Cowboys v Sharks preview

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Reigning Premiers look for fast start to the season. Sharks looking for revenge.

North Queensland will attempt to hit the ground running in their round 1 clash against the Cronulla Sharks on Saturday night. Having celebrated long and hard into the offseason after securing their maiden Premiership, the Cowboys continued their fun with a demolition job of the hapless Leeds Rhinos in the World Club Challenge 38-4 just a few weeks ago. They look incredibly well drilled and Jonathan Thurston, Michael Morgan and Jake Granville don't look like they have missed a beat.

Cronulla on the other hand will have just one thing on their mind. Revenge... 

Cast your minds back to September of last year, week 2 of the Finals Series. After dispatching reigning Premiers Souths, the Sharks were brought back to earth 39-0 by the Cowboys and thus another year of hopes and premiership dreams were crushed. It was a disappointing end to what was an otherwise successful season for the Sharks. The finger pointing started not long after the full time siren and the Sharks responded by bringing in James Maloney from the Roosters and local lad Chad Townsend comes back from the Warriors to improve their stagnant halves. The re-signing of Jack Bird also inspires confidence within the camp. 

The Sharks would love to start the season with a big scalp of the reigning premiers and could give their premiership hopes a major shot in the arm. Can they get it done in Townsville though?

Last meeting: Semi Finals 2015 - Cowboys 39 Sharks 0

The Sharks lead the all time battles between the clubs 24 games to 14, however they did win 13 of the first 14 clashes until the Cowboys improved and turned things around. Despite last year's heavy Semi Final defeat the Sharks have won the previous two clashes between the clubs including one at 1300Smiles Stadium in 2014. The Sharks have won 11 of 21 matches at 1300Smiles Stadium since 1995, can they make it 12 on Saturday Night?

Who to watch: For the home side, Jake Granville was one of the buys of the season in 2015 for the Cowboys. A diminutive dummy half who has speed, footwork and incredible vision. He took a lot of the pressure off Jonathan Thurston last season and this was a catalyst for their success. He tallied 10 tries, 11 line breaks and 7 try assists as well as averaging a tidy 27 tackles and 64 metres a game. Look for him to expose holes around the ruck and target the Sharks big forwards, especially with the interchange rules bringing changes down to 8 a game. A very dangerous player that the Sharks will have to defend against stoutly if they want to stay in this game. 

For the traveling Cronulla Sharks, they need a huge game from their front men and in particular Andrew Fifita. The former NSW and Australian representative was bitterly disappointing last year and caught the ire of the large majority of Sharks fans with his ill disciplined play which was mainly littered by handling errors and conceded penalties. 34 missed tackles, 22 errors and 19 penalties conceded tell the story of a an up and down season for the big prop. This said, he still averaged 161 metres a game last season and if he can eliminate these errors he could be a real handful for the Cowboys on Saturday, add to this his big motor and Sharks fans have high hopes for him in 2016. Watch for his neat footwork and powerful running style in an attempt to disrupt the North Queensland defence.

The favourite: Cowboys are heavily tipped in this clash and rightfully so, they are reigning premiers and have looked red hot in the pre season. The home advantage also benefits them in this clash.

My tip: Almost impossible to go past the reigning Premiers at home after the Pre-season they have had. With the class all over the park including the best player in the world Jonathan Thurston, littered with some pretty handy support players the Cowboys look just as strong in 2016. The Sharks will need to be playing at an extremely high level for the entire 80 minutes if they hope to compete with the Cowboys, the Sharks can do it, the question is can they banish the nightmares of last season's thrashing and start 2016 a fresh. It's going to be a great game to watch! Cowboys by 12.

1. Lachlan Coote 2. Kyle Feldt 3. Justin O'Neill 4. Kane Linnett 5. Antonio Winterstein 6. Michael Morgan 7. Johnathan Thurston 8. Matthew Scott 9. Jake Granville 10. James Tamou 11. Gavin Cooper 12. Ethan Lowe 13. Jason Taumalolo 
Interchange: 14. Rory Kostjasyn 15. John Asiata 16. Scott Bolton 17. Ben Hannant

1. Ben Barba 2. Sosaia Feki 3. Jack Bird 4. Ricky Leutele 5. Valentine Holmes 6. James Maloney 7. Chad Townsend 8. Andrew Fifita 9. Michael Ennis 10. Sam Tagataese 11. Luke Lewis 12. Wade Graham 13. Paul Gallen 
Interchange: 14. Chris Heighington 15. Matt Prior 16. David Fifita 17. Jayson Bukuya 18. Gerard Beale 19. Joseph Paulo

Referees: Ben Cummins, Adam Devcich; Sideline Officials: Michael Wise, Belinda Sleeman; Video Referees: Ben Galea, Jason Robinson, Bernard Sutton