South Sydney try-scoring machine Nathan Merritt might be dominating the headlines but North Queensland co-captain Matt Scott is more wary of giant forward David Taylor ahead of Friday night's NRL clash.

Of course, the Cowboys are more than aware of Merritt's exploits - indeed coach Neil Henry sounded like an unabashed fan on Thursday after the flyer notched eight tries in his past two games at fullback.

But Scott seemed more concerned with stopping his Queensland State of Origin teammate Taylor at ANZ Stadium, especially after their right-edge defence was exploited in last round's 34-16 loss to the Broncos.

That's if he can get his hands on him.

"He's running a bit wider these days so I might not get to him," Scott smiled.

"It's going to be a tough night for us, especially on the right edge.

"Big Dave is probably one of the most damaging ball runners in the comp when he is on song and he is in great form at the moment."

The Rabbitohs' season revival has coincided with Taylor's return from a five-match ban.

His barnstorming runs down their opponent's right side have also brought out the best in Greg Inglis - sounding alarm bells in Townsville.

The Cowboys' right edge was in tatters after their last-round defeat following uncharacteristic mistakes by ex-Test centre Brent Tate.

Not a good look before taking on a side that has racked up 103 points in their past two games, especially after the fourth-placed Cowboys crunched the numbers and realised they could drop to seventh with a loss this weekend.

But Henry had every faith in Tate bouncing back in his mouth-watering clash with Inglis, just one round after being outshone by Broncos rookie Jack Reed, and a draining week in which he welcomed a baby daughter to the world with wife Lani at 3am on Tuesday.

"He's had a busy week," an understated Henry said of Tate, who is five games into his comeback from a knee reconstruction.

"Greg's been a handful and Tatey knows he has a job to do.

"He had a couple of uncharacteristic errors against the Broncos where he came in hard (in defence) but we didn't lay the blame with Tatey.

"We were a bit skinny on that side. He shouldn't have been put in that position in the first place."

While all eyes are on Souths' strike weapons after three straight wins, Scott ominously warned Cowboys No.7 Johnathan Thurston would only get better after his low-key last-round return from a knee injury against the Broncos.

"He's been on fire all week at training - he definitely lifts the mood of the team," Scott said.

"I am sure he will be better off for the run against the Broncos."

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