North Queensland coach Paul Green says playing Test prop Matt Scott in Sunday's NRL grand final against Melbourne is too big a risk.
Green said on Saturday he would go with the 17 players who got the Cowboys to an unlikely grand final, with no room for their co-captain.
The chief enforcer was always a long shot to play at ANZ Stadium after undergoing a knee reconstruction that had left him sidelined since round two.
"It was more a medical thing," Green said.
"It's not about my opinion of him as a player.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
"I don't have to go on about what a good player he is and how much respect I've got for him -- it's more about the risk.
"The fact is he's seven months after an ACL and he's in the high risk category; it's as simple as that."
The 32-year-old prop completed North Queensland's final training run at Kogarah on Saturday morning but Green said all of his players got through the session incident-free.
Green said it was a emotionally difficult time for Scott.
"I feel for Matt Scott, he's had a really tough week," Green said.
"Firstly putting himself out there to make himself available and then also dealing with the fact that he's probably not going to play.
"That's been tough for him to deal with but it shows the character of him to do whatever he can for the team and that's what it's always been about by making himself available."
