Cowboys corner: How 2023 failures inspired Jeremiah Nanai resurgence
An older, smarter and fitter Jeremiah Nanai has credited a gruelling pre-season for his sensational return to form after a lacklustre sophomore season. Catch up on the latest news coming out of Cowboys HQ.
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Sam McIntyre: Unsung Ironman - Jason Taumalolo: Finding My Form - Griffin Neame: Unfinished Business - Viliami Vailea: Tick Of Approval For Tonga
HOW 2023 FAILURES INSPIRED NANAI RESURGENCE
An older, smarter and fitter Jeremiah Nanai has credited a gruelling pre-season for his sensational return to form after his sophomore season was derailed by a lack of fitness and preparation.
Nanai was crowned the finest rookie talent in the NRL in 2022 when he burst onto the scene with 17 tries in his first 19 games, with four multi-try games including a round 3 hat-trick.
But following a successful World Cup campaign, the Auckland-born Cairns Kangaroos junior returned to North Queensland in a bad way.
Injury and consistency plagued Nanai’s season and he missed half of the Cowboys’ games, only managing to cross the chalk six times.
The Queensland Maroons star said a renewed focus on his preparation and a ruthless approach to the pre-season allowed him to recapture his confidence.
“Last year, I came back overweight and I didn’t have the best pre-season and when it came into the games I had a few injuries and things like that,” Nanai said.
“This year I came back feeling really good in the pre-season, I worked hard and I didn’t have many injuries this year – I think I just had a minor head knock and that was it.
“I’ve grown a bit older and I’m learning new things too so I’m just getting everything right with preparation and getting my body fit for the week.”
Nanai’s defence came under fire in 2023 but this year the Cowboys have locked down their right edge, conceding the third-fewest tries down that channel in the NRL (34).
He said North Queensland’s new-look edge defence had built a lot of trust between each other.
“We’ve got a new half now in Cliffo (Jake Clifford) and he’s been outstanding at the Pride. His defence coming into the NRL has been very good,” Nanai said.
“He’s been good to me, helping me out, and I’m just feeding off him.
“We’ve got ‘Pila’ (Viliami Vailea) too in the centres, he’s been really strong this year in the defensive end on the right side, and Feldty (Kyle Feldt) has been one of the best wingers in the game for a long time.
“Everyone is just sinking their teeth in at the right time and it’s very good for us moving into the finals, hopefully we can carry that momentum on.”
The Cowboys host Newcastle on Saturday night, kick-off is at 7.50pm.
MEET THE COWBOYS’ UNSUNG IRONMAN SAM MCINTYRE
North Queensland’s unsung ironman Sam McIntyre has quietly become one of the key pieces to the Cowboys’ premiership puzzle.
McIntyre has taken the mantle from Jake Granville as the team’s Mr Fix-it, appearing in every game this season and featuring at lock, prop, backrow, hooker and centre throughout the year.
After amassing 27 NRL games across four seasons, the Canberra-born utility has almost doubled his career tally with 25-straight games for the Cowboys.
Now he’s ready to take the next step in his career as he prepares to face Newcastle in his first-ever NRL finals game.
“My goal is to win a premiership and obviously you’ve got to play finals to get there,” McIntyre said.
“I’ve been very much looking forward to playing big games in my career and this will be the biggest one yet.
“I wouldn’t call it a relief (to make finals), it’s a reward for hard work. We wished it was in a top four position but we’re happy with how we played on the weekend down in Sydney. Now we work.
“We’re all ready to go – no matter how battered and sore we are, we all feel like we’re fresh and ready to go so it’s very exciting.”
How McIntyre’s role within the squad changes next year when Manly’s Karl Lawton joins the team is yet to be seen, but it’s fair to say he will be given every opportunity to remain in Todd Payten’s match day 17.
He said the Cowboys always held a lot of belief even while they were languishing towards the bottom of the ladder at the midpoint of the season.
“The competition was so tight. We might have been sitting 14th or 15th, but we were one win away from sixth, it wasn’t all doom and gloom as it was made out,” McIntyre said.
“We just knew that if we could play our football, Cowboys football, that we were going to play well. I still feel like we haven’t played our best footy this year which is exciting.”
HOW TAUMALOLO FOUND HIS FORM
Cowboys legend Jason Taumalolo has revealed the secret to rediscovering his destructive form while leaving the door open to an international swan song with Tonga during this year’s Pacific Championships.
North Queensland coach Todd Payten came under fire early in the season for limiting the output of his superstar forward, but that move proved to be a masterstroke with 31-year-old Taumalolo reaching the 20-game mark for just the second time in six seasons.
