Eyes on young gun\u2019s future after snub; shock move in $13m shake-up \u2014 Teams Analysis<\/a><\/p>\nNorth Queensland Cowboys Reed Mahoney Picture @nqcowboysSource: Supplied Source Known<\/p>\n
Writing in a Fox Sports Australia column earlier this month, longtime NRL assistant Mick Crawley suggested that if the Cowboys are to lift up and out of the horrors experienced in 2025 \u2014 and overhaul a defence that teetered between muddled and MIA \u2014 it will be due, in large part, to Mahoney\u2019s mouth.<\/p>\n
Which is an intriguing concept given all the headlines that same yapper has instigated.<\/p>\n
Just ask, say, Nicho Hynes.<\/p>\n
Or Jack Hetherington. <\/p>\n
Hell, even go yarn with Wests Tigers prop Alex Seyfarth, who was once binned after appearing to headbutt this master of verbal tongue fu.<\/p>\n
Yet just as Mahoney, talks, so he tackles. <\/p>\n
Works and competes. <\/p>\n
Everywhere, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven when we\u2019re having a few beers,\u201d laughs Cowboys star halfback Tommy Dearden. \u201cI\u2019m not sure how much detail I can give, but once you get through a couple of beers with Reed, that fire starts coming out again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cowboys young gun Jaxon Purdue agrees, adding: \u201cReedy competes everywhere. Trains to win. His mongrel and aggression is exactly what we need.\u201d<\/p>\n
All of which simply adds to the intrigue surrounding this unwanted Bulldog.<\/p>\n
Speaking only last month about his fallout with Canterbury, Mahoney admitted to still being so unsure about his departure that he told the Sydney Morning Herald: \u201cIf you find out, tell me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vegas team squads are in! | 05:33<\/p>\n
Asked by Fox Sports Australia this week if that had simply been a throwaway line, or something more telling, the new Cowboys nine offers a wry smile.<\/p>\n
\u201cAh mate,\u201d he says of the Belmore departure, \u201cthere was a lot to all of that.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, there were question marks over it all.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I\u2019m sure from the outside, it did look ugly.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut now, I get to put all my energy into the Cowboys. Get to have a hand in this team and make us a contender this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked what, if any, responsibility he also takes for the shock Canterbury departure, and Mahoney, without pause, talks of \u201cdefinitely having a look at myself in the mirror\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd every day,\u201d he continues, \u201cI am trying to be the best version of myself, both on and off the field.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom where I was [last year], sometimes that just wasn\u2019t enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I\u2019m at a club now where being the best version of myself every day \u2026 I\u2019m just living to our values, competing, and being grateful.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s nice to feel wanted again.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened last year has happened, and it\u2019s only going to make me a better person and a better player.\u201d<\/p>\n
Indeed, speaking after North Queensland\u2019s strong trial win over Penrith, Fox Sports analyst Luke Keary noted, positively, how Mahoney now appears to be playing \u201cwith a chip in his shoulder\u201d.<\/p>\n
But as for Keary being right?<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, I wouldn\u2019t say I\u2019ve got a chip on my shoulder,\u201d continues Mahoney, who is not only looking to continue said trial form against Newcastle in the season opener, but begin his new life replacing departed NSW Origin No.9 Reece Robson.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year definitely didn\u2019t go the way I wanted.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I\u2019ve taken motivation from that for myself \u2014 not anyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n
North Queensland Cowboys pool session in Las Vegas ahead of their NRL season opening game – Reed Mahoney NQ CowboysSource: Supplied Source Known<\/p>\n
Writing recently in a 2026 Cowboys preview, Crawley suggested that if the Cowboys are to be successful this year \u201cit\u2019s because Reed Mahoney fixes the defensive communication \u2026 it\u2019s his mouth that the Cowboys need\u201d.<\/p>\n
