https://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/sport/nrl/cowboys/the-game-has-a-different-feel-to-it-but-paul-green-is-not-feeling-the-pressure-as-a-result/news-story/2ee3a93fb8cb9a4efa1db6505d4a440f ANTHONY Seibold attempted to heap pressure on the Cowboys ahead of round one. Smoke and mirrors — that is all it is to Paul Green. The North Queensland mentor refused to buy into his rival’s notion all the expectation was on his side. Seibold said earlier this week that everyone expected the Cowboys to win at home and that they would be travelling north with no fear. With a new Townsville fortress to christen, the Broncos were there to “spoil the party”.
But in his unflappable manner, Green disregarded the talk as an effort to shift the focus from their challengers from the southeast. “Most of the pre-season there has been a lot of pressure on him (Seibold), both the club and him personally, so he’s probably just doing his best to try and deflect that,” he said. “We’re really comfortable, we’ve had a great build up to the game and trained well so we’re not feeling it if that’s what he thinks.” Green’s men will take on a Brisbane side reeling from the loss of Jack Bird to an ACL injury. Having suffered a similar injury himself in round one back in his playing days, the Cowboys boss sympathised with the former Origin star. But Green said they still had their own job to do and that did not change regardless of who lined up against them. There was no denying the extra hype around the game, given the launch of Queensland Country Bank Stadium coinciding with the start of the 2020 season. Tickets for the clash have sold out rapidly and star signings in Valentine Holmes and Esan Marsters have ensured a new look backline will tantalise fans from round one onwards. Green called it ‘The Toilet Paper Effect’ — people were missing out on tickets when they usually would be able to get them. And it all added to there being a “different feel for this game” and that had even translated to nerves among the playing group. But for Green those nerves are a good thing, it was just a manner of managing them. “I think you need to get the right level with nerves,” Green said. “You can’t be too nervous otherwise it will affect performance, you want to be aroused enough so that you are going to perform well too – you can’t be too relaxed. “It’s not because it’s (against) the Broncos or it’s a new stadium, I think it’s round one of a new footy season – if they weren’t nervous I’d probably be more concerned about that.”
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AuthorThis section showcases a collection of some of the work I did covering the North Queensland Cowboys - from match reports, to player features to breaking news. Archives
June 2020
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