The Cowboys slumped eight places on the ladder in 2023 after a top-four finish and preliminary final appearance the previous year.
With a largely unchanged roster, coach Todd Payten will pin his faith in leaders Chad Townsend and Jason Taumalolo to provoke a response from a group that faded badly in the last month of the season to miss the semis for the fifth time in six years.
NRL.com examines the key talking points for the Cowboys as they launch into the 2024 pre-season.
Can Jeremiah Nanai get his mojo back?
After making his Origin and Test debuts in a breakout 2022, the 20-year-old came back to the field in 2023 as two suspensions and a shoulder injury ripped a hole in his season. The uber talented back-rower bagged 16 tries In 23 games as the Cowboys surged from 15th to third in 2022 but his personal slide mirrored that of his team last season. With a full pre-season under his belt and the unwavering support of his coach, Nanai will be primed to remind the rugby league world just how good he is.
Nanai coming in hot
Grand final hero on the outer?
It seems an eternity since Kyle Feldt pulled the 2015 grand final out of the fire with a try in the dying seconds and now the 31-year-old finds himself in a battle to make the starting side. Needing just three tries to surpass Matt Bowen as the club’s greatest ever tryscorer, Feldt will need to leapfrog the rejuvenated Semi Valemei to get a start on the right wing with Murray Taulagi locked in on the other side. As his 13 tries in 18 games in 2023 proved, Feldt still has the finishing skills and nous to get the job done, but there’s no guarantees.
Feldt doing Feldt things
Has Townsend got one more big year in him?
The 2016 Sharks premiership winner turns 34 early in the new year as he embarks on a 15th season in the NRL. Townsend has played every match since joining the Cowboys from the Warriors so his durability is beyond question but after coming up with 20 try assists in 2022 he could manage only 12 in 2023 this season as North Queensland fell to 11th on the ladder. That number was well behind rival halfbacks Shaun Johnson (29), Nicho Hynes (28), Jahrome Hughes (21) and Nathan Cleary (20). Townsend’s teammates Scott Drinkwater and Tom Dearden came up with 35 try assists between them to share the load but there’s little doubt the evergreen No.7 would like to lift his numbers next season.
Townsend slots the field goal
How do you fit four guns into two back-row spots?
It’s the sort of headache a host of NRL coaches would kill for but Todd Payten’s embarrassment of back-row riches is sure to cause him a few sleepless nights. Jeremiah Nanai was dynamic in 2022 as the Cowboys surged into a preliminary final while Heilum Luki started the season strongly before a knee injury cut his campaign short. Luciano Leilua arrived in Townsville midway through 2022 from Wests Tigers and his ability to break a game open has made him a valuable asset. Young gun Kulikefu Finefeuiaki looms as the X-factor after impressing in his 12 NRL games in his debut season in 2023. All four bring different qualities to the table and all four are sure to make a strong case for a spot in Payten’s best 17 come Round 1.
Fine debut for Finefeuiaki
Tom Dearden – will he stay or will he go?
On the back of an Origin debut in 2022 and another handy season in 2023, the explosive pivot is sure to attract plenty of interest from rival clubs now that he has entered the open market. At 22 and with a decade of top-level footy ahead of him, Dearden is one man the Cowboys would love to hang on to beyond 2024, but the Dragons and Dolphins look set to come hard for the Toowoomba product, who produced seven tries, 10 try assists and 10 line break assists last season. The Cowboys would be gutted to lose a quality playmaker who has blossomed in Townsville since arriving mid-season in 2021, especially with Chad Townsend in the twilight of his career.