The North Queensland Toyota Cowboys will take an unchanged team from the one named last Tuesday into tonight’s round 13 NRL clash against the Parramatta Eels in Sydney.
The team capped off final preparations for the match at their hotel this afternoon and will run on at Pirtek Stadium tonight 1 through 17, with Rory Kostjasyn travelling as 18th man.
Paul Green’s men had a short team walk this morning after arriving in Sydney yesterday afternoon.
With Melbourne’s win over Penrith on Saturday night, the Cowboys are fourth on the NRL ladder with a nine-win, three-loss record which includes a club-record nine consecutive victories dating back to a round 4 golden-point victory over the Storm.
Up to four Cowboys players – Johnathan Thurston, Matt Scott, Michael Morgan (all Queensland) and James Tamou (New South Wales) – are expected to be named in their respective State of Origin squads tomorrow.
The selected rep players will then head into team camps in preparation for the second match of the series at the MCG on Wednesday 17 June.
The Cowboys will have the bye in round 14, with the team’s second allocated bye coming in round 18.
Tonight’s NRL match kicks off at 7pm.
Cowboys: 1. Lachlan Coote 2. Matthew Wright 3. Justin O’Neill 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. Ray Thompson 15. John Asiata 16. Ben Hannant 17. Sam Hoare.
