League: Cowboys to rely on forward grind

The absence of five star backs - on Queensland State of Origin duties - takes significant sting out of the Cowboys side who will host the Warriors at Townsville tonight.

Gone into Maroons camp are fullback Matt Bowen, who won Origin One with an intercept try in overtime, wings Matt Sing and Ty Williams, centre Paul Bowman and five-eighth Johnathon Thurston.

It may turn the game from a great clash of backs to a forwards grind because the Cowboys, with their pack intact, will want to play it that way.

It's not a fact the home team coach Graham Murray is ignoring. "The Origin is going to hurt us. You take six [including the injured Carl Webb] of your best players out of any team - it's a difficult task for us."

The Cowboys have developed good combinations and, after years of under-achievement, made the NRL playoffs for the first time last season.

They have carried that form into 2005. Asked what the necessary change was, Murray said: "Good players."

They got Kiwi prop Paul Rauhihi, the rapidly improving Maori/Aboriginal Thurston and captain Travis Norton from the Bulldogs, Justin Smith from Souths, and Mitchell Sargent from the Storm.

But none of those were top-notch players when they shifted, and the bulk of the players carrying them to greater glory are locally bred. "You have to develop your own players," Murray said. "You want lots of players born and bred in the area who want to play for the team."

The Cowboys have been playing with confidence this season and are riding well up the table. But given the compressed nature of the table and the competition, which Murray puts down to the evening-out effect of the salary cap, he is nervous about a loss.

"We're in new territory here," he says of the Origin commitments as a result of their good play.

Six players made Origin One and Two, and Webb would have made it six again had he not suffered a leg injury, but he is ruled out for the next three weeks anyway.

"We have good combinations going when we play well," Murray said, "but for the last two weeks we haven't played well. It's the disruption [Origin]. The Broncos have had it for years, but it's new ground for us."

There was nothing he had gained by watching the other Queensland team's run through the state series, he said. "You have to experience it for yourself."

The Cowboys have had a crowd averaging around 22,000 this season, losing only one of six home games, to the Broncos in round 10.

The new success has the club pushing the state government to provide funds to extend the stadium, especially after A$80 million of state money was allocated for a new stadium for the new Gold Coast franchise.

About 17,000 tickets had been pre-sold yesterday, so the Warriors are guaranteed a warm reception.

The Auckland side hold a 10-8 advantage in all games between the clubs. The teams are 4-4 at Townsville. The Cowboys have won the last four at home and at Ericsson, 32-22 in round three this season.

They had the bye during Origin One, but lost 34-4 away to the Dragons when fielding a depleted team as six players were drafted for Origin Two, and it is that sapping of firepower that the Warriors are banking on tonight.