Cowboys prepare for NSW trip
The North Queensland Cowboys will take an unchanged 18 man squad on their first trip south of the border this season.
Coach Neil Henry has made one positional change to the previously announced sides as his team prepares to face St George-Illawarra in Wollongong Friday night.
Steve Rapira is named to start in the second row with Steve Southern pushed back to the bench.
Carl Webb made a successful return from a calf injury last week and eventually started the 28-20 come-from-behind win over the Panthers.
Webb too has been named on the bench with Matt Scott likely to assume a starting prop position.
Young second-rower James Tamou is 18th man for the third week in a row.
Fullback Ty Williams and five-eighth Grant Rovelli held their spots despite mixed starts in season 2010.
Williams is deputising for the injured Matt Bowen and his inexperience has been exposed by both Penrith and Brisbane in the early rounds.
Rovelli, under pressure from Under 20’s halfback Ray Thompson, has been given at least one more week to work on his kicking game and foil options for Johnathan Thurston.
The Cowboys last week staged a remarkable 26-point second half comeback to down Penrith, a week after a 24-point blitz against the Broncos came up just short.
Friday night’s opponents the Dragons are unlikely to allow such a comeback making a strong start imperative for the Cowboys.
Titans eye three straight
The undefeated Gold Coast Titans welcome back Preston Campbell for their home match with Canberra Saturday night.
Campbell was a late scratching from last week’s 19-18 Golden Point thriller over South Sydney.
The concussed Campbell was adequately replaced at fullback by former Raider William Zillman.
In the only change from last week Zillman is on the bench to fill the utility role in place of off-season recruit Riley Brown.
Brown has struggled for match time in the opening rounds and is likely to play close to a full game with the Burleigh Bears in the Queensland Cup this weekend.
The Titans are aiming for their third straight win in both the NRL competition and against the Raiders at Skilled Park.
Canberra, fresh off a gutsy 22-14 win over the Broncos last night, are searching for their first win at Skilled Park.
The match starts at the later time of 8:30pm Saturday.
Bronco Parker injured
Hardworking Broncos lock Corey Parker will likely miss up to six weeks with a knee ligament strain suffered in last night’s loss to the Raiders.
With the short turnaround the Broncos named Parker for Sunday’s match at Suncorp Stadium against the Warriors.
However it seems unlikely Parker will play with 18th man Lagi Setu favourite to play his first match of the season.
Parker flew home early this morning to be with his wife for the birth of their first child and having played every game last season, will be sorely missed in the team.
Apart from his solid defensive work rate Parker is also first choice goal kicker.
Rookie fullback Corey Norman missed an easy conversion attempt at 18-14 last night when Parker was off the field.
Goal-kicking responsibilities for Sunday are likely to fall with halfback Peter Wallace.
The 18-man squad remains the same as those named in the first two weeks of the competition.
Former Broncos players Brent Tate and Joel Moon form part of a Warriors squad desperate to improve their form in Australia.
Queensland stalwart Steve Price hoped to be clear of a heel injury but was not named in the Warriors side today.
The match will screen live on Fox Sports from 1pm (Queensland time) Sunday with the Titans game also live on Fox Sports from 8:30pm Saturday.
The Cowboys kick-off round three Friday night against the Dragons live from 7:30pm (Queensland time) on Channel Nine.
North Queensland Cowboys vs. Dragons, Friday 7:35pm QLD, (Channel Nine, live)
Ty Williams, John Williams, Ashley Graham, Willie Tonga, Michael Bani, Grant Rovelli, Johnathan Thurston (c), Matt Scott, Aaron Payne, Antonio Kaufusi, Scott Bolton, Steve Rapira, Luke O’Donnell. Interchange: Anthony Watts, Steve Southern, Willie Mason, Carl Webb, James Tamou (one to be omitted).
Gold Coast Titans vs. Canberra, Saturday 8:30pm QLD, (Fox Sports, live)
Preston Campbell, Kevin Gordon, Mat Rogers, Joseph Tomane, David Mead, Greg Bird, Scott Prince (c), Luke Bailey, Nathan Friend, Brad Meyers, Anthony Laffranchi, Mark Minichiello, Ashley Harrison. Interchange: Matthew White, Sam Tagataese, Bodene Thompson, William Zillman.
Brisbane Broncos vs. Warriors, Sunday 1pm QLD, (Fox Sports, live)
Corey Norman, Antonio Winterstein, Gerard Beale, Israel Folau, Denan Kemp, Darren Lockyer (c), Peter Wallace, Nick Kenny, Andrew McCullough, Scott Anderson, Ben Te’o, Sam Thaiday, Corey Parker. Interchange: Alex Glenn, Matt Gillett, Mitchell Dodds, Josh McGuire, Lagi Setu (one to be omitted).
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