Former Cowboys fullback Lachlan Coote blasts club over exit
Former Cowboys fullback Lachlan Coote has blasted the club for the way his career in Townsville ended which forced him to move to England.
Coote fell out of favour with coach Paul Green and wasn’t offered a new deal for 2019, which saw him link up with St Helens in the Super League.
However the Cowboys have struggled to find a fullback this season in the wake of Ben Barba’s contract termination and Coote had little sympathy in an interview with British magazine Rugby League World.
”I was trying to hang onto that NRL career. Why wouldn’t you?” Coote said.
“I’ve got a family over there with two young kids. I’ve already moved away from my mum and dad once and didn’t want to have to do it again, especially out of the country and to the other side of the world.”
Coote played 83 games for the Cowboys from 2015 to 2018, winning a premiership in first season at the club.
The 29-year-old veteran of 166 NRL games for the Panthers and Cowboys was desperate to continue his career in Australia to be closer to his family.
“At the end of last year I was seriously contemplating just going to a Q Cup team and playing out whatever footy I had left in me,” Coote said.
“I was pretty disappointed with how things ended at the Cowboys. In another sense, it happens all the time to players. I’ve seen it happen to other players before me, it was just my turn I guess.”
However Coote believes the Cowboys could have handled his exit better by communicating more from their end.
“The way they approached it was poor, I guess, and it could have been handled better,” Coote said.
“For a coach to just lose respect for someone for no reason, that’s what I didn’t understand. That was pretty disappointing to see.
“It just wasn’t being upfront with things. It felt like from the start of the season, going to a grand final, there wasn’t much chat from the coach.
“When I did get injured at the start of the season, there was no chat there. You’d think when your first string fullback goes down, there’d be chat there.
“But I don’t want to come across as I’m whining about things and stuff like that. I’ve been around a long time and that’s how things are.”