NRL 2024: Jason Taumalolo’s agent defends Cowboys’ 10-year contract decision amid fear of medical retirement

The Cowboys face a multimillion-dollar payout should Jason Taumalolo be forced into medical retirement. However, Taumalolo’s agent has insisted the club were right to sign the champion forward on the massive 10-year deal.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 13: Jason Taumalolo of the Cowboys is tackled during the round six NRL match between Parramatta Eels and North Queensland Cowboys at CommBank Stadium on April 13, 2024 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)

Jason Taumalolo’s manager has defended the Cowboys superstar’s 10-year contract amid fears North Queensland could face a multimillion-dollar payout if the champion lock is to be medically retired.

Taumalolo has been relegated to the bench for Saturday night’s clash against Penrith in Townsville, raising doubts over Cowboys coach Todd Payten’s long-term plans for the 30-year-old.

The Tongan Test star underwent knee surgery last April and Payten has placed Taumalolo on a modified training program in a bid to prolong the wrecking ball’s Cowboys career.

Taumalolo made history in 2017 when his agent Chris Orr brokered what was then rugby league’s record deal – a head-spinning 10-year contract worth almost $10 million.

It secured Taumalolo to the Cowboys until the end of 2027, but as he now manages a degenerative knee condition, the length of the deal has come under fire given the premiership lock has another three years to play after this season.

The Taumalolo conundrum has triggered a wider debate as to whether NRL clubs are playing with fire by handing out long-term deals – the Titans signed skipper Tino Fa’asuamaleaui last year to a 10-year, $12 million contract.

Jason Taumalolo has been relegated to the bench in round eight. Picture: Jason McCawley/Getty Images

Orr, the man who also brokered Jordan Mailata’s first NFL contract, hit out at critics of Taumalolo’s deal, insisting the Cowboys have enjoyed bang for their buck from the former Dally M Medallist.

Taumalolo was 23 when he signed the mega deal.

He has won a record six Cowboys player-of-the-year awards – two more than Johnathan Thurston – and five Paul Bowman Medals have come since the start of his 10-year contract.

“I think the deal has been good value for both parties,” Orr said.

“Let’s not forget Jason has been the Cowboys’ player-of-the-year six times which, within this long-term contract, isn’t a bad return on investment in my eyes.

“The reason we proposed a 10-year deal was to secure financial security for Jason.

“He wanted to be a one club player and plays a contact sport in the front row, which is the toughest position in one of the most fierce sporting competitions in the world.

“Long-term deals can certainly work.

“Look, I don’t envisage an avalanche of these deals coming into the game.

“It has to be the right time, the right club and the right athlete at the right age.

“There’s only a handful of guys in the whole competition who could be 10-year players, and I believed Jason was one of those.”

Taumalolo’s agent Chris Orr, pictured alongside Valentine Holmes. Picture: NQ Cowboys

Taumalolo has been arguably the most blockbusting forward of the past 15 years.

Since his NRL debut in 2010, the Tongan wrecking ball has amassed 259 top-grade games and more than a decade of charging fearlessly through the rucks has taken a toll on his 117kg frame.

Payten, determined for Taumalolo to see out his deal, is carefully managing his workload. Since 2020, the forward’s average minutes per game have dropped from 61 to 49 last year.

This season, ‘JT’ is averaging 35 minutes per game and for the first time this season, has been shifted back to the bench in favour of Kiwi Test young gun Griffin, who will start against the Panthers.

Under NRL rules, payouts to players are not counted in the salary cap if they retire on medical grounds.

Taumalolo’s former co-captain Michael Morgan received a $2.5 million payout from the Cowboys in 2021 after retiring early due to a chronic shoulder injury with two years left to run on his five-year deal.

If Taumalolo retired at season’s end, the Cowboys could have a potential severance package of around $3 million made cap exempt by the NRL.

But Orr insists Taumalolo, who turns 31 next month, wants to play on and is not being forced out by Cowboys bosses.

Orr insists there is no talk of Jason Taumalolo retiring. Picture: NRL Images.

“There is no discussions of retirement,” Orr said.

“No one from the Cowboys has mentioned any retirement talk and definitely no one from my client’s side of the fence has raised it, so it’s simply not right.

“Up until last year Jason had never had surgery. He had no run of injuries for six or seven years which is quite remarkable given the demands of the position he plays.

“We haven’t raised anything about medical retirements.

“Doctors have been consulted and he has got a clean bill of health on his knee.

“The doctors confirmed his knee is capable of playing NRL … they have actually been surprised by the strength of his recovery from his operation.

“I speak to Jase regularly and he tells me when he wakes up the day after a game, he feels fine.

“The Cowboys are like every other NRL club who develop training programs for an individual player depending on their age or position or injury history.”

Jason Taumalolo has been taking hit-ups in Cowboys colours since 2010. Picture: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

Cowboys halfback Chad Townsend, who turns 34 in January, says Taumalolo is like many veteran NRL players juggling the brutality of the sport with the wear-and-tear on their bodies.

“Jase is a legend of the club,” Townsend said.

“He has a very unique personality. He is pretty quiet and just puts his head down and works hard on his game.

“He is doing a lot of extras in the gym and at training.

“Like myself, he is getting older and he understands what he needs to do to get himself ready.

“But mentally you just know he always turns up giving himself the best chance of playing well. He is one of our leaders, not so much with his words, but with the way he prepares and plays.”

Orr believes NRL players deserve a financial safety net.

In March 2012, Broncos young gun Jharal Yow Yeh suffered a shocking compound ankle fracture against Souths, just eight weeks after signing a new three-year contract.

The Queensland Origin star attempted a comeback but never played NRL again, retiring at age 24.

The estimated $700,000 payout helped Yow Yeh buy a home and begin the next phase of his young life.

Jharal Yow Yeh retired in 2012 through injury. Picture: Adam Head

“Athletes who play in contact sports deserve some contractual protection,” Orr said.

“Imagine if Jharal Yow Yeh only had a one-year deal when he retired due to his unfortunate injury. There would be no compensation and no additional payments, making it a very difficult situation.

“The average career of an NRL player is two-and-a-half seasons. So to have a long-term career like Jason Taumalolo, Johnathan Thurston or Andrew Johns, it’s a combination of talent meets hard work meets luck … luck around injuries.

“The average job doesn’t have the element of danger that comes with being a professional NRL, AFL or NFL player.

“An NRL player can leave their workplace in an ambulance or injured, with a snapped ACL, and therefore not be able to do their job for the next nine months.

“People worldwide want job security and it’s no different for NRL players.”