The Cowboys are that team that will always appear in your top eight predictions but what will 2014 actually bring for them?
From a fans point of view 2013 was a disappointing season with many Cowboys favorites retiring including Mathew Bowen, Ashley Graham and Dallas Johnson not to mention their finals campaign ending on a controversial refereeing decision (Again) so 2014 will hopefully be the season of the Cowboy.
Fans, Cowboys players and staff are all hoping for a season that will end on a fair note but provided injury doesn’t get in the way it all comes down to 6 major aspects. (Not including general skill and talent at the rugby league).
New Players – 2014 will hopefully be a turning point for the Cowboys new recruits with Ulugia probably landing a starting spot and Intrust Super Cup young guns fighting for their position in the in the squad. Matty Bowen’s replacement Lachlan Coote will be trying hard to live up to the Cowboys past fullback and will hopefully fit in nicely with the cowboys back line. The Ex-Panther star will be hoping to reach his full potential while full filing his contract but his first year at the club will be the hardest and games against his past club will really see how well he is at being a cowboy.
Experienced Players – Players such as Thurston, Tate , Scott and Tamou will hopefully help the future Cowboy stars find their feet.
Positioning – Putting the players in their right position is key to getting the best performance from the team. We all saw how much of a difference placing Ray Thompson at hooker made to the Cowboys performance.
Representative Fixtures – Losing 4 of their players in the State of Origin section of the season won’t be easy for the Cowboys but luckily they have a good mix of Non-NSW/QLD eligible players and rising stars to keep them a float during that period of the season but we can still expect to see a tough few rounds during the SOO series.
2014 Draw – The Cowboys drew lucky with 6 out of there first ten matches at home but will suffer in the middle of their year with loosing State Of Origin stars before game one and two versing Dragons and Raiders at home and will only get to games at home before round 20. Their last three matches before the finals will be against Premiership hopefuls sharks, Manly and Rabbitohs. These games will be crucial if they want to head into the finals on wins.
The Refs – Lets hope they don’t stuff up with the cowboys again this season.
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