NRL news: Selwyn Cobbo a shock out as Broncos’ finals hopes teeter
A tired Brisbane is limping to the finish of the NRL season, leaving Kevin Walters at a crossroads. What the coach does next will be decisive, writes Robert Craddock.
Selwyn Cobbo’s state of exhaustion has spotlighted the most subtle and significant challenge of Kevin Walters’ NRL coaching career.
Six months of hard toil has come down to this … with everything on the line just two weeks from the finals, how does Walters freshen up a side running out of gas?
Is it time for the stick or the carrot? To curse or cajole? Or both?
Every fibre of Walters coaching instinct must be telling him to jump on the soap box and give his fading Broncos side an old-fashioned high voltage rev up before their crucial game against Parramatta on Thursday.
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But could that be counter-productive? Tired minds are rarely focused by the sound of someone thumping a tub.
Anyone for a cuddle?
Broncos winger Cobbo is suffering from fatigue and the way the side is falling off tackles like autumn leaves off a tree, he is surely not the only one with an empty tank.
It’s rare for a player to be rested with fatigue at the pointy end of the season but, to their credit, the Broncos resisted the temptation to hide the issue by claiming he had a few niggles and simply called it for what it was.
Freshening up a team at the end of a long season is one of football coaching’s most underrated art forms.
Back in the 1980s in Brisbane club football Brothers coach Ross Strudwick felt his side had hit the wall so they arrived at training to see tables out and lemonade and cakes on plates in a party setting.
Instead of training, the team sat around and talked and laughed and went on to win a couple of days later.
One of Wayne Bennett’s greatest skills is knowing how to lift a side in September. When the Broncos won its last premiership in 2006 he sent the team away for a late season freshen up before they returned to take the title.
Australian cricket coach John Buchanan once sensed his national 50-over team had gone stale late in the season and sent them for an afternoon’s rowing on Melbourne’s Yarra River.
The players arrived at the boatshed with looks of dread and several who later fell out of the boats were not happy.
But later that night laughter filled the air at the team bar as stories of the men overboard dramas were told with gusto and embellishment. No-one talked cricket.
Buchanan had performed a masterstroke by freshening up the team without them even realising it.
Walters balancing act has been evident in the way he has given five-eighth Ezra Mam both a clip and cuddle this week.
Mam missed 10 tackles against the Melbourne Storm when he was steamrolled like a witches hat caught in the path of a steamroller, a particular concern given Parramatta’s game plan will be to try and blow Brisbane’s defence apart with their big boppas.
Walters publicly threw his support behind the embattled youngster this week, all the while trying to fine tune his technique behind the scenes because another defensive performance like that could cost the Broncos their season.
Clipping and cajoling … it’s a delicate operation.
Walters ability to keep his balance on the high wire could define Brisbane’s season.
BRONCOS STAR SHOCK WITHDRAWAL AS FINALS HOPES TEETER
Peter Badel
Queensland Origin star Selwyn Cobbo is a shock withdrawal for Thursday night’s clash against the Eels after the Broncos whizkid revealed he is burnt out on the eve of the finals.
The Broncos’ teetering finals campaign has received a major blow with Cobbo personally pulling out of the Parramatta showdown at Suncorp Stadium after advising coach Kevin Walters he is physically struggling.
The 20-year-old trained with the reserves at Brisbane’s captain’s run and will be replaced on the right wing by Jordan Pereira, who was outstanding in the Broncos’ most recent defeat of the Eels a month ago.
Cobbo has been a revelation for the Broncos this year but the toll of a brutal NRL campaign – his first full season has pushed the Cherbourg sensation to breaking point.
Walters insists there are no disciplinary issues surrounding Cobbo’s relegation, indicating the Broncos flyer will be given a break this week with a view to being recalled for Brisbane’s final clash of the regular season against the Dragons.
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“Selwyn is a bit fatigued,” Walters said.
“It shows a lot of honesty from Selwyn. It’s a big call and the call had to be made.
“He came and saw me earlier in the week. We thought he might progress quicker than he has, but he is not right to go so we will play Jordan Pereira. He has done a good job for us when he has come into the side so he is itching to get out.
“There is nothing to do with discipline. Selwyn is just a bit tired. He is a young fella, he’s had a big season with Origin and we just feel he needs a break.
“He should be alright for the Dragons next week, but this week we will give him a spell and get him freshened up.”
Cobbo has played 17 NRL games this season and made a stunning debut for Queensland in this year’s Origin series, which ended with a sickening concussion in the Suncorp decider.
Walters said the young gun is not suffering any lingering effects from the heavy head knock.
“He is just generally fatigued,” he said. “Selwyn is a young bloke, he’s had a big season at the Broncos and with Origin, so we’re leaving him out.
“We always have the best interests of the player at heart and we worry about what’s best for the individual. He didn’t come up to where he needed to be so we will leave him out and give him a spell.
“He did some good things last week against Melbourne and some things he probably wanted to do better.
“He is a young guy, he’s had 20-25 games in the NRL and it’s tough on the wing these days. The wingers get as much punishment as anyone these days, so we will give him a spell and get him ready for the Dragons.”
In a boost for the Broncos, vice-captain Kurt Capewell passed a fitness test on his ankle and will start in the back row, while Keenan Palasia has been recalled for Ryan James, who is out with a broken finger.
Meanwhile, Zac Hosking will start on the bench in place of Rhys Kennedy as Walters challenged the Broncos to bury their 60-12 debacle against the Storm and seal a finals berth with victory against the Eels.
“Kurt Capewell is good to go which is good news for us,” he said.
“We threw last week’s game in the bin last Saturday morning, that’s where it belonged.
“I have a lot of confidence we can bounce back.
“We know how Parra play, they come through the front door, their big middles, so we have to fix that area up which we didn’t fix last week and the Storm made us pay a price.
“Where we are is exciting, we are in a great position. We are equal fifth on the ladder and our destiny is right in our hands and we have to go after it now.”
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