It must be a luxury for a coach to have a team basically select itself and North Queensland Cowboys coach Paul Green seems to have that luxury.
The Cowboys finished the 2016ย regular season in fourthย and went deep into the Finals before eventually losing to the Cronulla Sharks in the Grand Final qualifier.
2016 Round 1 Team
- Lachlan Coote
- Kyle Feldt
- Justin O'Neill
- Kane Linnett
- Antonio Winterstein
- Michael Morgan
- Johnathan Thurston
- Matthew Scott
- Jake Granville
- James Tamou
- Gavin Cooper
- Ethan Lowe
- Jason Taumalolo
- Rory Kostjasyn
- John Asiata
- Scott Bolton
- Ben Hannant
The Cowboys will enter 2017 missing two important pieces from previous years. Bench utility Rory Kostjasynย moved to the Newcastle Knights while prop forward James Tamou signed with the Penrith Panthers.
The club was quick to replace Kostjasyn by signing Ben Hampton from the Melbourne Storm and Hampton should take over the bench utility role in 2017.
Replacing Tamou though hasn't quite eventuated though and the club was hit even harder in the depth department when Ben Hannant was forced to retire due to injury.
With 2016 Dally M Player of the Year Jason Taumalolo and Queensland Origin prop Matt Scott leading the pack, ย the Cowboys should still have plenty of go forward in 2017.
Not to mention any team with Johnathan Thurston in the lineup will have more than a good chance of winning games. When you surround him with the talent the Cowboys have, it just makes winning matches that much more likely.
2017 Possible Round 1 Team
- Lachlan Coote
- Kyle Feldt
- Justin O'Neill
- Kane Linnett
- Antonio Winterstein
- Michael Morgan
- Johnathan Thurston
- Matthew Scott
- Jake Granville
- Scott Bolton
- Gavin Cooper
- Ethan Lowe
- Jason Taumalolo
- Coen Hess
- John Asiata
- Ben Hampton
- Patrick Kaufusi
PICK YOUR NRL TEAM: Not a fan of the above team? Then take over as the coach and pick your line-up!
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