Crawley added that while Mahoney, even amid last year\u2019s chaos, still made 949 tackles \u2013 or fifth most in the NRL \u2013 it will be his communication that tightens the middle third, provides line speed, and allows the Cowboys\u2019 famed attack to again be weaponized.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd communication in all aspects of the game is vital,\u201d Mahoney agrees. \u201cAnd at nine, yeah, I have to be talking a lot.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you look at this squad, we\u2019ve got some strong, powerful middles.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd when they get off the line aggressively, it\u2019s intimidating.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo if we can deliver that, and I can communicate and steer the boys around defensively, that will go a long way to building good habits and allow us to play that Cowboys style of footy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe coaching staff have come up with a really good defensive system.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it\u2019s about us now going all in on that \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
North Queensland Cowboys training session in Las Vegas ahead of this weekends opening round of the NRL 2026 season – Reed Mahoney Picture NQ CowboysSource: Supplied Source Known<\/p>\n
Ask Dearden, and he says Mahoney is absolutely the man to lead their overhauled defence.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause since arriving up here, he\u2019s really challenged everyone to go to his level, compete the way he does,\u201d the Queensland Origin star says. \u201cHe\u2019s been very vocal in driving standards.<\/p>\n
\u201cReedy knows what a good system is, and knows what hard work does out on that field.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t praise him enough for what he\u2019s brought.<\/p>\n
Same deal Cowboys footy manager Glenn Hall, who knows more than a little about winning given his own career, which included that 2008 NRL premiership win with Manly Sea Eagles.<\/p>\n
\u201cReedy isn\u2019t only a natural talker, he\u2019s a connector,\u201d Hall says, while watching Monday\u2019s session from the sidelines of a field on the Las Vegas outskirts, and backdropped by mountains still dusted in snow. \u201cHe\u2019s been terrific for our group.\u201d<\/p>\n
Been terrific in Las Vegas too.<\/p>\n
Indeed, while only a few months into his new life as a Cowboy, this greatest of NRL pests has already orchestrated plenty of laughs this week as the team has moved through not only several training sessions, but Top Golf, a shooting range, the craps tables, even hot laps in a Ferrari.<\/p>\n
Which has us asking exactly how many times Mahoney has visited this joint before?<\/p>\n
\u201cNah, never,\u201d he grins. \u201cAnd that\u2019s probably a good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s just before 10 o\u2019clock on a still cool Las Vegas morning, and already Todd Payten is asking…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":501822,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[36523,2095,64,63,7622,19061,1653,252306,252315,25313,36267,252310,252318,102503,763,252313,252316,4474,11738,2623,44184,252314,252311,56527,252317,4601,66571,236779,761,762,2627,2782,2041,764,2067,158,252312,40619,252309,159,33195,252308,85,84575,28056,777,252307,141801,2614,4515],"class_list":{"0":"post-501821","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nrl","8":"tag-alex-seyfarth","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-au","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-canterbury-bulldogs","13":"tag-coaching-staff","14":"tag-cody-walker","15":"tag-cowboys-young-gun","16":"tag-craps-tables","17":"tag-defensive-system","18":"tag-dylan-brown","19":"tag-fire-starts","20":"tag-fletch-ampamp-hindy","21":"tag-footy-manager","22":"tag-fox-league","23":"tag-glenn-hall","24":"tag-intrigue-surrounding","25":"tag-jack-hetherington","26":"tag-jaxon-purdue","27":"tag-las-vegas","28":"tag-liam-martin","29":"tag-life-replacing-departed","30":"tag-line-speed","31":"tag-luke-keary","32":"tag-mahoney","33":"tag-manly-sea-eagles","34":"tag-matt-lodge","35":"tag-mick-crawley","36":"tag-national-rugby-league","37":"tag-nationalrugbyleague","38":"tag-nevada","39":"tag-nick-walshaw","40":"tag-north-america","41":"tag-north-queensland-cowboys","42":"tag-northern-america","43":"tag-nrl","44":"tag-pool-session","45":"tag-premiership-win","46":"tag-queensland-cowboys-reed","47":"tag-rugby-league","48":"tag-season-opener","49":"tag-shooting-range","50":"tag-sports","51":"tag-sydney-morning-herald","52":"tag-team-lists","53":"tag-todd-payten","54":"tag-tommy-dearden","55":"tag-training-sessions","56":"tag-united-states-of-america","57":"tag-wests-tigers"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501821","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=501821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/501822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=501821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=501821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=501821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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