Tips: Joey expects ‘dead cat bounce’ from under-siege Cowboys
Andrew Johns is adamant that the Cowboys will rebound from their humiliating 70-point defeat to the Roosters with a “dead cat bounce” win over the Titans in Thursday night’s Queensland derby.
Todd Payten’s team has fallen out of the eight after their dismal last start 82-12 loss at home and face a battle to claw their way to finals in the last five rounds of the regular season.
Scott Drinkwater after the Cowboys were thumped by the Roosters in round 22. Getty Images
A win over the 14th placed Titans will be viewed as crucial to their chances of booking a spot in the playoffs, with the in form Bulldogs leaping them into eighth spot due to the scale of the Cowboys’ defeat, which ravaged their for and against.
The Cowboys are level on 26 competition points with both the Rabbitohs (seventh) and Bulldogs (eighth) and have a bye up their sleeve, but a loss on Thursday night would be a serious blow due to their shocking -98 points difference.
With injuries to inspirational halfback and captain Tom Dearden and Origin back-rower Jeremiah Nanai, the Cowboys have their backs against the wall. Only two teams in premiership history have bounced back from 70-point plus defeats to win the following week - the Sharks in 2003 and Canterbury in 1935 - but Johns expects them to “scrap and fight for everything” for a morale-boosting turnaround.
“There’s an expression in the stockbroking world: dead cat bounce. So when it plummets, bounce,” Johns told Wide World of Sports’ NRL Tips, referring to the expression that applies to public companies whose share price go into freefall then have a slight recovery. The grim term comes from the Wall Street saying that “even a dead cat will bounce if it falls from a great height”.
“We’re going to know what’s under the bonnet for the Cowboys,” Johns added.
“Look, if they’re fair dinkum, get out there and scrap and fight for everything. I’m going to tip the Cows.”
Brad Fittler also tipped the Cowboys but was intrigued by Payten’s decision to stick with young gun Jaxon Purdue in the halves. Rookie five-eighth Liam Sutton was named on the extended bench for the Cowboys but has since been dropped out of the game day squad in jersey 21, with Payten seemingly backing his halves combination of Purdue, who first established himself in the NRL as a gun centre, and Jake Clifford.
Speaking to media on Wednesday, Cowboys co-captain Reuben Cotter was adamant the team would not give another poor account of themselves, saying their embarrassing loss to the Roosters had “lit a fire among the group”.
Payten added that Thursday night’s game “couldn’t come quick enough” for his team.
There was disappointment, embarrassment and shame, but so there should be.
“Everything that came our way from a commentary point of view was well-deserved.
Todd Payten expects a big performance from his side. Nine
“It wasn’t nice, but one game doesn’t define our season.
“The first 24 hours was about reassuring the players of exactly that.
“It’s all in front of us, the scenario doesn’t change.”
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