Coach Aaron Payne has made a late change to his North Queensland Toyota Cowboys NYC team heading into today’s Round 22 clash against the Melbourne Storm.
Backup hooker Kyle Paterson has been ruled out due to illness, with Sam Murphy coming into the side, where he will join Jack Glossop, Jayden Stephens and Jack Lote on the four-man interchange bench.
Payne will be looking for another strong showing from his team following their 34-30 win over defending premiers the Sydney Roosters last start.
The young Cowboys led comfortably before a late blitz by the Roosters made the contest a tight one at the end.
Today’s game sees the 12th-placed Storm (eight wins, 11 losses) travel to the fourth-placed Cowboys (11 wins, eight losses), with victory all but guaranteeing the hosts a berth in the 2017 finals.
The game at 1300SMILES Stadium kicks off at 5.30pm.
NYC COWBOYS: 1. Kalyn Ponga, 2. Michael Carroll, 3. Enari Tuala, 4. Kurt Wiltshire, 5. Murray Taulagi, 6. Mitch Dunn (c), 7. Jake Clifford, 8. Kaleb Fuimaono, 9. Calum Gahan, 10. Connor Luhan, 11. Cody Maughan, 12. Ryan Lloyd, 13. Corey Horsburgh. Interchange: 15. Jack Glossop, 16. Jayden Stephens, 17. Jack Lote, 21. Sam Murphy.
