Jason Taumalolo

Cowboys member number: 45449

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Jason Taumalolo moved to Townsville at the age of 13 and attended Kirwan State High School, earning a scholarship with the Cowboys and going on to represent the Queensland under-18s and Australian Schoolboys at the age of 16.

Taumalolo played his first NYC game in 2010 and became the youngest player to make his NRL debut for the Cowboys, aged 17 years, two months and 21 days, starting off the bench against the Bulldogs in 2010.

He would make his second NRL appearance for North Queensland almost a year later when he came off the bench in a loss to South Sydney in round 24 and starred for the Cowboys in round 25 against Cronulla, scoring two crucial tries as well as picking up 125 metres in attack.

His breakout year was 2014 when the back-rower upped his output to 25 NRL matches with 23 starts in the Cowboys forward pack.

Taumalolo made 26 appearances for the Cowboys in 2015, 24 of which were in the starting side at lock.

He evolved into one of the key members of the Cowboys pack in 2015, making 154 metres and 21.3 tackles per game, along with a huge total of 152 tackle breaks for the season.

Taumalolo was rewarded for his impressive year with the Dally M award for Lock of the Year, and also won his first premiership, making 178 metres and 30 tackles in the Grand Final win against the Broncos.

The Cowboys pathways prodigy arrived as a rugby league superstar with a devastatingly consistent 2016 season, playing in all 27 of his team’s NRL games and representing New Zealand in the May test and the post-season Four Nations tournament.

He ran the most metres per game of any player in the NRL over the course of the season – a staggering 4454m, or 165m per match – with an average of 24 tackles a match.

His stellar season was recognised with a dual 2016 Dally M Medal (with the Storm's Cooper Cronk), Dally M Lock of the Year, RLPA Players' Champion, Cowboy of the Year and his club's Players’ Player of the Year.

Taumalolo's 2017 campaign got off to a flying start with the barnstorming forward signing a historic 'Cowboy for life' deal to the end of the 2027 National Rugby League season.

The on-field heroics continued on during the Cowboys’ golden run to the 2017 grand final.

By season’s end, Taumalolo led the NRL with 5000m-plus from the year – the most ever by a forward in the NRL – which equated to a lung-busting 200m-plus a game.

These no-mean feats were rewarded with his second consecutive Paul Bowman Medal for Cowboy of the Year and joint Players’ Player honours with Michael Morgan.

He represented the Kiwis in the May Test against the Kangaroos, but sensationally switched to his parents’ native Tonga for the season-ending Rugby League World Cup, helping Mate Ma’a to three wins from their opening three pool matches, including a victory-for-the-ages against New Zealand.

In 2018 for the third time in four seasons, Taumalolo was named Dally M Lock of the year.

Taumalolo went on to win the Paul Bowman Medal in three of the next four seasons (2019, 2020 & 2022), taking his total to a club record six overall.

Taumalolo is contracted until the end of the 2027 season.

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Favourite TV show as a child: Dragon Ball Z or Pingu
Favourite podcast: Any true crime podcasts
Favourite comedian: Dave Chappelle
Childhood celebrity crush: Keri Hilson
Worst purchase you’ve made: Gel blaster
If you could live the life of one TV/movie character, who would it be: Po – Kung Fu Panda
One famous person you’d like to meet: Elvis Presley
What is your signature dish to cook: Five spice duck breast