North Queensland enforcer Coen Hess has this week been lapping up a very different atmosphere to the one he experienced in his first Preliminary Final five years ago, with the gift of time making the 26-year-old even more grateful to be back within touching distance of a Grand Final spot.
Back in 2017 the Cowboys scraped into the playoffs in eighth place before going on an impressive run which ended in defeat to the Storm in the decider.
Hess, who was in his first full season as an NRL player at the time, having amassed nine appearances across the previous two years, admitted that while that unlikely run was hard to process, it’s different this time around with his side having finished third and won their Qualifying Final.
Hess muscles his way over
Friday night’s match against the Eels will also be the first time the Cowboys have played a finals match at Queensland Country Bank Stadium since it was opened in 2020.
“Besides that Origin (in 2021) this will be the biggest and loudest game we have had here… hopefully our fans can get there and give Parra a pretty hostile environment to play in,” Hess told NRL.com.
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“There is a lot of excitement around town. You certainly know when you are playing finals up here in Townsville.
“That 2017 run was sort of bit of a blur because we weren’t really supposed to be there you could say, I think we scraped in pending a result and then we went on a bit of a run.
This time around I am certainly a lot more appreciative, especially after the few tough seasons we have had.
Coen Hess
“Really privileged to be back and looking forward to it.”
The job Hess and his fellow North Queensland forwards do on the Parramatta pack will go a long way to deciding who becomes the first team through to this year’s Grand Final, with the Eels’ big men running riot in last week’s 40-4 victory over the Raiders.
Parramatta offload more than any other team in the competition this year, at an average of 13.4 per game, and base much of their game around generating second-phase play.
“When their pack is on that’s when they play their best footy,” Hess said.
“For myself and our middles it’s going to be a huge test this week, because they rely so heavily on them to get their metres, quick play the balls and offloads as well.
“It’s obviously really hard, you have got to get up in their face with line speed and have good contact.
“We are not going to be perfect, so it’s also about when they do get an offload swarming them as fast as we can.”
Match Highlights: Sharks v Cowboys
The Cowboys are set to field the same 17 who got the job done in Finals Week 1, while Parramatta coach Brad Arthur has made a tweak to his bench and has another forced change.
Bailey Simonsson is the new centre in place of Tom Opacic, who is out with a hamstring injury, and Bryce Cartwright comes onto the bench in place of Makahesi Makatoa.