Cowboys coach Todd Payten hits back at Jason Taumalolo retirement rumours
Less minutes, fewer games and a revised training schedule - Cowboys coach Todd Payten has detailed how North Queensland plan to keep Jason Taumalolo playing footy.
Cowboys
Don't miss out on the headlines from Cowboys. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Cowboys coach Todd Payten has hit out at speculation Jason Taumalolo is on the brink of retirement and has backed the superstar forward to see out his club record $10 million deal.
As the Cowboys prepare for Saturday’s home clash against the Knights in Townsville, Payten revealed Taumalolo will undergo modified training for the rest of his career to ease the strain on the club’s $1 million man.
There were concerns for Taumalolo’s long-term future in the game after the champion lock played just 21 minutes in North Queensland’s 43-18 season-opening drubbing of the Dolphins last Sunday.
Taumalolo underwent knee surgery last April and recent speculation sweeping league circles suggested the Cowboys have explored the possibility of medically retiring the 30-year-old.
Payten insists that’s not the case and with the help of North Queensland medicos, has formulated a training protocol he believes will help prolong Taumalolo’s NRL career.
Taumalolo signed the biggest deal in NRL history in 2017, inking a 10-year mega contract that expires at the end of 2027, and Payten is adamant the former Dally M winner is not on the verge of a career-ending breakdown.
“I have Jase’s best interests at heart,” Payten said ahead of the Newcastle clash.
“I’m confident (Taumalolo will see out his deal).
“We will do the right things by him and ‘Jase’ has to do all the prehab and work that goes with it.
“It’s a drain and I’ve been in that position myself as a player, but he is working prudently at the moment which is great.
“Jase has worked really hard to get himself fit this season.
“We have manipulated days and weeks with our training to help his knee.”
Asked if the club had discussed medically retiring Taumalolo, as occurred with his former co-captain Michael Morgan in 2021, Payten said: “No, that’s not right”.
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 253 top-grade games and more than a decade of charging fearlessly through the rucks has taken a toll on his 117kg frame.
Payten says there may be situations this season where Taumalolo fails to back-up for games if the Cowboys have a five-day turnaround.
Cowboys high-performance staff also ensure Taumalolo has extended warm-up times, compared to his teammates, to get his knee primed for training sessions and games.
Payten is mindful of Taumalolo’s workload. While he expects the warhorse to consistently punch out 45-plus minutes in games this season, Payten saw no need to return Taumalolo to the fray last Sunday after his troops cruised to a 37-12 lead just after halftime.
“Jase has some degenerative cartilage in his knee,” he said.
“We had a short six-day turnaround for the Knights game and we were in a position where we didn’t have to put him back on.
“I didn’t play Jordan McLean for anywhere near as long as we usually would either, because those two boys are vitally important to us.
“This gives Jase the best chance to punch out big minutes down the track, get training workload under his belt and go into a game confident, so that’s where I’m coming from.
“We have a couple of guys in that boat (modified training).
“They have ticked over 200 games in their careers and they are closer to the end rather than the beginning.
“But that happens with older players.
“They need managing from week to week and every club in the NRL has the same situation with a handful of players.
“We’re no different.”
Despite his injury struggles last season, Taumalolo still averaged 143 metres per game in 2023 and Payten liked his movement against the Dolphins.
“Jase’s stint last week was great,” he said.
“It was as good as I’ve seen him play since his surgery … the way he moved, how he turned in and out of corners, the way he got across the advantage line at speed.
“I am excited to see Jase build off that and give more to the team moving forward.”
Leading Brisbane physiotherapist Brien Seeney, who runs the popular NRL Physio social-media account, believes Taumalolo can soldier on if managed well by the Cowboys.
“Degeneration of knee cartilage is something everyone deals with, and particularly footy players,” Seeney said.
“There would be dozens of players out there every week with ongoing cartilage degeneration issues we never find out about, but when we do it is obviously something that is influencing how much loading, both during training and games, the knee is able to deal with.
“This is something that can be managed over a period of multiple years – a player like Boyd Cordner (former Roosters captain) dealt with the effects of knee cartilage degeneration from his early 20s and still performed at the top level.
“James Tedesco (Roosters fullback) has had multiple stem cell procedures in the past five years to deal with an ongoing knee cartilage degeneration issue he is managing.
“But it has also ended careers early, for example Anthony Watmough, so it just leaves Taumalolo’s range of outcomes over the next four years in a much more volatile state.
“Cartilage degeneration like Taumalolo has is well managed in NRL players by controlling their load – so minimising training load and game time when the knee is flared up and increasing both when the knee is feeling good.
“The challenge is performing consistently.
“Even if Taumalolo reaches those 200-plus metre games again it will be hard for him to maintain that over several weeks at a time, let alone a 27-week season.
“He is at risk of periods where the knee swells and restricts his movement, and during these times he will have to be managed appropriately.”
More Coverage
Originally published as Cowboys coach Todd Payten hits back at Jason Taumalolo retirement rumours
NRL finals form guide: Injuries, X-factors, week 1 predictions
After 27 rounds, 17 has become eight as the NRL finals are locked and load for 2024. DEAN RITCHIE puts the microscope over every week 1 match-up.
Read more
Finals frauds? Bulldogs blown away again as Cowboys secure home final
After boasting the NRL’s best defence a fortnight ago, the Bulldogs have now suffered heavy losses in back-to-back weeks, as the Cowboys blew them off the park to secure a home elimination final.
Read more