{"id":841848,"date":"2026-08-03T13:01:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T13:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/841848\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T13:01:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T13:01:09","slug":"tom-dearden-says-speculation-that-he-is-seeking-cowboys-exit-is-nonsense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/841848\/","title":{"rendered":"Tom Dearden says speculation that he is seeking Cowboys exit is ‘nonsense’"},"content":{"rendered":"

North Queensland co-captain Tom Dearden has cleared the air about his future and given the club a boost as he targets returning from injury to inspire a finals run.<\/p>\n

At the end of the 2023 season Dearden, 26, signed a five-year contract extension through to the end of 2029.<\/p>\n

But multiple reports in recent weeks linked him to an early exit for personal reasons due to his pregnant partner, Millie Over, living in Sydney.<\/p>\n

ABC NRL Daily podcast<\/a><\/p>\n

Andrew Moore and the ABC NRL team bring you your daily dose of NRL conversation. The team give you the context and depth beyond the headlines.<\/p>\n

Dearden fronted the media to refute the reports due to the impact they were having on his personal life.<\/p>\n

“There’s been a fair bit of speculation getting around at the moment. There’s been a lot of suggestions that I wanted to move or leave the club,” Dearden said.<\/p>\n

“That’s not the case at all. I don’t feel like I should have to get up here and explain myself against speculation.<\/p>\n

“It’s just been a whole lot of nonsense. I’ve got my private life with a partner who’s pregnant and I’d like for that all to be kept private.<\/p>\n

“I’m committed to the Cowboys until the end of 2029 and I think it’s a bit silly that you have to get up here and speak to a bit of nonsense that’s going around.”<\/p>\n

Dearden made it clear that he was “not recommitting”.<\/p>\n

“I’ve always been committed to the Cowboys and none of that has ever changed, so it’s a bit disappointing that my partner and family have had to deal with a lot of questions,” he said.<\/p>\n

Maroons dealt massive blow<\/a><\/p>\n

Queensland selectors have been forced to cope with the news one of their best playmakers will miss up to eight weeks with his ankle injury.<\/p>\n

“It’s had an impact on the personal life. I’ve got a pregnant partner and I think when there’s speculation getting around like that, people are reading that and it gives them questions to ask and you always have to answer to people.”<\/p>\n

Dearden has played just once since suffering a syndesmosis and ankle fracture in round 10.<\/p>\n

The injury ruled him out of the State of Origin series and he returned against the Dolphins in round 20 only to tear a muscle in his shin on the other leg.<\/p>\n

Dearden played through the match but during the following week discovered the issue.<\/p>\n

“It’s been a frustrating year having to sit out because I love representing the Cowboys,” Dearden said.<\/p>\n

“It’s a bit of a weird injury but it’s tracking pretty well and hopefully I’ve only got a few more weeks [on the sidelines].”<\/p>\n

Dearden and the club have targeted the round 26 home clash with Wests Tigers in Townsville as his return date, after the Cowboys’ round 25 bye.<\/p>\n

North Queensland is in ninth position and plays Gold Coast away on Thursday night before an away clash with Parramatta without its influential half.<\/p>\n

AAP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"North Queensland co-captain Tom Dearden has cleared the air about his future and given the club a boost…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":841849,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[64,63,3895,764,158,85,776],"class_list":["post-841848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-contract","tag-north-queensland-cowboys","tag-nrl","tag-sports","tag-tom-dearden"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841848","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=841848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/841849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=841848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=841848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=841848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}