Unchanged squad for the Cowboys

North Queensland Cowboys coach Neil Henry has named an unchanged 18-man squad for Saturday night’s NRL Close The Gap round match against Manly at Dairy Farmers Stadium.

Aiming for a sixth straight win at home, the Cowboys squad includes halfback Ray Thompson who has been 18th man for the last two rounds as he worked on regaining full fitness after injuring his shoulder in round 19 against the NZ Warriors.

Both the Cowboys and Sea Eagles, who beat the Warriors in Perth on Saturday night, sit on 26 points with North Queensland holding down fourth spot, two places ahead of their opponents this weekend, thanks to a superior points for and against record.

It is the first meeting between the two clubs since Manly eliminated the Cowboys from the 2011 finals series before going on to win the premiership.

Kickoff at Dairy Farmers Stadium on Saturday will be at 7:30pm (AEST).

North Qld Cowboys: 1 Matthew Bowen, 2 Kalifa Faifai Loa, 3 Brent Tate, 4 Kane Linnett, 5 Antonio Winterstein, 6 Johnathan Thurston ©, 7 Michael Morgan, 8 Matthew Scott ©, 9 Aaron Payne, 10 James Tamou, 11 Gavin Cooper, 12 Glenn Hall, 13 Dallas Johnson. Interchange: 14 Anthony Mitchell, 15 Ricky Thorby, 16 Ashton Sims, 17 Scott Bolton, 18 Ray Thompson (one to be omitted).

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