{"id":369416,"date":"2026-04-08T11:24:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T11:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/369416\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T11:24:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T11:24:09","slug":"cowboys-extend-purdue-in-3-million-blockbuster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/369416\/","title":{"rendered":"Cowboys extend Purdue in $3 million blockbuster"},"content":{"rendered":"

The North Queensland Cowboys<\/a> have repelled a pack of rival suitors and locked away backline sensation Jaxon Purdue<\/a> on a four-year, $3 million extension, securing one of the NRL’s most exciting young talents until the end of 2030.<\/p>\n

The Cowboys officially on Wednesday announced they signed him for the remainder of the decade, with Cowboys Football Club CEO Micheal Luck<\/a> calling him “a terrific young man” and “one of the better centres in the competition, a position he didn’t play until he reached the NRL<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

While the two parties were initially at odds over the financials, talks gathered momentum to where Purdue and his camp are now content to sign without so much as a glance at the open market.<\/p>\n

The deal, understood to be worth at least $750,000 per season across a four-year term, is in its final stages of being formalised.<\/p>\n

The Courier Mail reported\u00a0the Melbourne Storm<\/a>, Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs<\/a> and expansion outfit Perth Bears<\/a> were circl<\/p>\n

The timing couldn’t be sweeter, with the Cowboys set to face the Broncos in Friday night’s derby at Suncorp Stadium.<\/p>\n

Since his debut in 2024, Purdue has scored 20 tries in 37 games and with his blistering speed and adaptability, seamlessly shifting between fullback, centre and five-eighth, he has set himself apart as a star of the future.<\/p>\n

Alongside Queensland Origin halfback Tom Dearden<\/a>, Purdue is central to the Cowboys’ ambitions of forcing their way back into premiership contention.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jaxon Purdue<\/a> grew up a Cowboys fan growing up in Mackay and is excited to remain at the club for the long term.<\/p>\n

“I have always loved this club. I grew up supporting the Cowboys and to be able to put on the jersey each week is special to me and my family,\u201d he said in the club statement.<\/p>\n

“We have a great playing group here and the I love the way the coaching staff connect with the players, they have been a huge help to myself and all the younger players in the squad.<\/p>\n

“I really believe we are set up for success now and into the future.<\/p>\n

“I love living in North Queensland, this is home. I am still able to see my best mates and family regularly, which makes me happy and when I’m happy, I’m playing my best footy.<\/p>\n

“The Cowboys members and fans are like no other in the NRL<\/a> and are another huge reason why I love playing for this club.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The North Queensland Cowboys have repelled a pack of rival suitors and locked away backline sensation Jaxon Purdue…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":369417,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-369416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=369416"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369416\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/369417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=369416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=369416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=369416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}