Darren Lockyer: Cowboys’ Jason Taumalolo could be the greatest

JASON Taumalolo has become as influential as Sonny Bill Williams and has the potential to become the greatest power forward we have seen.

JASON Taumalolo has become as influential as Sonny Bill Williams and has the potential to become the greatest power forward we have seen.

When a team embarks on a Cinderella-style finals charge, it only takes leadership from two or three key players for the rest of the squad to ride the wave of momentum.

In this sense, the Cowboys are feeding off the inspiration of Morgan and Taumalolo, the latter of whom could be the wrecking ball that breaks the Roosters’ spirit in Saturday night’s grand-final qualifier.

Like everyone else in the code, Taumalolo continues to amaze me. His cocktail of energy, workrate and power running is breathtaking.

Jason Taumalolo on the charge for the Cowboys.

For me, he now exudes the same aura that made Sonny Bill Williams one of the finest athletes rugby league has produced.

Is he better than SBW? It’s hard to define because they play different roles. Sonny Bill worked the edges. Jason is a middle forward. Sonny Bill touched the ball less frequently but could produce more influential plays. Taumalolo has a greater workrate than Sonny Bill with ball carries that are more consistent and relentless.

The one certainty is that Taumalolo can leave a similar legacy and is now having a Sonny Bill-style impact on matches.

It is significant to note that the Roosters won the 2013 premiership with Sonny Bill on deck.

Since he left, they haven’t been back to the big dance.

Sonny Bill Williams is one of the finest athletes rugby league has produced.

Cowboys coach Paul Green deserves a lot of credit for managing Taumalolo’s development.

When Green arrived in Townsville four seasons ago, Taumalolo was drifting in and out of first grade and struggling to come to grips with the mental requirements to succeed in the NRL.

Under Green, he has matured, become more professional at embracing a greater workload and is relishing his simplified role in the team.

Time will be the ultimate barometer of how we rate Taumalolo. It is scary that at age 24, he has won a Dally M Medal and is still traversing an upward curve.

In the past four seasons, he has punched out more than 15,000 metres. This season, he is averaging 196 metres per game and still managing 26 tackles per match.

If he continues this sort of form for the next five years, he will produce numbers never before seen and, like Cameron Smith, Sonny Bill and Johnathan Thurston, be remembered as a champion of his position.

Jason Taumalolo has flourished under Cowboys coach Paul Green.

Can Taumalolo inspire the Cowboys to another boilover against the Roosters? Absolutely.

The Roosters are beatable. They lack Melbourne’s ruthlessness and can be guilty of fluctuating intensity levels that leave them vulnerable to being sucker-punched.

The Cowboys are playing tactically simple yet effective finals football built around completing sets and building pressure through Morgan’s judicious kicking.

I view this as a mini-Origin game. The Roosters have a blend of NSW Origin players and the Cowboys have a Maroons influence via Morgan and their stand-in skipper, Gavin Cooper.

To win, the Cowboys need to adopt an Origin-style mentality.

They won’t blow them off the park, but if the Cowboys are prepared to fight for every inch and relish the grind, they can mentally break the Roosters and keep the fairytale alive.

Originally published as Darren Lockyer: Cowboys’ Jason Taumalolo could be the greatest