HOW QLD REPS CAN SHINE
NORTH Queensland’s Dally M champion Jason Taumalolo wants to captain the Cowboys.
News Corp can reveal Taumalolo has thrown his name into the captaincy ring following the retirement of the other “JT” – Johnathan Thurston.
Cowboys coach Paul Green is yet to reveal who will captain the 2015 NRL premiers this year.
Thurston and fellow club legend Matt Scott shared the co-captaincy of the Cowboys since 2011.
Scott, 33, is expected to retire at season’s end, leaving Green with a big decision to make.
Townsville’s golden child Michael Morgan is the raging favourite to be North Queensland’s next captain, but Taumalolo has given Green food for thought.
The Cowboys signed the 2016 Dally M medallist to a record 10-year contract which will keep him at the club until 2027. And the 25-year-old powerhouse said he would be honoured to captain the club which gave him a crack at the NRL.
“It would be a nice gesture to lead the club and team around,” Taumalolo said.
“I go out there and if I’m giving everything I’ve got on the weekend, then I’m happy with that. If the boys want to follow my lead, I like to lead by my actions.
“We’ve still got a lot of players that are capable of (captaining).
“Michael Morgan will be pushing heavily for the captaincy. He is the next captainin-waiting, obviously being JT’s partner and learning off him. The captaincy is locked in for the next few years if Morgo gets it, which will be great for the club as he’s a great role model and leader.
“Morgo, Gavin Cooper, Matt Scott have leadership and experience to lead the team around, too. We’ve got plenty of leadership in the club.
“Anyone that does take the captaincy will do the job.”
Green is planning to announce his captaincy selection at North Queensland’s season launch on March 8.
Regardless of which way the coach swings, Taumalolo is desperate to rocket back to his best in 2019.
The destructive forward was, by his own standards, quiet at times throughout North Queensland’s shocking 2018 campaign, where the preseason premiership favourites failed to make the finals. But Taumalolo finished the season with a bang and wants to pick up where he left off this year.
“I was disappointed in how we went,” he said. “There were a few reasons for it.
“It was a pretty disappointing year as a club and it wasn’t the ideal year for myself.
“The back end of the season I tried to give it a crack, but when we found out our hopes of making the finals were done and dusted you can’t really do much. We were pretty much playing for pride.”
The Cowboys will play their first trial match of the pre-season on Saturday night against the Gold Coast Titans on the Sunshine Coast.