CowboysC offer prop extension

THE Cowboys have dismissed speculation Jordan Mclean will quit the club with the rejuvenated prop set to sign a new deal that could see him finish his career at North Queensland.

North Queensland have tabled a one-year extension to Mclean in the lead up to the Cowboys’ derby showdown with the Broncos in Townsville on Saturday night.

Off-contract at season’s end, Mclean’s future at the Cowboys has been uncertain after several seasons of patchy form, with the former Test prop linked to a possible return to his premiership glory days at Melbourne.

The Storm will lose three premiership forwards – Jesse J and Kenny Bromwich and Felise

Kaufusi K – to the Dolphins Dolphi next season and Mclean (pictured), who knows Melbourne’s systems, was viewed as a handy front-row replacement.

But the Cowboys are keen to retain Mclean. The hulking prop, who turns 31 in October, has averaged 116m and 22 tackles per game this season and was rewarded for his consistent form with selection last week in NSW’S extended 22man squad for Origin II.

Mclean joined the Cowboys in 2018 on a lucrative deal worth around $700,000 a season and the 196cm, 115kg giant has copped criticism for struggling to deliver bang for his big bucks as the club’s enforcer in the post-matt Scott era.

But the 172-game NRL veteran has played a key role in North Queensland’s stunning charge into the top four this season, convincing Cowboys bosses to table a new deal.

“Jordan has been a really important part of our turnaround this year,” Payten said.

“He makes us a tighter team in the middle. Jordan has been carrying the ball with some grunt.”