The Cowboys will be out to record their fifth consecutive win at home this weekend when they host the Melbourne Storm.
The Cowboys travelled to Canberra in round 11 minus Johnathan Thurston, Matt Scott, Brent Tate and James Tamou who were in Origin camps, and suffered their first lost in four weeks to the Raiders 42 – 12.
The Cowboys continued their recent run of good starts by scoring first through Ethan Lowe in the eighteenth minute and a try early in the second half kept them in the hunt but as the game went on, the absence of the Origin players became more noticeable as the Cowboys searched for direction in attack.
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Each of the Origin players have been named in the starting line up to back-up from Wednesday night and returning to Townsville, where they’ve won their last four home games by margins of 13+ , should see them bounce back to their best.
STORM
From rounds 4 to 8, the Storm only managed one win and the sequence had many questioning if the Storm’s reign of dominance was starting to wane however, like all good sides do, they responded to the pressure and in the past two rounds, have recorded victories over premiership favourites, Manly and South Sydney.
The victories were built on a return to the structured play that Melbourne are renowned for and have been directed by half-back Cooper Cronk who is in good form.
Cronk, along with Slater, Smith and Hoffman, will all participate in Wednesday night’s Origin but all have been named in the starting line-up for Melbourne, along with the return of Ben Roberts at Five-eight.
Billy Slater is a prolific try-scorer and has bagged a double in each of Melbourne’s recent victories but surprisingly, has never registered a four-pointer in Townsville.
If Cowboys continue to keep him quiet, they’ll go a long way to winning this game.
HEAD TO HEAD
The Cowboys have evened the ledger slightly in the past two seasons, winning two of the four games between the two sides.
The Storm enjoy playing in Townsville and have won six of their past seven at the venue but they’ve had to work extremely hard for each of their victories this year and on more than one occasion, have left it to the last play of the game to escape with the win.
The Cowboys have shut teams out in their recent homes victories, winning by big margins and if they start well again here, Melbourne might not get the chance to produce a match-winning play.
As always, the Storm will be competitive and Wednesday night could have a significant bearing should any of the Origin players not be able to take their respective spots in this match, but if all are present and accounted for, stick with the Cowboys with JT back and at home.
TIP: COWBOYS 1 – 12.
Odds Comparison:
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| Nth Queensland Cowboys | 1.15 | 1.14 | 1.17 | 1.14 | 1.55 | 1.15 |
| Melbourne Storm | 5.75 | 5.85 | 5.25 | 5.85 | 5.75 | 5.75 |
All odds are subject to change. Odds listed are correct at the time of the latest update.
Teams:
Cowboys: Michael Morgan, Matthew Wright, Brent Tate, Kane Linnett, Antonio Winterstein, Johnathan Thurston, Ray Thompson, Matthew Scott, Rory Kostjasyn, James Tamou, Ethan Lowe, Jason Taumalolo, Scott Bolton. Interchange: Robert Lui, Glenn Hall, Ashton Sims, Joel Riethmuller, Anthony Mitchell
Storm: Billy Slater, Sisa Waqa, Will Chambers, Kurt Mann, Young Tonumaipea, Ben Roberts, Cooper Cronk, Jesse Bromwich, Cameron Smith, Bryan Norrie, Kevin Proctor, Ryan Hoffman, Ryan Hinchcliffe. Interchange: Kenneath Bromwich, Tohu Harris, Dayne Weston, George Rose, Mitch Garbutt
