Propped up: Fit Taumalolo lays platform for Cowboys resurgence

Jason Taumalolo has been winding back the clock this season, with good-as-new knees and a fresh approach to his role giving the Cowboys enforcer a new lease of life.

Instrumental in North Queensland’s derby win against the Broncos, the Tongan titan led from the front, with his 238 run metres helping lay the platform for the drought-breaking win, the Cowboys’ first over Brisbane in their past seven attempts.

The performance saw him awarded the Carl Webb Medal as player of the match, named in honour of the forward who had such an impact at both clubs.

“It definitely is (special to win the medal),” Taumalolo said.

“I've played alongside Carl Webb, so it shows my age a little bit, and obviously, to have a medal with his name is appropriate, it proves how tough he was as a character, and to be able to win it, is pretty special too.”

This year, Taumalolo has been producing consistent high-level from, providing the forward leadership for a Cowboys side who have now won four games on the trot. While his minutes on average have been reduced, they have been effective, laying an early platform for the team. 

Averaging 156 run metres per game, the prop is also leading the league for post-contact metres with 445 metres, proving there is still plenty of football left in him despite bearing the brunt of the load in the forward pack after making his debut in 2010.

Off-season surgery to clean out his knees has made a huge difference, as has his more efficient minutes in the forward rotation. There have been modifications to his training program, and coach Todd Payten also praised the work he did away from the club on his recovery and game preparation.

“It's good to be healthy first of all and I knew that if I could get myself back to not carrying around injuries and being able to play freely, that I'd eventually get back to where I was,” Taumalolo said.

“That's a huge shout to the medical staff for the Cowboys and (them) believing in me and trusting in the work that that they've been doing and it's all paid off so far.

“The last three or four years, I've been injury-plagued and I knew that if I had a cleanout last year coming into this year, I could give it a red-hot crack again and get back to close to (how I was playing) and believing in myself and it's worked out.

“The medical team especially … for the Cowboys have been unreal and helped me get back to where I'm at, at the moment.”

While the Cowboys attack has been firing with some exciting prospects in their backline like the recently re-signed Jaxon Purdue and Tom Chester taking the limelight; the development of North Queensland’s forward pack in helping turn their 0-2 start to the season around has been vital.

Following the win over Brisbane - a side though down on experience still featured an international level forward pack including Payne Haas, Pat Carrigan, Xavier Willison and Brendan Piakura - Taumalolo praised the contributions of his fellow forwards.

“Tommy [Mikaele], Coen [Hess] and Griff [Griffen Neame] and Lodgie [Matt Lodge] too, they've been really great,” the 2016 Dally M Medal winner said.