Hard work, repetition, and a ‘total buy-in’ for every player have put Cowboys right in the mix for the 2022 NRL championship and Chad Townsend believes the iron wall being constructed in North Queensland can take the club all the way.
“For us, defence was a huge focus in the offseason,” the Cowboys co-captain says.
It’s already paying off for North Queensland this year too.
The competition recently hit the halfway mark—at least for the Cowboys, who blew away Queensland rivals the Titans in the short-changed round 13. So far, with just over a dozen games in their pockets, Todd Payten’s men have conceded just 159 points. Even more incredibly, the team’s iron defence has conceded just 42 points in second halves.
The whole squad is to credit for the stunning record, Townsend claims.
“We compete and we work hard for one another,” he told media following the Titans win.
“If you look at the top four teams, consistently they are the best defensive teams. We’ve done a lot of tackling. It probably wasn’t my favourite thing to do but we are reaping a lot of the rewards now. It’s a trait of good teams that they turn up and compete.
“You see how many tries we’ve saved… that’s something that we’ve been priding ourselves on.”
Defence isn’t the only focus, though it’s where the ‘buy-in’ is shining through the most.
Even more so, Townsend said, every North Queensland star is looking at the blokes on either side of him and wanting to step up for them. When they found themselves down against the Titans, that drive to lift for their teammates gripped the Cowboys.
“We came here [to the Gold Coast] looking for a bounce-back, for a response from the team, and I’m really happy with what we’ve seen,” the Cowboys halfback admitted. “The boys all wanted to bounce back after that Panthers game, definitely. There’s a hunger there, like I said a buy-in, and we showed that tonight to get the job done.
“Even better, I think we’re still working on it. We have a lot to work on.
“We need to keep bringing our best, that’s exactly what needs to be done to beat the best teams. We’re focusing on that within the team as well as on the field too, hanging out together, going out, playing cards, and really bonding. It’s that connection that’s really key for us. Golf, cards, coffee, swimming, that’s the foundation of our close team.
“It’s a long season, so we’ll see where we get.”
The Cowboys now boast their best NRL defensive effort since 2016 when the team ran out into every game—up to an early playoffs exit—as reigning premiers after a huge title victory the year before.
