Beast mode: Taumalolo winds back clock to fire Cowboys
Joel Gould |
Jason Taumalolo is racking up numbers that blow his 2015 premiership season out of the water in a stunning start to the NRL season for the North Queensland destroyer.
The 32-year-old lock was the Carl Webb Medal winner as man of the match in the 35-31 win over Brisbane at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.
His blockbusting form is a key reason why the Cowboys have won four games in a row and sit just two competition points behind top of the table Penrith.
This season Taumalolo is averaging 170m per match and an incredible 74m post-contact each game.
In 2015, as a rampant 21-year-old, he averaged 154m and 67.3m for those two statistical indicators.
The stats don’t tell the full story. The spiritual leader of the side, when Taumalolo is rolling through the middle of the park he brings his teammates along for the ride and they are inspired.
“It’s just comes down to being healthy again,” Taumalolo said.
“The last three or four years, I’ve been injury-plagued. I knew that if I had a (knee) cleanout last year coming into this year, I could give it a red-hot crack again and get back to close to (my best).
“I am believing in myself and it’s worked out.
“The medical team for the Cowboys have been unreal and helped me get back to where I’m at.”
In the Cowboys’ best years Taumalolo had weapons like Matt Scott and Jordan McLean to work in tandem with. Now he said Thomas Mikaele, Coen Hess, Griffin Neame and Matt Lodge were all doing their part to help out.
“They’ve been really great,” Taumalolo said.
“In the last few years we’ve lacked having bigger bodies around the middle.”
The Broncos pack, led by Payne Haas and Pat Carrigan, were no pushovers but as a collective the Cowboys lifted.
“Tommy, Coen, Lodgie and Griff really stood up and they never took a backward step against what I consider to be the best one-two punch in the middle for the Broncos.”
In the win over the Broncos, Taumalolo played for 48 potent minutes and had 18 runs for 238m, 85m post-contact, two offloads and 16 tackles.
It was a performance Webb, who played for both Brisbane and North Queensland, would have been proud of.
“I’ve played alongside Carl Webb and to have a medal with his name on it is appropriate, just with how tough he was as a character,” Taumalolo said.
“To be able to win it is pretty special.”
AAP