Nene Macdonald no certainty to make his North Queensland debut in Round 1

Nene Macdonald is one of North Queensland’s marquee purchases for 2019 but a lapse in discipline could prevent him from making his Cowboys debut in Round 1.

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Cowboys coach Paul Green has admitted winger Nene Macdonald is no certainty to be in his Round 1 team after the Dragons recruit was dropped for being late to training.

Macdonald has been sent to the Northern Pride in the Intrust Super Cup this weekend after not getting a chance to trial with his new club.

The Queensland Origin contender was a late scratching from the Cowboys’ final pre-season trial win against Melbourne in Mackay on Saturday night.

Macdonald, 24, reported late for training during the week and Green opted to discipline the PNG international.

Macdonald has joined the Cowboys this season. Picture by Zak Simmonds.

Macdonald was a certainty to be on North Queensland’s left wing for their NRL season-opener against his former club St George Illawarra on Saturday week.

But Green said that was no longer the case following the former Roosters, Titans and Dragons winger’s tardiness.

“I’ve got to look at the game from the weekend, so I’m not sure yet,” Green said.

“I’ve got to go through a few different combinations from that point of view.

“It would have been great to see him get a game under his belt. He will probably do that this weekend (in the Intrust Super Cup).

“(He responded) pretty well, he understood where we were coming from. The best way he can respond is what he does about it and that’s train well and play well.

North Queensland need Macdonald’s power.. Picture by Zak Simmonds.

“He is a talented player. There’s no doubt he’s one of the most talented guys in the competition.

“He needs to work on his consistency and that’s part of the lesson he needs to learn out of this.”

It seems likely Macdonald will be picked for the Dragons game at 1300 SMILES Stadium given he is too talented a player to leave out.

Macdonald was a member of Queensland’s Emerging Origin squad this year and is in contention to replace NFL flirter Valentine Holmes, along with Cowboys teammate Kyle Feldt.

The Cowboys will have a vastly different looking backline this season following the recruitment of Macdonald and fullback Jordan Kahu from Brisbane.