Cowboys v Raiders: Photo Gallery and match report
Kick-off is fast approaching at Queensland Country Bank Stadium and the atmosphere is building. See our fan pictures and stay tuned for all your match analysis from Round 1.
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Jake Granville would have been out on the water wrestling his fishing rod on Saturday had he hung up his boots at the end of last season.
Jake Granville would have been out on the water wrestling his fishing rod on Saturday had he hung up his boots at the end of last season.
Instead the 34-year-old Cowboy will be ripping into Canberra’s forward pack off the North Queensland interchange bench in his 11th NRL season-opener.
SEE THE COMPLETE FAN PHOTO GALLERY HERE
The Cowboys will this week field the two oldest players in the league with Granville (34 years, 21 days) joining James Tamou (34 years, 77 days) in the matchday 17.
This was going to be the year Granville joined the family carpentry business until the Cowboys came knocking with a one-year extension that has brought the veteran within reach of 200 career games.
“The body was feeling good so it was pretty automatic,” Granville said of the extension he signed last winter.
“It was a pretty easy decision because I’m still enjoying it and they were keen to have me around. It was just for this year, so we’ll see how the body pulls up.”
Granville and Tamou have dragged the squad’s average player age from 24 to 25 by themselves, but it is the youth around him Granville credits for keeping himself young.
“I’ve been really enjoying it,” he said. “We’ve got a great group of young fellas there, and whenever I can help out, I’ve been trying to lend a hand there.
“The last couple of pre-seasons have gone to a new level of competition between the young fellas and what they bring every session.
“The standards have really increased and I’ve enjoyed watching that side of it grow and the young fellas get more confident and grow as well.”
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