North Queensland Cowboys injury update: Viliami Vailea
Read the latest update on Cowboys bulldozer Viliami Vailea’s eye injury after the titanic Tongan centre was sent to hospital on Friday night.
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North Queensland is hopeful titanic Tongan centre Viliami Vailea will be available for the Cowboys’ pivotal clash with the Raiders after succumbing to an eye injury last Friday night.
Vailea’s eye was scratched in the first half, forcing the 22-year-old to go to hospital for treatment due to persistent blurry vision.
Payten said Vailea’s outlook was not looking very positive on Friday night, but it is understood the Cowboys got good news from the hospital and are confident he will be good to go against Canberra.
“Not good. He’s gone to hospital. Copped a scratch, had blurred vision, it sort of came good and he went back out there, it went blurry again and it’s not good,” Payten said immediately after the game.
The Cowboys coach stated Zac Laybutt would be next in line to take Vailea’s spot if needed, so long as he made it through 80 minutes of Queensland Cup for the Northern Pride on Saturday.
Laybutt not only made it through the full match, he also crossed for a try in the 28-14 defeat to Townsville.
Payten also explained his reasoning for playing utility forward Sam McIntyre at centre instead of Jeremiah Nanai when Vailea was ruled out.
“I didn’t think it was fair on ‘Miah (Nanai) because he hasn’t done any reps in the pre-season at centre and Sam McIntyre has done a really good job there in different games throughout the past couple of season,” Payten said.
“I wanted (Nanai) to get his spark in the backrow for when Kai (O’Donnell) is still finding his NRL legs at the moment.
“I thought (Taumalolo) was really good. I thought he looked strong. I spoke to him after the game and he said his lungs were burning pretty early, he kept pushing through and he’ll be much better next week and the week after.”
The Cowboys are back at home this week, playing the Canberra Raiders on Saturday, March 29. kick-off is at 4.30pm AEST.
PRESSURE CONTINUES TO BUILD ON THE NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS AND COACH TODD PAYTEN
Peter Badel, March 21
Champion Broncos duo Adam Reynolds and Payne Haas produced a lethal mix of finesse and firepower to torment the Cowboys and inspire Brisbane’s 26-16 triumph on Friday night.
In a trademark XXXX derby classic, wily old fox Reynolds conjured two touches of class before superstar prop Haas delivered the knockout punch of a plucky Cowboys outfit before 45,317 at Suncorp Stadium.
Under siege early, the Broncos held their nerve, with Reynolds setting up Brisbane’s opening try for Jack Gosiewski (23rd) before scoring himself to fire the home side to a 12-0 halftime lead.
The Cowboys produced a gusty fightback to level scores at 12-all, but Haas nailed the coffin shut, unleashing a savage 30-metre solo burst to secure victory nine minutes from time.
The Broncos weren’t ruthlessly clinical but they were cool enough to recover from last week’s loss to Canberra, while alarm bells are ringing for a Cowboys side that slumped to its third consecutive loss.
POP GUN COWBOYS
The Cowboys had Brisbane under siege in the opening quarter but simply couldn’t convert pressure into points.
North Queensland had a staggering 78 per cent of territory in the opening 22 minutes but, despite having four consecutive sets at one point, they lacked the class and cohesion to unlock the Broncos.
TODD’S TORMENT
Pressure is building on North Queensland coach Todd Payten. While the Cowboys played with great heart, Payten was left to lament a third consecutive loss and he desperately needs to snap their dismal 0-3 start against the Raiders next Saturday.
HUNGRY HAAS
It almost gets boring saying it, but Haas is a freak. The 119kg monster broke the Cowboys’ spirit and thoroughly deserved the Carl Webb Medal after finishing with 20 runs, 185 metres, five offloads and 10 tackle busts.
His 71st minute solo try, powering through the rucks to issue the last rites, suggests he can be the front-row spearhead that powers Brisbane to a premiership.
HALF THEIR LUCK
The XXXX derby was largely decided by the gulf in option-taking of the respective scrumbases.
Cowboys halves pairing Tom Dearden and Jake Clifford enjoyed a glut of possession and field position in the opening half-hour but, after camping in Brisbane’s red zone, they walked away with a duck egg.
Compare their game management with that of Broncos counterparts Reynolds and Ben Hunt. Brisbane’s veteran 34-year-olds oozed class. They only needed a handful of chances and duly capitalised.
It was Reynolds’ precision grubber kick for back-rower Gosiewski that opened the scoring in the 23rd minute, before the wily No.7 dummied his way through to fire the Broncos to a crucial 12-0 halftime lead.
To cap a fine night, Reynolds became the third highest pointscorer of all-time, surpassing Jarrod Croker (2374) as he surged to 2378 career points.
ERRATIC REECE
It was another rocks-and-diamonds performance from superstar Broncos fullback Reece Walsh.
After his shocker last week against the Raiders, Walsh produced two moments of brilliance but largely bumbled his way through the derby.
The Maroons maestro nailed a superb 40-20 kick which laid the territorial platform for Gosiewski’s opening try, but for most of the night, Walsh would have driven coach Michael Maguire mad with his option taking.
Walsh was guilty of pushing the pass and finished with four errors, with his failure to defuse a high kick leading to Murray Taulagi’s match-levelling try in the 55th minute.
Sixty seconds earlier, Walsh was put on report for taking out Taulagi, but he atoned with a crucial cut-out pass for Jesse Arthars to give the Broncos an 18-12 lead on the hour.
EARLIER
With PNG Kumul Zac Laybutt lighting up the Queensland Cup, a relieved Jaxon Purdue was honest in his self-assessment after being spared from Todd Payten’s chopping block this week.
