing. These sorts of battles is why you play the game – two big forward packs and quality edges.”
