Matt Scott made 44 tackles against Brisbane, far too many for a prop whose main job is to eat metres

TEST prop Matt Scott is being forced to tackle himself to a standstill to compensate for the Cowboys’ lack of defensive mettle.

Cowboys training from 1300 Smiles Stadium. Matt Scott. Picture: Zak Simmonds

TEST prop Matt Scott is being forced to tackle himself to a standstill to compensate for the Cowboys’ lack of defensive mettle.

Typically a metre-eating weapon for North Queensland, Scott had to do so much defence against the Broncos last week that even inexperienced Brisbane bench prop Jarrod Wallace made more ground in attack

Wallace is on a third of Scott’s salary and had half his time in the middle but still made 125 metres from 14 runs compared to Scott’s 90m from 11 runs.

Matt Scott during training. Picture: Zak Simmonds

Scott had to make 44 tackles against Brisbane, far too many for a prop whose main job is to get his team over the advantage line.

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Despite his heavy defensive workload, Scott missed only one tackle while the team combined to miss almost 50 — a main reason the veteran front-rower is having to make so many in the first place.

The Cowboys must bust their slump this week against a surging Melbourne side that thrashed Cronulla last start.

It is their forwards who will need to get their first win of the season.

Coach Paul Green repeatedly stated that defence was their team’s greatest weakness.

Broncos players felt following last week’s game that the Cowboys weren’t sticking in their tackles and they could off-load at will.

“We have been nowhere near our standards, particularly defensively,” Green said.

“It is important to get that fixed sooner rather than later.

“We have had a particular focus on defence at training.”

Green has showed faith in underperforming prop James Tamou, selecting him in the starting team even though he made two crucial missed tackles in their loss to the Broncos last week.

Error-prone winger Justin O’Neill has been rested due to niggling injuries and concussion as Antonio Winterstein comes back into the team following the tragic death of his brother Francis two weeks ago.

“He started training yesterday. I imagine he will be right,” Green said of Winterstein.

“I spoke to him last week and he finally got things sorted with what he had to do with respect for his family.

Antonio Winterstein back at training. Picture: Zak Simmonds

“He has trained strongly this week.

“He has plenty of experience and that’s what we need.”

Green said his representative players such as Scott and Tamou had to set the example.

“They are experienced guys who have played at the highest level. I expect those guys to lead the way,” he said.

“Jimmy has had a serious injury to get fixed up and then come back from. He’s heading in the right direction.

“We just need more, not only out him but everyone.”

The Cowboys are notoriously poor performers at the start of the season.

Green however was blunt when asked if their tradition of slow starts meant he shouldn’t be too concerned about this season’s slump.

“No,” he replied.