North Queensland Cowboys forward Francis Molo signs with Dragons

After a horror start to the 2021 season at the hands of the Panthers, the body blows keep coming for the Cowboys.

After a horror start to the 2021 season at the hands of the Panthers, the body blows keep coming for the Cowboys.

As revealed by News Corp, front rower Frank Molo has signed a three-year deal with weekend rivals St George-Illawarra and will depart at season’s end.

It is a disappointing result for the Cowboys, who are understood to have offered the middle forward their own three-year deal but were blown out of the water by the Dragons offer.

Molo is the only player in the Cowboys squad to have played every game of the last two seasons, and has evolved his game from an impact player into a genuine starting front rower.

Cowboys head of football Micheal Luck said it would be a blow, but would also allow the club to put more resources into their emerging forward stocks in young players like Griffin Neame, Riley Price and Ben Condon.

NRL; North Queensland Cowboys training at Queensland Country Bank Stadium. Francis Molo . Picture: Alix Sweeney

“We are disappointed to lose someone like Frank, we would have loved to have him here for the rest of his career and we offered him a deal that would have done that,” Luck said.

“He rarely misses a game and he looks after his body. He has done really well to develop himself and develop his game over his time at the club.

“We are losing a first grader but this gives us a great opportunity to organically develop a couple of our young middle forwards.”

It will also free up cap space for the Cowboys heading into next season with Luck admitting the club is keeping an eye on the NRL’s open market ahead of 2022.

The Cowboys have several players off-contract at the season’s end including premiership-winners Jake Granville and Justin O’Neill as well as fullback Scott Drinkwater.

After three poor seasons in the bottom four, it gives the Cowboys a chance to refresh their roster under new coach Todd Payten.

But Luck said their first move was to develop the players they have coming through the ranks.

“We are going to put some time and effort into our young guys, and then we can look at what we don’t have and go to the market,” he said.

Originally published as North Queensland Cowboys forward Francis Molo signs with Dragons