KEY POINTS:
Carl Webb's presence in the Cowboys pack may be critical to their chances against the Warriors in Townsville tomorrow - whether he plays or not.
Webb has struggled all week with a calf tear suffered in the 68th minute of their win over the Bulldogs last weekend. He has undergone extensive physio and done time in a decompression chamber. Cowboys coach Graham Murray said Webb was such a high-calibre player he would give him until late today to prove his fitness, even though the big prop has not been able to run all week.
Judging from the pained look on Webb's face as he was assisted off the field, he won't run out. If he does, he may be nothing more than a liability.
The NRL has released statistics showing that the Cowboys' pack is the least experienced to have made a finals series. With Webb, they have just 310 games between them and he has 119 of those. Without him, their combined NRL experience drops by 119 to 181 games because two of the three players who have been put on standby - former Otahuhu prop Ben Vaeau, 24, and Junior Kangaroo Scott Bolton, 20 - are yet to make their top-grade debut and the other - John Frith, 20 - has one game to his name.
The Warriors' pack have a combined 960 games between them; Steve Price with 281 and Ruben Wiki 287 of those. Their least-experienced player Sam Rapira has 35 NRL games, while the Cowboys will start Mark Henry (26 games), Matt Scott (22), Matt Bartlett (14) and Sam Faust (11).
It is a pack that has twice beaten the Bulldogs. But the Dogs have not fielded their full strike force since round 17.
The Cowboys have won six in a row, as they did to start 2006, their longest winning streak. The other four victories though were over the Knights, Panthers, Raiders and Dragons who did not make the playoffs.
Warriors coach Ivan Cleary felt his side would be better for having played one finals game to get over nerves. They had experienced the Townsville crowd in round play and the prospect of a sellout did not faze them. "It shouldn't affect our confidence. We were probably a bit off that night [lost 18-12] and still we went close to winning." They haven't won in Townsville since 2002.
The mantra this week has been "work hard at training, don't leave anything in the tank in Townsville".
They have not focused on individual players - but Johnathan Thurston and Matt Bowen provide the majority of the Cowboys' tackles, line-breaks and tries.
"Everyone is aware how good those two can be but, if we do our job as we did last week defensively, they won't get too many chances," said captain Price.
Cleary has emphasised sticking to their game rather than being drawn into the Cowboys' style.
Defence around the ruck will be paramount in this game.
In Aaron Payne and Kiwi David Faiumu, the home side has two players who like to scoot and dart around any loose marker defence after the play-the-ball and break up the line behind.
