RISE OF THE TERMINATOR
HARD- working Bowen Seagulls Corey Jensen may just be the living, breathing encapsulation of what North Queensland’s finals campaign is all about. Jensen will tomorrow night play his 12th consecutive NRL — and his second finals’ clash — in a year that was supposed to yield a handful of first grade appearances around Origin time. He his opportunities on the back of an injury toll that had critics all but write the Cowboys off. As many said loudly, how could the Cowboys hope to go deep into finals without Johnathan Thurston and Matt Scott? With like Jensen, that’s how. Jensen may only be 23 years of age, but he already knows that in life, and in footy, anything is possible. At the end of 2014, Jensen graduated from the Cowboys under- 20s without an NRL contract. In 2015 he was a fringe member of Queensland Cup side the Townsville Blackhawks, missing out on selection in the Blackhawks’ Q Cup grand final team. By full- time tomorrow could be one game away from playing an NRL grand final. “I think it was my mum who brought it up and said that only two years ago I was struggling to get into the Blackhawks’ 17,” Jensen said. “To play NRL and finals in my first year, it’s a dream come true … it was a dream to play one NRL game. “I just try and look at it as a of football and do my best job for the team, whatever it may be.” Jensen’s rise took a bit of luck, and without his club’s significant injury toll he may have struggled to play a single game.
He got his NRL debut in Round 7 and strung two more games together, before returning to first grade from Round 15 and staying there.
Jensen has indeed been a big beneficiary but when it comes to playing 11 consecutive NRL games, luck has nothing to do with it.
The young gun’s work ethic has been a talking point within Cowboys HQ, with players nicknaming Jensen “The Terminator”.
Jensen attributes his sudden rise to that relentless work ethic.
“It’s no secret, it’s just a matter of working hard and believing in your ability to get there,” he said.
“Knowing you have a role to play in the team, and if you can do that then no matter who comes in the side, everyone’s confident they can get the job.”
Jensen relished all 19 minutes of his debut NRL finals game last weekend, running an incredible 99 metres.
Jason Taumalolo and Coen Hess may have been stars of the show, but Jensen played an integral role in giving North Queensland ascendancy in the middle battle. “It felt like a normal game,” he said. “I knew what the game meant to us and we knew what we had to do, and
I tried to take it as a normal game.
“But it’s semi- final footy, so you have to play the game for the full 80 minutes and we understand that.
“That’s to put us in good stead for the weekend.
“So as long as we complete well and defend well like we did last weekend, we’ll give ourselves every opportunity.”
Jensen also counts his Bowenbased family as the reason why he was able to cruise through the tough times and get to where he is now.
“My family have been behind me the whole way, they’ve always been there,” he said.
“They come to as many games as they can and always watch the games on TV, and they can be my worst critics at times which is good — it’s what I want.”