‘No deal’ on rising star
NORTH Queensland has denied claims the club has secured the signature of Australian Schoolboys dummy-half Reece Robson on a reported four-year deal.
The highly talented 20-year-old has been stuck in a dummy-half logjam at St George-illawarra behind 80minute hooker Cameron Mcinnes.
Robson, who represented the Junior Kangaroos in 2018, is understood to have been courting potential clubs with the Cowboys and CanterburyBankstown Bulldogs high on the list.
But North Queensland director of football Peter Parr would not buy into the speculation, suggesting the club had not formalised any deal for the hooker.
Parr admitted the club was aware of Robson and the good things he had done for the Dragons in the lower grades but said it would be a “wait and see” prospect.
“We know of him, he is a very good young player,” Parr told the Townsville Bulletin. “He is only 20 years old and he is a good young player.
“Whether we go down that track, we will wait and see. Retention and recruitment is always ongoing and there is always plenty of discussions between clubs and (player) agents.
“Our focus at the moment is playing good footy, we need to get some traction in our season. Player signings and things like that will come in time.”
The Cowboys currently have 117game veteran Jake Granville as their first-choice hooker with NRL journeyman and recent recruit Kurt Baptiste as a back-up option.
Granville has been one of the club’s best since making the move from Brisbane at the end of the 2014 NRL season.
The 30-year-old was a key cog to the Cowboys maiden premiership in 2015, named the club’s Player’s Player of the Year.
But he has struggled to have an impact at the beginning of 2019, with a form slump coinciding with the club’s struggles on the field. Granville returned to his best running game at the weekend as the Cowboys snapped a four-game losing streak in Auckland.