The presence of fit-again veteran stars Johnathan Thurston and Matt Scott triggered the return of some bad NRL habits for North Queensland, according to powerhouse Jason Taumalolo.
The Cowboys have picked up the pieces from Friday night’s heartbreaking 24-20 defeat to Brisbane, when it appeared the only thing that stopped them from notching a famous comeback victory at Suncorp Stadium was the goal post.
But after combing through the footage, Taumalolo said it was obvious what the biggest obstacle was – themselves.
Thurston (shoulder) and Scott (knee) missed almost all of last season and in their absence, North Queensland’s next tier of players stepped up and drove them to an unlikely grand final appearance.
However, with the old masters back on deck, the Cowboys fell back into their old ways and were handed a brutal “wake-up call” by the Broncos, according to Taumalolo.
“We spoke about before the season started about (how) having them two back could give a few boys a way out of a leadership kind of role,” he told reporters on Monday.
“(It) definitely happened.
“We got away with it in round one but last week we got found out.
“This week, we’ve spoken about challenging each other and being better and obviously, having JT and Matt Scott there, not being complacent to just let them lead the game.
“All of us, as a 17, have to stand up there.”
Taumalolo admitted North Queensland’s forward pack were simply outworked by the Broncos and “shied away” from the challenge – something they can’t afford to let happen again in Thursday’s grand final rematch with the Melbourne Storm at AAMI Park.
“The whole night they seemed to run harder and tackle harder than us… there was no coming back from that,” he said.
“Last year in the finals… (we) stuck in there and weathered the storm a bit and obviously wrestled the momentum back our way.
“We didn’t do that last week.
“I’m sure the Melbourne Storm will be watching a bit of film and definitely identifying that part of our game.”
The Cowboys are hopeful that Michael Morgan (abdominal strain) will return after completing Monday’s training session, helping to take some of the playmaking load off Thurston.