North Queensland Cowboys courageous right until the end

DON’T be embarrassed by that Cowboys fans. Don’t look at the scoreboard and be conned into thinking that told the story. Not of North Queensland’s season.

Gavin Cooper shows his emotion after losing the 2017 NRL Grand Final.

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DON’T be embarrassed by that Cowboys fans.

Don’t look at the scoreboard and be conned into thinking that told the story.

Not of the night.

Not of North Queensland’s season.

Sometimes you just have to clap your hands and say “too good”.

What else is there to say about this mighty Melbourne side?

So composed. So clinical. So professional.

They just might gone down as the greatest side of the modern era.

And the combination of the Storm’s “Big Three”, Cam Smith, Cooper Cronk and Billy Slater, perhaps the best the game has ever seen.

Johnathan Thurston congratulates Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy.

But that is not so say North Queensland don’t deserve great admiration for the way they conducted themselves over this entire 2017 finals series.

Even on Sunday night, with the 34-6 scoreboard a sad reflection of their performances over the past month, the Cowboys’ still gave their fans everything they had left to muster.

And there was no better insight into that wonderful courage than Shaun Fensom’s thumbs up exit as he was carted from the field in the third minute in absolute agony on the Medi Cab.

The tough-as-nails forward was the victim of some friendly fire when his leg was caught up in an awful accident with Ethan Lowe that left Fensom’s leg badly broken.

But his message to the fans summed up his character, and that of this mighty football team that gave so much joy over this amazing ride in recent weeks.

From the moment Fensom went down the Cowboys hardly stood a chance.

To beat the Storm they were always going to have to find and make the most of every ounce of luck they could.

Cowboys players dejected after losing the 2017 NRL Grand Final.

But losing Fensom so early stole that from them.

While he rarely gets the raps he deserves, Fensom means so much to the Cowboys in defence.

They call him their glue to the middle and they say it for a reason.

The work he does rarely gets noticed but means so much to his teammates.

It was always going to be difficult from that moment on.

By halftime the Storm had raced in three unanswered tries but to their credit the Cowboys hit back with the first try after the break.

But they just didn’t have any more bullets left to fire.

Michael Morgan gave it his all.

So did they all.

Gavin Cooper and Ethan Lowe worked themselves to a standstill.

So did all the forwards who were left a man down by Fensom’s exit.

The victorious Melbourne Storm during the 2017 NRL Grand Final. Picture. Phil Hillyard

But there was still so much to admire about the Cowboys’ grit and determination over the course of the game and the course of the season.

More than half the Cowboys’ squad carried injuries into Sunday night’s game and as hard as they tried, they just couldn’t match the Storm on the final night of the season.

From the opening whistle the Storm put so much pressure on Morgan’s kicking game and in defence and attack they wore their opponents into the ground.

Don’t worry Cowboys fans, your team covered themselves in glory this year and they will back even better next year.

With Johnathan Thurston and Matt Scott returning from injury, the Cowboys will also be boosted by the inclusion of the Storm’s Jordan McLean.

And let’s hope Fensom also recovers as quickly as possible so he is also there to be a part of what’s still to come for the club.

Shaun Fensom is injured during the NRL grand final between.

At the start of this year Fensom was forced to relocate to Townsville after salary cap pressure forced him out of his beloved Canberra.

And even on a Medi-Cab on Sunday night he still managed to leave with a message of great hope and inspiration.

The night wasn’t what Cowboys fans dreamt of.

But the last month had already provided them with so many wonderful memories.

Originally published as North Queensland Cowboys courageous right until the end