Cowboys award night: Jason Taumalolo wins sixth Paul Bowman Medal

Cowboys champion wins sixth Paul Bowman Medal as inspiring young gun cleans up at annual award night. See the winners.

CO-captain Jason Taumalolo has continued his remarkable record, by winning his sixth Paul Bowman Medal as the Cowboys’ Player of the Year.

To put things into perspective, the great Johnathan Thurston won four in his glittering career and Taumalolo has already passed that total before the age of 30.

The 29-year-old has not scored a try this season but his other work around the field has been outstanding as the Cowboys turned around a disappointing 2021 (finishing second last) to finishing third this year, securing a first finals campaign since 2017.

Taumalolo played in 23 out of a possible 24 games in the home and away season and ended up in the top 10 in the NRL with 1442.7 post-contact metres.

His game has progressed to becoming an offloading forward, with 21 this season and he also ran for 3473 metres this campaign at an average of 151m.

Taumalolo finished on 25 points, nine ahead of Tom Gilbert and Valentine Holmes.

Tom Dearden was rewarded for his breakout season by winning the Players’ Player of the Year award and the Cowboys’ Way Award.

The 21-year-old scored eight tries this campaign and set up a further 15 tries.

He also earned a debut for the Maroons, starring in the Game Three decider as Queensland defeated New South Wales at Suncorp Stadium.

Dearden also demonstrated his toughness, playing for 60 minutes of the game against the Warriors in round 24 with a ruptured testicle.

He also returned to play after missing just a week following surgery.

Jeremiah Nanai also had a standout year and was unsurprisingly handed the Rookie of the Year award.

Nanai finished the season with 17 tries, breaking the club’s single-season record.

The 19-year-old scored six more tries than any other forward in the NRL.

The Cairns Kangaroo Junior played 21 times for the Cowboys in the regular season and three times completed 80-minute stints.

He also played in all three games for Queensland in the State of Origin and was one of the best in the remarkable Game Three success.

For the second year running Emma Manzelmann picked up the North Queensland Toyota Gold Stars Player of the Year crown.

The 20-year-old dummy half was instrumental in the Gold Stars winning the premiership, scoring three tries in seven appearances, with five try assists.

Here is the full list of winners from the Cowboys’ awards night at Townsville Entertainment and Convention Centre.

Club Person of the Year: Tom Gilbert

Young Guns Cowboys Way Award: Robert Derby

Gold Stars Cowboys Way Award: Sareka Mooka

JCU Education Award: Scott Drinkwater

Rookie of the Year: Jeremiah Nanai

Players Player of the Year: Tom Dearden

NRL Cowboys Way Award: Tom Dearden

Paul Bowman Medal: Jason Taumalolo

North Queensland Toyota Gold Stars Player of the Year: Emma Manzelmann

Originally published as Cowboys award night: Jason Taumalolo wins sixth Paul Bowman Medal