{"id":431189,"date":"2026-01-23T01:40:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T01:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/431189\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T01:40:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T01:40:16","slug":"mahoney-embraces-leadership-reset-after-bulldogs-exit-nrl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/431189\/","title":{"rendered":"Mahoney embraces leadership reset after Bulldogs exit – NRL News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reed Mahoney<\/a> has vowed to keep things simple as he begins a new chapter with the North Queensland Cowboys<\/a>, embracing a refreshed mindset following a turbulent exit from the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The experienced hooker has joined the Cowboys on a three-year deal and is set to take over the club’s starting No.9 role following the departure of Reece Robson<\/a>, forming a new spine combination alongside Scott Drinkwater<\/a> and Tom Dearden<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After a career-best stretch at the Parramatta Eels<\/a>, Mahoney’s final season at the Bulldogs proved challenging.<\/p>\n

His minutes dwindled late in the year as coach Cameron Ciraldo<\/a> opted to go in a different direction, with the hooker eventually dropped during the Bulldogs’ finals campaign.<\/p>\n

Now settled in Townsville, Mahoney says the move north has allowed him to reset, both mentally and professionally.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m just going to come here and be Reed,\u201d Mahoney told SEN.<\/p>\n

\u201cWork hard, make people better around me, and share that love between the boys while working towards a common goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NRLMelCanb105\"Reed Mahoney during the round two NRL match between the Melbourne Storm and Canterbury Bulldogs at AAMI Park on March 11, 2023 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Grimes\/Zero Digital Sports)<\/p>\n

The 164-game veteran admitted the way his Bulldogs tenure ended provided added motivation heading into the 2026 campaign, insisting he still feels he has plenty to offer at NRL<\/a> level.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I’m only halfway through my career,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

I know what I bring to a team now, my strengths, what I need to keep improving, and I just want to enjoy my footy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mahoney has also spoken glowingly about Cowboys coach Todd Payten<\/a>, describing his open-door approach as a key factor in helping him settle quickly into his new surroundings.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe’s really open-minded and loves questions\u2026 When you’ve got a coach like that, everyone’s eager to learn,\u201d Mahoney said.<\/p>\n

The Cowboys enter 2026 under pressure following a disappointing 12th-place finish last season, with consistency once again the major focus.<\/p>\n

Mahoney’s experience and voice around the ruck are expected to play a crucial role as North Queensland look to steady their spine and re-establish themselves as finals contenders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reed Mahoney has vowed to keep things simple as he begins a new chapter with the North Queensland…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":325457,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-431189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=431189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431189\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/325457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=431189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=431189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}