Crazy prep caused Taumalolo tornado
JASON Taumalolo was motivated by North Queensland’s epic Thursday schedule when he produced a career-best yardage haul against Canterbury.
Taumalolo ran 304 metres in Friday night’s win over the Bulldogs, the most by any forward in a decade, according to Fox Sports Stats.
The NRL’s own official figures had his efforts as high as a provisional 345m, overtaking Steve Price’s record of 323 for the most by a forward.
The lock totalled more than 100m in post-contact metres alone, while he also busted six tackles, made a linebreak and scored a try.
But it came after a horror day of travel for the Cowboys.
With the NRL intent on managing player contact, they flew down late on the morning of the game and arrived at the empty ANZ Stadium by 4pm.
With no hotel booked, the team left the ground by 11pm for Sydney airport, where they again had a chartered flight to land in Townsville at around 2.30am.
It’s a scenario the Cowboys are likely to face all season, with teams flying directly in and out of cities for as long as the coronavirus outbreak remains.
And while Taumalolo would rather fly the day earlier so he can have his customary pre-game nap, Cowboys fans won’t mind if Friday’s statistics become a habit.
“I think the biggest motivation was the way today panned out,” Taumalolo said.
“Flying out on the same day. Short preparation and the boys coming in. Everyone was still fatigued, a bit jet-lagged.
“Got dressed and got out there straight into a game of footy.”
It was also the second time he had topped 300m in a match, after doing so against St George Illawarra in the opening round last year.
“You can’t really stop him, he’s one of a kind and I’m privileged and excited I get to play with him instead of against him,” Cowboys teammate Josh McGuire said after the game. “I’ve been on the opposite end for a lot of years playing against him.
“I haven’t got enough praise to say about Jase, and Jordan McLean as well.”
Cowboys coach Paul Green praised his side’s ability to stay focused on the task at hand despite having a myriad distractions leading into the Bulldogs game on Thursday night.
The Cowboys had a chartered flight out of Townsville at 11am on game day and arrived at an empty ANZ Stadium four hours before kick off.
Green said the team didn’t let a foreign preparation derail them ahead of their 24-16 victory.
“Coming off a disappointing loss last week I thought we bounced back well tonight,” Green said after the match.
“There were plenty of reasons for us not to play well tonight but I thought we handled it well and I’m pleased we got a win.
“I was really worried about them being flat, it’s been a long day and more so we’re just not used to, we’ve never had, a prep like this before a game.”
Green said his side took a step in the right direction defensively against Canterbury, only missing 16 tackles in comparison to 44 the week prior against Brisbane.
The Cowboys flew straight out of Sydney after the game and didn’t land back in North Queensland until after 2am.
Green said the new routine of flying in and out on game day for away matches could work in the Cowboys’ favour moving forward.