Cowboys ironman Coen Hess may have played his final game for North Queensland
Scans have confirmed talismanic forward Coen Hess requires ACL reconstruction surgery to take the field again. Find out what that means for the off-contract enforcer’s future at the club.
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One of North Queensland’s greatest ironmen may have played his final game for the Cowboys after scans confirmed talismanic forward Coen Hess would require ACL reconstruction surgery to take the field again.
The devastating injury has ruled Hess, 27, out of the final season of his Cowboys contract, leaving club brass with a decision to make on whether or not to bring back the popular prop.
Cowboys football chief Micheal Luck declined to comment when asked if the club intended to extend Hess’ contract.
Hess signed his last extension, valued at approximately $550,000 per season, late in 2021 – the season he won the Paul Bowman Medal as North Queensland’s most valuable player.
He became a free agent for the 2025 season on November 1 last year.
This season shaped as a critical year for the former Maroons Origin enforcer, auditioning for an extension to remain a one-club man or to impress potential suitors searching for a versatile middle forward with big game experience and a reputation for playing tough.
Sunday’s injury against the Raiders in Queanbeyan was the first major injury of Hess’ 165-game NRL career.
Since breaking into the Cowboys starting team in 2016 Hess featured in 162 of a possible 174 matches – missing just 10 to injury and another two to suspension.
A regulation carry in the second half of a trial against the Raiders in Queanbeyan brought that remarkable run of good health to an end.
Hess was held up in a two-man tackle when former Cowboys teammate Peter Hola joined in, dropping Hess to the ground in a tackle that buckled the prop’s right knee awkwardly.
An on-field test raised suspicion that Hess had torn his anterior cruciate ligament; a diagnosis confirmed by scans on Thursday once swelling receded.
Cowboys officials will learn the full extent of the injury when the prop goes under the knife in coming weeks.
Between Round 24, 2016 and Round 10, 2019 only representative selectors could keep Hess out of the Cowboys’ weekly team sheet – which they did twice for State of Origin duty.
In 2019 he missed two games – round 11 and then round 15 with a leg injury – before his most interrupted season to date in the pandemic-affected 2020 competition, missing five of the club’s 20 matches.
Concussion ruled Hess out of two matches in 2021 while a shoulder injury saw Hess miss another two matches in the Cowboys’ run to the 2022 preliminary final.
Hess played every game last season, a feat only also accomplished by Jake Granville and Chad Townsend.
His injury has opened the door for depth forwards Thomas Mikaele and Sam McIntyre to make their case for more regular NRL appearances.
ROOKIE CENTRE BACKS VETERAN TO HOLD POSITION
Cowboys centre Zac Laybutt has thrown his full support behind ageing winger Kyle Feldt as the veteran closes in on the club’s all-time tries record.
Feldt is just two tries short of matching Matt Bowen’s record 130 tries for North Queensland, but he must fend off pressure from Semi Valemei to remain in the side if he is to claim the title.
Laybutt said having Feldt – who is 10 years his senior – beside him on the Cowboys right edge gave him a lot of confidence in his burgeoning game.
“Feldty is a great bloke on and off the field. You can never write someone like that off,” Laybutt said.
“We don’t really buy into that sort of stuff with people writing him off, we all believe in Feldty and he wouldn’t be there if we didn’t.
“He instils confidence in me which I think is the best thing possible for the team, and he instils confidence around everyone else in the team as well.
“Being able to have him outside me is a privilege.”
Laybutt looks to have locked up the vacant right centre position after impressing in the pre-season trial against Canberra.
Laybutt scored a try and kicked a goal while notching up a game-high eight tackle breaks, two linebreaks, a try assist and a linebreak assist in the 36-26 victory.
He said surrounding himself with the experienced heads of Feldt and Chad Townsend had helped take his game to the next level and shore up last year’s worrying right edge defence.
“Being around Chaddy (Townsend) and Feldty, they love to talk and they love to chat so being next to Feldty there, he just chats away and keeps my mind off a lot of things,” Laybutt said.
“Feldty tips me up about a lot of things. He’s been in and around the game for a long time now and I try to soak up as much as I can around him too, which is hopefully making me a better player.
“With the new (defensive) system that Morgs (Justin Morgan) has brought in, we’re all buying in to that.
“Hopefully that showed a bit on the weekend with our right edge defence, hopefully we can keep that consistent throughout the year.”
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Originally published as Cowboys ironman Coen Hess may have played his final game for North Queensland
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