Mclean seeks a year of action

TOWERING Cowboys prop Jordan Mclean says just staying on the paddock will be his biggest motivation in 2019 after injury stifled his first season in North Queensland.

Mclean was restricted to just 10 NRL games last season after a Lisfranc injury sidelined him for four months as the Cowboys crashed out of finals contention.

The 27-year-old had been North Queensland’s prized recruit after winning a premiership with the Storm in 2017 and making his debut for Australia in their World Cup triumph.

Mclean was impressive when he was actually on the field for the Cowboys, averaging 139m a game as they won four of their last six matches, and he was keen to build on that form.

“It’d be nice to play more than 10 games so hopefully I can knock a few out this year,” Mclean said.

“I think we just picked up where we left off at the end of the year. We haven’t gone backwards at all, we’ve probably ramped up a little bit.

“She’s pretty warm up here so everyone’s sweating pretty profusely while we’re training.

“We’ve still got a few weeks to deal with that before the season starts so we’ll try and get the most out of them.”

The Cowboys have bolstered their forward pack over the off-season by bringing in Broncos enforcer Josh Mcguire, who is likely to partner Mclean as the starting props.

The pair has already played together for Australia and Mclean said he was excited about what Mcguire will add to North Queensland’s middle rotation.

“I’ve played a few games with him before so I know what he’s about and he’ll definitely bring some much needed grunt there in the middle,” he said.

Mclean was part of the Blues coach Brad Fittler’s train-on squad in Sydney last month and he said earning a long-awaited Origin debut would also be in the back of his mind.

“We had that bit of an emerging camp there so that let everyone know what was expected of them if they want to get a jumper,” Mclean said.

“I’ll keep that quiet what was said, but hopefully throughout the year I can do my job (for the Cowboys) and if it leads to that I’ll be very happy.”