Their coach is reportedly two games away from the axe and they are missing six first-team regulars but North Queensland won’t be getting any less respect from Gold Coast in Sunday’s NRL match.
Shorn of State of Origin call-ups in Matt Scott, Brent Tate, Johnathan Thurston and James Tamou, the Cowboys head south to tackle the Titans with fullback Matt Bowen and front-rower Gavin Cooper sidelined through injury.
It’s piled the pressure on Cowboys coach Neil Henry, who needs results against the Titans and Canterbury in North Queensland’s next two fixtures to save his job according to a newspaper report.
But stand-in Titans captain Will Zillman, who’ll lead the home team with co-captains Nate Myles and Greg Bird away on Origin duty, doesn’t think the Cowboys should be taken lightly despite their makeshift nature this week.
“You can blink and go easy for a second and they’re lethal and can put points on you,” Zillman told AAP.
“We’re really going to have to be on our game and those guys stepping into those spots, we’ve got to make sure we know what’s going on and can execute well.”
The Titans will be hoping giant forward Dave Taylor’s calf injury doesn’t prevent him from taking to the field against the Cowboys, with lock Ashley Harrison also absent due to Origin duties.
Zillman was confident Taylor would be given every chance to prove his fitness after missing last weekend’s impressive 42-4 thrashing of Parramatta in Mudgee.
“Obviously it would be handy to have him there given the three guys we’ve lost,” he said.
“Two of them are backrowers and Nate can play in the backrow as well.
“I’m not sure where he’s at with his injury but I’m sure they’ll give him until the last hour to be right.”
One man who is disappointed with the Cowboys absentees is Titans halfback Albert Kelly, who admitted he was relishing the prospect of testing himself against world-class No.7 Thurston.
Kelly has come up against Thurston twice before during his time at Cronulla in 2011 and lost both games but he said challenging yourself was part of what made first-grade so exciting.
“To play a 100 per cent team, you don’t have any excuses,” Kelly said.
“The opportunity to play a Thurston only comes around a few times. It would’ve been good to play a 100 per cent team.
“But they’ve definitely got a lot of depth in the front-rowers and the halves as well. We’re expecting a strong game from them.”