This year the 2016 Dally M Medallist has averaged 39 minutes per game – his lowest average since becoming an established starter at the club in 2013.
Taumalolo said that he was feeling fresh ahead of finals and ready to take on a heavier workload if called upon.
“Obviously I am getting a bit older than most of the boys that are running around the middle here at the moment, and it’s always nice to get a bit of a rest and freshen up,” Taumalolo said.
“Normally around this time of the year you play your best players and hope they do well.
“We’re going to need all 17 players on the field to play big minutes and give that extra 100 per cent effort, and I’m sure going into this weekend will be no different.
“A lot of people wrote us off at the start of the year coming into this season, and it’s nice to prove them wrong.
“In saying that, we’re back to square one and it’s a new competition. Finals is a whole different competition in itself.
“In 2017 we just scraped into the eight and then we made a run to the final. It’s that time of year when any team on their day is capable of beating the top teams in the comp.”
Taumalolo’s role within the team has changed this year, reducing his ballplaying so the 115kg wrecking ball can focus on bending the line and quickly playing the ball.
Taumalolo is running the ball about 10 per cent more per possession (80 per cent) than his previous two seasons when Payten predominantly selected him at lock.
Taumalolo sat himself out of playing internationals in 2023 in a bid to fully recover from a persistent knee issue that troubled him all year, but said he was considering putting his hand up to represent Tonga once more.
“I’m not sure at this moment, I’ll have to make a call sooner or later,” Taumalolo said.
“I’m not getting any younger and there’s a lot of great players coming through that I’d love to see have the opportunity to play, so I’ll have to get through this week and hopefully a couple more weeks, and then I’ll make the call when the time comes.
“If I’m fit and healthy I might go around one more time and if not, I’ll make that decision then.”
The Cowboys host Newcastle in an elimination final on Saturday night. Kick-off is at 7.50pm following a junior rugby league curtain-raiser.
NEAME’S UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Griffin Neame declared the Cowboys have unfinished business this weekend after being bundled out of the 2022 finals series by Parramatta in a preliminary final at home.
Neame was just 21 when the Eels shocked more than 25,000 North Queensland fans during a 24-20 boilover, leaving the young New Zealander “heartbroken”.
“Games like that give you a bit more fire in the belly for games like this weekend,” Neame said.
“It was a good experience but I’m definitely more keen for this one. Anyone who’s playing finals is very excited and I think we’ve got such a good group here that we could do something special.
“After 2022 we’ve still got some unfinished business.
“We’re all just excited to be there and give it our best shot. There’s a lot of belief and we all believe we can do it.”
Neame has emerged as the most likely to take the mantle as North Queensland’s middle forward enforcer in the coming years after agreeing to a one-year extension to stay at the club.
Neame will call Townsville home until at least the end of the 2026 season and it’s no wonder the Cowboys scrambled to secure the rising star’s signature.
Since his 2021 debut, Neame has made 67 Cowboys appearances and established himself as a mainstay in the side.
The 23-year-old Kiwi is one of three Cowboys players to appear in every match so far this season, alongside Scott Drinkwater and Sam McIntyre.
Neame said staying healthy was one of his main goals after an interrupted 2023.
“It’s always good to play every game. Last year I had a bit of a stop-start season, I probably only played half a season,” Neame said.
“Touch wood I do stay healthy, it’s always awesome to be able to do that and hopefully it helped the team out by staying on the field.”
Cowboys premiership-winner Jason Taumalolo said it was great to see Neame continue to improve each season.
“Griff has been unreal. He is another one of our younger juniors coming through who have shown potential and he’s living up to it,” Taumalolo said.
“It’s good to be a part of Griff’s story and to watch him as player develop and become even better.”
TAUMALOLO GIVES TONGA TICK TO VAILEA
Former Tonga captain Jason Taumalolo declared Cowboys teammate Viliami Vailea had forced his way into the international selection picture after a stellar rookie season for North Queensland.
Vailea won his first start at right centre in Round 9 after a season-ending injury to Zac Laybutt and has become a permanent fixture in the backline ever since.
In 16 games Vailea has spent just seven minutes on the sidelines, averaging 125m per match.
Taumalolo does not have a place on Tonga’s international selection panel but if he did, he said he would call up Vailea.
“He’s had a big season, this year is his first time playing consistent first grade,” Taumalolo marvelled.
“I’d put him up there. We have some great centres running around for Tonga at the moment and Viliami has definitely put his hand up to be in that conversation too.
“He’s great defensively, he runs hard and he’s a bigger body so it’s always good to have someone like ‘Pila’ around.”
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Originally published as Cowboys corner: How 2023 failures inspired Jeremiah Nanai resurgence
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