As Jason Taumalolo embarks on his eighth finals series and dreams of a second premiership, he allows himself a moment to reflect on the night the Cowboys came of age with a play for the ages.
The Michael Morgan flick, the Kyle Feldt try, the JT heartbreaker and the JT history maker – the 2015 grand final stands tall in North Queensland folklore and Taumalolo had the privilege of being there.
It may be nine years ago now, but the memories are still strong, and Taumalolo believes the 2024 team has a similar balance of experience and youthful enthusiasm to the one that made history on October 4, 2015.
“We have been in the finals eight times since 2010 and hopefully we can continue doing that and have a deep run to the finals this year,” Taumalolo said.
“This year’s finals group is a little bit like 2015, both are talented squads and both had great players.
"We had a good mixture of experience and youth back then and I can see that in this team.
“We can have the most talented team – and we do have six Origin reps in our team – but it's a matter of putting it together in the games that means the most which is this weekend.
“In 2017, we kind of just scraped into the eight and we had a little bit of the mentality of, ‘we made it, we might as well have a crack’, and we made that grand final run.
“But this year’s group leans more towards the 2015 group where we had all the good players and we were lucky enough to have great experience and youth.
“But it’s what we do on the field this weekend that matters the most, so if we can put that all together against the Knights, I'm sure we'll go deep into September and hopefully be there in October.”
Taumalolo remains the Cowboys' youngest ever debutant – at 17 years and 81 days in 2010 – and has carved out a stellar 273-game career, winning the Dally M Medal in 2016 and six club player of the year awards along the way.
In recent seasons, he has adapted his role to accommodate the changing needs of the team, as well as those of his own body that has helped carry the expectations of a footy-mad region.
“My role has changed a lot in the last 18 months and obviously I’m getting a bit older and the body has had a bit of wear and tear, but for me, it is a bit of experience (I can bring for the team) and I get to pick and choose my moments," he said.
"We have guys like Reuben Cotter and Reece Robson who just go flat stick the whole time, so I get to pick my moments a bit more.
Taumalolo being Taumalolo
“I will play the big minutes if I need to, but when it comes down to it, we have a pretty solid team and we don’t have to rely on my playing big minutes and we have got a lot of youth around so that helps.
“I am getting a bit older and sometimes having a rest isn’t a bad thing for me.”
Taumalolo, Feldt and Jake Granville are the only remaining links to the 2015 grand final, but come 2025, the club's most prolific tryscorer and the gritty utility will have moved on.
“They are both club legends and a majority of our squad are fairly young around that 24-25 age group and they do look up guys like Kyle and Jake,” Taumalolo said.
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“Jake might not be playing, but he is still around the club helping out the younger players with their preparation, just being an all-around good guy like Jakey is.
"And Feldty has played in the majority of the club’s biggest games, so they draw off that experience of what it's like to be in those situations.
“(The team has) young emerging leaders still growing into the role, and I have that experience that complements our forward pack which I am happy to do.
“I think my bit of experience will have its role to play in this finals campaign, but the core group were there in the 2022 campaign, so I am sure that we know what we need to do and hopefully we can get it done come Saturday night."
Speaking to media earlier in the week, Cowboys coach Todd Payten had called for the crowd to make it a "hostile environment" for Newcastle, and Taumalolo has no doubt the faithful will be out in force.
“The North Queensland crowd always get behind us … when we make the finals, we need to take advantage of the home semi," Taumalolo said.
Payten: I want it to be a hostile environment
“The town’s always buzzing and it's full of energy and slow but steady build up and then Saturday night will be pretty busy and bringing a lot of fans from out of town.
“We have to continue playing our best from now on.
“We don't get a second chance unfortunately, but I’m sure we’ll make the most of it.”
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