The North Queensland Toyota Cowboys travel to Melbourne to face the Storm at AAMI Park on Friday evening.
1. BACK DOWN SOUTH
The Cowboys have remarkably not played in Melbourne since the final Round of the 2019 season. The Cowboys have won three straight games against the Storm, the most recent a 38-30 triumph in North Queensland in Round 26 last season. The Cowboys have won two of their eight appearances at AAMI Park, with the most recent the 32-12 Preliminary Final victory in 2015.
2. ROLLING ON
Todd Payten has named an unchanged 17 from last weekend’s triumph over the Wests Tigers. Murray Taulagi and Jason Taumalolo remain on the sidelines with respective calf injuries, but are expected to return in the coming weeks.
3. TRAVEL TIME
After a stretch of home games, Friday night signals the start of a torrid month of travel for the Cowboys, with three of the next four games coming on the road, including meetings with the Roosters and Titans in Rounds 16 and 17 following next weekend’s home clash with the Titans.
4. STATS UPDATE
Scott Drinkwater sits third in the competition for try assists with 12, trailing only Cameron Munster and Nicho Hynes. He also ranks third in line-break assists with 11, four behind teammate Tom Dearden who sits second with 15. Reece Robson’s 485 tackles are fourth most in the NRL.
