North Queensland's late push for Paul Green to be named Dally M coach of the year could fall on deaf ears, with the award already determined before the NRL finals.
Cowboys stars Johnathan Thurston, Matt Scott and Lachlan Coote all championed Green's cause for the prestigious award on Saturday night, after the club surged into the unlikeliest of preliminary finals against the Sydney Roosters.
However like individual player awards, the NRL confirmed on Tuesday that finals performances would have no bearing on the Dally M coach results, with the winner already decided after round 26.
The Cowboys finished the regular season in eighth place, and relied on final-round results going in their favour to even make the finals.
At the time, Melbourne's Craig Bellamy, Parramatta's Brad Arthur and the Sydney Roosters' Trent Robinson were all considered favourites for the gong.
But the Cowboys' run through September now has Green as one of the most deserving candidates.
Without co-captains Thurston and Scott for most the year, Green's men have twice overcome halftime deficits in finals to knock out Cronulla and Parramatta in Sydney, and are now one win from the decider.
"I don't think there will be too many sides who could do that," Scott told AAP.
"Not many could lose their two captains and a number of their best players during the year and done as well as this team has done. And that's largely due to what he has done.
"There definitely should be calls for him to win it ... For such an inexperienced coach he's done such an amazing job."
North Queensland's wretched injury toll has seen them use 32 players this season - the second most of any team.
But despite it all, players have noticed a far more composed Green in 2017 with the weight of a premiership defence and expectation off his shoulders.
Fullback Coote said Green had shown faith in the players who had stepped into the team.
"It'd definitely be fair for him to be coach of the year," Coote said.
"He's done an awesome job. He's kept a belief in the team and confidence.
"The players that have come into the side have been playing Q-Cup and stuff like that, under-20s players. It's a credit to him."
Under Green, the Cowboys have reached the third week of the finals for the past three years, after they played semi-finals in his debut season of 2014.
"It's not hard to see what he's created, the culture he has driven and he's got the players that love playing for him," Thurston said.
"What he's done for the club since he has arrived, not only on the field but off the field, he has taken the club to a new level."
Share
