Bit of banter on bookface, twitter, discussion boards about few goings on within the club. Not worth an article my themselves, but probably knit it into a worthwile read.
Many of the discussions relate to contracts. If you want to know who's coming off contract, check out this on Zero Tackle
Why did we let Drinkwater go?
While I'm not a fan of the decision, I understand the logic. Drinky is turning 29 in two weeks time (so is certainly in the backend of his career), and we have three boom youngsters with strong chops at fullback (Barber, King & Purdue, but you could also make a case for Chester). And I doubt we'd have gotten away with paying him anything under $800K/year. I think there are other spots where we have a pressing need to recruit.
Why are we talking to other five eighths - why not just resign Clifford?
We've put a multi year contract to Jake and he hasn't signed. My guess is he's testing the waters with Perth and PNG entering the comp and seeing what shakes out there, but it's hard to gauge what he's thinking. He was fairly single minded about coming back to NQ and the last 6 weeks have been the best of his career, so you'd reckon he'd be happy to stay...... Regardess it makes sense for the Cowboys to be hedging their bets and talking to guys like Chanel Harris-Tavita at least until Clifford commits..
We screwed up letting <insert player> go.
If you're talking about Val, you're wrong. He was on mega dollars here that wasn't matched by his form (which was patchy at best in 2025). And he's been a horror show at St George so far, which justifies our decision.
If you're talking about Finefuiaki, you're wrong. We tried hard to keep him. But he had strong family ties in Brisbane.
If you're talking about Gilbert, you're wrong. We tried hard to keep him. But he moved to Brisbane for family reasons.
Both Gilbert & Finefui would be awesome additions to the team, but it's hard to trump family.
If you're talking about Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, you probably have a stronger case, but it's complex. Some people claim we choose Peter Hiku over him. That's not the case. The Hammer signed with the Fins in October 22. Hiku signed a 2 year deal to come to NQ in May 2021. (Keep in mind Hiku has a stonking year in 2022: 6th in the comp for running metres - More metres than BigJase). The Hammer left because he wanted to play fullback and Drinkwater was in his prime and playing great footy - his pathway to the 1 jersey was blocked. Yes, Wayne Bennett moulded him into a centre/fullback and maybe we might have kept him had we pushed him to centre (and compete with Val & Hiku for a spot), but back in 2022 coming off the season the club & Hiku had, I can't remember anyone thinking this was an option back then.
If you're talking about Robson, the jury is still out. He was and is an elite hooker, but we've backfilled him rather well with Mahoney, and the word is Robson and Payten weren't on great terms. Seemingly Mahoney is proving is better fit, and I don't think we've seen his best as a Cowboy. He was though strong against the Bulldogs, and I think having that game behind him will also free him up a little more.
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