Cowboys coach Paul Green got it right by not selecting Matt Scott for NRL grand final

COWBOYS coach Paul Green deserves credit for looking Matt Scott in the eye and telling his co-captain he won’t be playing in the NRL grand final.

Scott will have to watch from the sidelines with Johnathan Thurston. (Matt King/Getty Images)

COWBOYS coach Paul Green deserves credit for looking Matt Scott in the eye and telling his co-captain, his chief enforcer, that he won’t be playing in Sunday night’s NRL grand final.

It is a gut-wrenching call but ultimately the right one.

Critically, Green has demonstrated a trait that separates the mediocre from the mighty in the NRL. Leadership.

There is a saying that the first responsibility of a leader is to define reality.

The reality is the return of Scott for the grand final was too great a gamble for a Cowboys side that has courageously done the job without him for the past six months.

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Scott will have to watch from the sidelines with Johnathan Thurston. (Matt King/Getty Images)

You could understand if Scott marched into Green’s office selling himself better than a contestant on The Bachelor.

He is a Test and Origin enforcer. He is the heart-and-soul of the Cowboys’ engine room. He believes his knee is now ready to withstand the rigours of a grand final.

Green could have chosen the simple route and given Scott a saloon passage back into the Cowboys’ top 17.

Few would have batted an eyelid at the notion of dropping Corey Jensen, a greenhorn with a 15-game NRL resume, for a warhorse who has spilt blood in 233 matches for the Cowboys.

Instead, Green called a team meeting to announce that he was putting faith in the 17 who have courageously combined to write the script that could lead to a premiership fairytale.

Paul Green has kept confidence with the players who got him there. (AAP Image/Michael Chambers)

A part of Scott is entitled to be crushed.

It is testament to his constitution that he copped the decision on the chin and is prepared to mentor the Cowboys’ posse of grand final debutants.

Green’s decision may well backfire but the best leaders make a call and own it.

The Cowboys have a coach who stands for something.

In this case, it is a team-first ethos. It is why they are playing their second grand final in three seasons this Sunday night.

Originally published as Cowboys coach Paul Green got it right by not selecting Matt Scott for NRL grand final