Paul Green adamant North Queensland’s best football is yet to come
PAUL Green has banned any discussion of the Cowboys repeating as premiers but is adamant that their best football is still to come.
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THE Cowboys have banned discussion of “back to back” as coach Paul Green reveals North Queensland’s players are adamant their best football is yet to come.
Speaking to The Courier-Mail, Green revealed the Cowboys’ coaching staff and players held a meeting about how they would tackle this season and walked away determined to reach their footballing potential.
Green said that meeting was the last time they would discuss premierships.
Green said making history as the first team to win back to back titles since the 92-93 champion Broncos was not up for discussion in North Queensland.
Asked if he would ban the phrase “back to back”, Green replied ‘Yes’.
“We won’t talk about that, only you guys talk about that.
“We have spoken about last year and put it to bed.
“They were all in agreeance that as a team we can play better than we did last year.
“That’s a good sign.
“That shows they still have the drive to want to become a better team.”
The Cowboys have bunkered down in Leeds, where it is expected to snow this week, ahead of their World Club Challenge clash with the Rhinos on Sunday night (Monday morning Australian time).
The Cowboys are touring Manchester City’s new £200 million Football Academy this week.
Green, who won a premiership in his second NRL season, often reaches out to teams and coaches from different codes to bolster his knowledge.
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He is even trying to organise a meeting with Man United legend Sir Alex Ferguson during their England trip.
Green said the Cowboys had several areas to improve upon this season and their motivation post premiership was to become an even better version of themselves.
“Coming off a premiership that is a big call. We all agree we can definitely be a better team,” Green said.
“We spoke about it and they were honest about how we went last year.
“Not to take anything away from winning the grand final but they were in agreeance that they can get better.
“I had previously said that until we got back into training I wouldn’t know the answer. The boys have trained hard.”
Green also hinted that the Cowboys could be changing how they played football to adjust to the reduction in interchanges from ten to eight.
“Who knows?” Green said.
“We will change a little bit about how we play but that’s a natural progression.
“When I started I had a few things I wanted to put in place. Year two was different from year one and this year will be different again.
“You can’t go from A to X in the alphabet. It needs to be a progression.”
Originally published as Paul Green adamant North Queensland’s best football is yet to come
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