The North Queensland Cowboys are at risk of not making it to Sydney in time to fully prepare for their semi-final against the Sharks on Friday night at Allianz Stadium.
The Daily Telegraph is reporting that Cowboys officials are scrambling to arrange Plan B, namely a charter flight, after missing out on seats on the commercial flights out of Townsville.
The two flights that fly directly to Sydney are all but sold out due to the high demand from fans, forcing the club into urgent talks with the NRL for assistance.
“We’re still working with the NRL through it,” Cowboys football boss Micheal Luck told the Daily Telegraph.
“Hopefully we can get it sorted today, we need to know how we are getting down there and how we are getting back.
“Unless Virgin or Jetstar put on another commercial flight, which they have done before, we might have to get a charter flight to Sydney.
“There’s only two direct commercial flights from Townsville to Sydney, but we have a party of 36 plus all our travel gear, so there’s not enough seats for our team on those flights.”
The NRL assisted the Knights in flying to Townsville from Newcastle for last week’s final against the Cowboys with their ‘short’ turnaround after the Dolphins game.
There could also be a ‘less-ideal’ option of transferring in Brisbane, but that would add travel time for the squad.
“We have a reasonable routine now that has helped our away record in Sydney,” Luck said.
“We traditionally get to Sydney the day before a game and we’re at our hotel by around 2 o’clock, that’s as quick as we can do it on a direct flight.
“If we have to get a connecting flight (from Townsville to Brisbane to Sydney), you have to add another 2-3 hours to that travel time. It’s a five-hour chunk out of your day the day before you play a game, which is not ideal.”
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Meanwhile, co-captain Reuben Cotter has credited an honesty session about improving defensive attitude as hardening the Cowboys to challenge for the NRL title.
The Cowboys beat the Storm 38-30 in Townsville in round 16, but it was not the hard-nosed performance they wanted against a side with 11 players rested. They then went and flogged Canterbury 44-6 in Sydney, before securing a comeback 28-16 elimination-final win over Newcastle.
Cotter said the Storm win highlighted the need for a change in mindset.
“Before the Bulldogs game we rallied the troops early in the week and we had a pretty big defensive session around our attitude,” he said.
“We were trying to get everyone to buy into it, and I think that was the turning point to be honest because it fixed our mentality.
Reuben Cotter celebrates with teammates. (Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)
“We weren’t perfect (against Newcastle), but our defence has certainly improved over the last couple of weeks.
“I think it is just our attitude and belief among the group and believing we can (win) if we get our defence right.
“I thought (against Newcastle) there were really good signs with sticking with it. They had us rattled in the first half and we were under the pump, so it was a good response.”
The display against the Bulldogs was the Cowboys’ best of the season. Against the Knights, they were down 12-4 on the cusp of halftime when half Tom Dearden was desperate in defence and just beat Knights back-rower Tyson Frizell to the ball to knock it dead.
Cotter said Dearden’s effort was “a huge play in the context of the game”.
“If they go up another try before halftime that is tough to get yourself up mentally to get yourself back into it,” he said.
“I thought we stayed calm and (Dearden) was outstanding.”
It was an example of an “attitude” play that Cotter said was so important.
The Cowboys missed 45 tackles against the Knights, but considering the heat in Townsville and the masterclass display by Kalyn Ponga they scrambled well to concede just three tries.
Prop Jason Taumalolo said it would be paramount to heed Cotter’s words of wisdom against the Sharks.
“Defence is always part of what makes a good team,” Taumalolo said.
“If you look at the stats over the last decade, the premiers have always been in the top three or four sides in the comp.
“Especially in finals footy you want to score your points, but you want to stop them. It is going to be hard to defend the Sharks with their strike across the park and Nicho Hynes leading them.
“Reubs said defence was the key point, and we can always be better. Our defence against the Sharks has to be on point from the get-go.”
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