Big teen’s smiles contrast at game

THE dressing sheds at 1300SMILES Stadium were not a happy place for the Cowboys on August 21, 2010, having just fallen to a heartbreaking 22-20 defeat to the Bulldogs.

Just 24 hours after a crisis meeting of the club’s board, the Cowboys self-destructed on their home turf, conceding three tries in four minutes to slump to their eighth loss in nine games.

But among the misery of that night was the emergence of a hulking teenager who would become one of the most damaging forwards not only at the Cowboys but in the entire sport of rugby league.

Jason Taumalolo was still a student at Kirwan State High when he made his NRL debut at the tender age of 17 years and 82 days, becoming the youngest player in the club’s history.

Wearing the No.21 jersey after only learning of his debut during warm-up for the under-20s, Taumalolo had few chances to unleash the physicality that would later become his trademark.

The schoolboy played the last 15 minutes of the first-grade match, making just one carry for 9m along with 11 tackles as the Cowboys snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

But according to Taumalolo, you couldn’t wipe the smile off his face as he sat on the bench looking over to his family and friends sitting on the hill where he had spent so many weekends growing up.

“Normally after a 20s game I’d go sit up on the hill with all my schoolmates and watch the rest of the game there with them,” Taumalolo told the Townsville Bulletin. “When I was sitting on the bench (for his NRL debut) I couldn’t stop looking over and seeing all my mates there, all waving, and obviously Mum and Dad too.

“Coming up playing juniors, every weekend I’d come and watch the game and sit at the same spot on the same hill.

“I’d eat too many chips and lollies and whatnot, but I massively enjoyed watching footy and watching guys like ‘JT’ (Johnathan Thurston), and Matty Bowen and Matt Scott run around.

“A lot of the players I watched back then, I’m privileged enough to still be playing alongside them, and it’s something I definitely don’t take for granted.”

Even Taumalolo’s closest friends and family couldn’t have predicted just how important he would become to the Cowboys after the excited youngster made his debut that night.

Famously signed by the club’s recruitment chief Clint Zammit in a Palmer St pizza shop, the Auckland-born Taumalolo moved to Townsville as a 13year-old. He played his schoolboys footy for the Kirwan Bears and would go on to represent the Australian schoolboys by 16 and become a fixture in North Queensland’s under-20s squad.

Taumalolo would take a few years to find his feet as an NRL player after his debut but the now 26-year-old has proven himself to be one of the best forwards to ever wear a Cowboys jersey after signing an unprecedented 10-year deal with the club in 2017.

He was part of North Queensland’s breakthrough grand final victory in 2015 before winning the Dally M the following season, and forever changing the face of the international game when he defected to then minnows Tonga for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.

But Taumalolo said the first time he stepped on to the hallowed turf at 1300SMILES Stadium as an NRL player would always be one of his fondest memories in rugby league.

“A lot happened at school after debuting; everyone coming up and saying congratulations and how excited they were, watching me,” he said.

“The odd teacher that didn’t like me didn’t really enjoy me debuting, but it was pretty cool for myself. I was a bit intimidated playing against grown men and most of those guys I watched on TV. To be able to play against them was pretty daunting but when I went in, I enjoyed it.”