Paul Green has challenged his forwards to lead North Queensland to victory against Cronulla

COWBOYS coach Paul Green has challenged North Queensland’s forwards to stand up or risk watching their premiership hopes get blown away by Cronulla.

Jason Taumalolo of the Cowboys makes his way through the Broncos defence during the Round 26 NRL match between the North Queensland Cowboys and the Brisbane Broncos at 1300 SMILES Stadium in Townsville, Thursday, August 31, 2017. (AAP Image/Michael Chambers) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

COWBOYS coach Paul Green has challenged North Queensland’s forwards to stand up or risk watching their premiership hopes get blown away by Cronulla.

Green is adamant the battered and bruised Cowboys are not just making up the numbers, and can end Cronulla’s dreams of back-to-back titles in Sunday’s knockout final at Allianz Stadium.

But they will have to improve drastically if their recent meeting is anything to go by.

Cronulla blew the Cowboys away in Townsville three weeks ago, bolting out to a 24-6 halftime lead before going on to win 26-16.

The Cowboys have since got some troops back on deck, with Green naming the same team for the third straight week.

Winger Antonio Winterstein and fullback Lachlan Coote have been on restricted duties, but a 10-day turnaround from last week’s loss to the Broncos has helped North Queensland’s preparations.

Jason Taumalolo has been in great form as the leader of the Cowboys pack.

“I’m picking my best 21 players at the moment,” Green said.

“That’s about all we’ve got left. There are only a couple of guys outside of that.

“Given the injury cloud, that’s probably the best coverage we’ve got.”

He said the onus was on North Queensland’s men in the middle, such as Scott Bolton, John Asiata and Jason Taumalolo, to fire for the Cowboys to be a chance.

“They are a tough team. There is plenty of talent through the team,” Green said.

“I’m expecting a good forward battle.

“They scored a couple of soft tries through our middle (last time). I’d imagine they’d take us on through there again.”

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The Cowboys retained eighth spot on the ladder following Canterbury’s upset win against St George-Illawarra last Sunday.

It will be North Queensland’s seventh straight finals appearance but first time they have finished outside the top five since 2013, when they were eighth.

That means they will not play a home final, not get a week’s rest and not have a second chance this season, with every game sudden-death from now.

With Test duo Johnathan Thurston (shoulder) and Matt Scott (knee) sidelined for most of the year, North Queensland has been written off as title contenders but Green said the 2015 premiers were determined to go deep.

The exhausted Cowboys barely scraped into the finals.

“Whoever loses, your season’s finished,” he said.

“We’ve got just as much to lose as they have.

“They deserve to be favourites. They are the current premiers and we’re not at full strength.

“We don’t have that pressure of expectation on us which is a good way to go into games.”

Cronulla has struck an early blow against the Cowboys by snaring promising young prop Braden Uele.

Uele, who made his NRL debut in round 21, will head to the Sharks next season.

“I don’t know whether they’ve announced it or not,” Green said.

“It’s not what I’m worried about at this stage of the year. We’ve got a big game ahead of us.

“That’s all our focus is on. Recruitment and retention at this time of the year takes a back seat.”