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North Queensland Cowboys v Parramatta Eels
1300SMILES Stadium - Monday 7:00pm
Can Parra extract revenge for Painful Round 13 defeat? Or can the Cowboys steam roll their way to their 14th win of the season?
North Queensland showed no signs of slowing down last week as they ran over the top of a bewildered Manly side to stay in 2nd place on the ladder. The form of their Big Three (Lachlan Coote, Michael Morgan and Jonathan Thurston) is scary for the remainder of the teams in the competition. As it sits, the Cowboys have a 6 point gap over the 5th place side and a win on Monday would all but guarantee a top 4 spot, although with the way the Cowboys have been performing in 2015, nothing less than a top 2 finish would be disappointing. Just the two changes for the Cowboys, with James Tamou returning to start at prop and Ben Hannant dropping to the bench, Sam Hoare drops out to 18th man.
Parramatta will have been waiting for this clash since round 13. After leading 30-0 and capitulating to lose 36-30, it was certainly one of the low points of Parramatta's season. Parramatta can still mathematically make the finals this year but their dream is fading away each week. Last week's 28-4 humbling at the hands of rivals Canterbury was the last thing they wanted and also brought forward some injuries that have plagued Parra throughout the whole season. This time it was Anthony Watmough and Danny Wicks who were bitten by the injury bug and will see them miss the rest of the season. Add to this the Chris Sandow incident and the Eels are having a season to forget. Brad Arthur will be hoping that his troops can put this all behind them and go out and get a valuable two points.
There are a host of changes for the Eels. Corey Norman is out with a knee injury and is replaced by Reece Robinson at fullback who returns from his fractured cheekbone, Chris Sandow is out through suspension and Joseph Paulo moves to five eighth with Luke Kelly to half back. With Danny Wicks and Anthony Watmough both out, David Gower moves to lock and Isaac De Gois and Daniel Alvaro join the bench.
Last Meeting: North Queensland 36 Parramatta Eels 30 at Pirtek Stadium, Round 13, 2015.
Parramatta led 30-0 with 24 minutes to go in Round 13 and were run down, revenge is on their mind.
North Queensland have won 5 of the past 6 between the two. Parramatta haven't won at 1300Smiles Stadium since 2010, the last win before that was 2000. In all matches at 1300Smiles Sradium the Cowboys lead 7 games to 5 with 1 draw.
Who To Watch: For the home side, Jake Granville has been in brilliant form. Since his switch over from neighbours Brisbane, Granville has been breaking through all defense's in the NRL and creating opportunities out of nothing. His link up play with Jonathan Thurston and Michael Morgan has been magnificent and lead to the Cowboys being one of the best attacking teams in the Competition. However, Granville is also a very good defender for a player of his side. He has been a rock in the middle of the field and there is no doubt that he has been a real lynch pin for the Cowboys success in 2015. If you don't believe me folks, then check out his stats on the season: 7 tries, 1 Try Assist and 7 Line Breaks. Add to this his 1127 running metres at an average of 66 metres a game and 460 tackles at an average of 27 tackles a game. This is all from someone that plays 50 minutes a game!
For the visitors they will need a strong effort from their halves. With Chris Sandow out with suspension and doubt on him ever returning for the Eels, the inexperienced duo of Luke Kelly and Joseph Paulo will need to be at the top of their games. Paulo is a tall, strong player who's best trait is taking on the line and offloading to create some 2nd phase play. If Paulo can get this going he will not only create opportunities for himself but also his outside men, especially Will Hopoate who needs a big game in what has been an au underwhelming year. Paulo need to be consistent with his play as well, he is a great talent but the USA International doesn't do it frequently enough.
The Favourite: Pretty simple, home ground advantage and Parramatta being decimated by injury has the Cowboys as heavy favourites.
My Tip: Easy pick here. Can't see how Parramatta are going to win in this clash, their halves lack any great creativity and are missing a lot of players (especially Watmough and Wicks), which affects their forward pack. North Queensland are in splendid form and their attack is firing on all cylinders. This could be a real blowout if Parra don't get a good start.
Cowboys by 16.
1. Lachlan Coote 2. Matthew Wright 3. Justin O'Neill 4. Kane Linnett 5. Antonio Winterstein 6. Michael Morgan 7. Johnathan Thurston 8. Matthew Scott 9. Jake Granville 10. James Tamou 11. Gavin Cooper 12. Ethan Lowe 13. Jason Taumalolo
Interchange: 14. Rory Kostjasyn 15. John Asiata 16. Scott Bolton 17. Ben Hannant 18. Sam Hoare
1. Reece Robinson 2. Semi Radradra 3. William Hopoate 4. Brad Takairangi 5. Ryan Morgan 6. Joseph Paulo 7. Luke Kelly 8. Junior Paulo 9. Nathan Peats 10. Tim Mannah 11. Manu Ma'u 12. Tepai Moeroa 13. David Gower
Interchange: 14. Pauli Pauli 15. Darcy Lussick 16. Daniel Alvaro 17. Isaac De Gois 18. Cody Nelson
Referees: Gavin Badger, Ashley Klein; Sideline Officials: Chris Sutton, Clayton Sharpe; Video Referees: Steve Chiddy, Luke Phillips;