The young halfback-turned-centre has endured a challenging start to the season with the Cowboys falling to two convincing defeats, picking up a try and a sin-binning in last week’s 36-12 loss to Cronulla.
Purdue, 19, said the heavy weight of public scrutiny and expectation was a new experience for him.
“It’s obviously very disappointing, the first two rounds,” Purdue said.
“I haven’t been too happy with how I’ve been playing either, but the best thing about footy is you get to come back next week and put your best foot forward.
“It’s all very new for me. There’s a bit more pressure in my role this year. I try to flick all that past me and just play each week.
“I’ve learned a lot from the first two games; you can’t warm into this NRL stuff – you’ve got to run out and be switched on mentally and physically at the get-go.
“The more I play, the more I’ll learn, and the more connected I’ll be with my edge, and more confident I’ll be as well, which will play a big part.”
Purdue’s possible replacement Laybutt was solid for the Northern Pride in round 2, making 111m on 11 runs before coming off for a planned earlymark.
Pride coach Russ Aitken said he was very impressive in his first game back from a season-ending knee injury in 2024.
“Zac’s been great, this was his first game back and had limited playing time on physio’s orders,” Aitken explained.
“He played 50 minutes, and was really strong for us on both sides of the ball. Someone of his experience and calibre is always good to have on the edge out there.”
Despite his 10 minutes in the bin against the Sharks, Purdue still broke three tackles on 10 runs, and only missed two tackles – half as many as he missed against Manly.
Friday night’s clash with the Broncos provides a fresh challenge with the speed of Deine Mariner and the strength of Selwyn Cobbo offering a unique test on his edge.
Purdue said he was “very confident” the Cowboys could bounce back in Brisbane.
“They’ve got a lot of fast players, there’s Reece Walsh at the back. As a team, we haven’t really been too connected lately, so we’re really focusing on that this week,” Purdue said.
“You look at our team and look at the players we have across the park, we’re a very good side.
“Round 3 coming up, we need to get into gear and get moving. We were very disappointed in the first two rounds, but we’re ready to bounce back, and everyone’s ready to go.
“I remember as a kid watching this game, it would always be the game to watch.
“It’s the biggest game of the year for a Cowboys fan and even a Broncos fan. They’re such rival clubs, and that’s what everyone loves about it.
“So it’s very exciting to play my first full game against the Broncos, and hopefully we come away with the win.”
The Cowboys play the Broncos in Brisbane on Friday, kick-off is at 7pm AEST.
PAYTEN MAKES HUGE COWBOYS CALL WITH FOUR CHANGES FOR BRONCOS
Patrick Woods and Mitch Turner, March 18
Todd Payten has rung the changes in North Queensland, making four huge decisions on his line-up for the Cowboys’ blockbuster clash with the Broncos on Friday night.
The Cowboys welcome back three international stars as well as recalling Tully junior Jake Clifford at the expense of rookie halfback Tom Duffy after just two NRL appearances.
Payten said the 21-year-old would be able to take some tough lessons from the experiences of the last fortnight.
“Jake was able to get a game under his belt in Q Cup. Bigger body, good kick, good tackler,” Payten said.
“It’s a tough one for ‘Duff’, he’s had a couple of games and we haven’t gone well and some tough lessons for him, but Jake’s coming back into the team this week and he’s excited.”
Jason Taumalolo will be a welcome addition to the forward pack after recovering from a Lisfranc injury, as will Maroons backrower Jeremiah Nanai, who was last week dropped to the Queensland Cup to work on his defence.
Nanai has earnt himself back a spot on the interchange, replacing Harry Edwards, with Kai O’Donnell holding his starting place on the left edge.
Taumalolo will start in the front row with Sam McIntyre donning the No.14 while Karl Lawton drops back to the reserves.
Payten said bringing the Tongan captain back into the starting side would inspire the whole team.
“He (Taumalolo) has had an interrupted pre-season. He felt he wasn’t right last week, he played 50 minutes (for the Mackay Cutters) on the weekend and was pretty strong,” Payten said.
“He gives confidence to everyone in the team and we’re looking forward to having him back.”
Northern Pride coach Russ Aitken said Nanai showed great professionalism to join the Q Cup team in Cairns for a tough 20-16 defeat to Tweed.
“He was great, he came in with a great attitude. Obviously coming back from Cowboys wouldn’t have been the best feeling for him as an individual,” Aitken said.
“He got around the boys and tried his hardest out there in what was a tough night. He imposed himself on the game.”
Pride winger Rob Derby will be given another NRL opportunity after making his solitary appearance in May 2023 against Parramatta.
The tall and fast PNG international will start on the right wing for injured Braidon Burns.
“Rob is a big, athletic, powerful winger. He’s had some injury concerns in his last two couple of years since his first grade debut,” Payten said.
“He gets an opportunity and I thought he was pretty solid on the weekend for the Pride, he made a heap of metres and was really strong out of his own end.”
Aitken said Derby had been biding his time well while developing his game with the Pride, predicting the NRL call-up on Tuesday morning.
“I can’t fault Rob’s attitude and the way he carried himself,” Aitken said.
“Him and ‘Miah (Nanai) linked up for one of our earlier tries, and Rob got one himself right at the end there.
“He carried the ball strong and looked really good in attack. I’ve got no doubt he’ll be playing in the NRL this year.”
The Cowboys take on the Broncos in Brisbane on Friday night, kick-off is at 7pm AEST.
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Originally published as North Queensland Cowboys injury update: Viliami Vailea
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