The 27-year-old will be entering his 12th season of NRL football with the Cowboys, which is set to be a year unlike any other.<\/p>\n
The Cowboys in season 2021 will have a whole new panel of coaching staff, after the club unveiled Todd Payten<\/a> as the man they hope will take North Queensland back to the finals. Payten will be joined by assistants Dean Young, Steve Georgallis and Ben Rauter.<\/p>\n When Wide World of Sports<\/em> asked Taumalolo what Payten had requested from him during the pair's early stages as the Cowboys continue on with their pre-season, he said the plan is to use his "voice" more and stamp his authority down as one of the senior members of the squad.<\/p>\n "Pre-season has been great – everyone's going to say that their pre-season has been good, but I really think we're heading in the right direction as a team and football club," Taumalolo told Wide World of Sports.<\/p>\n "Todd has told me what he wants of me. Being a senior member of the team for the last few years, something I don't really use is my voice.<\/p>\n "Being able to help guide players coming through the ranks. I'm definitely one of the senior and veteran players \u2013 our roster is full of young guys coming through the ranks.<\/p>\n "He really spoke to me about trying to get them through a routine where they can be consistent, not only at training but in games \u2013 try and be a leader."<\/p>\n Often referred to as a wrecking-ball on the field, who's listed at 117 kg, Taumalolo still found a way to take his game to new heights in what was a disappointing season for his club last year.<\/p>\n The 2016 Dally M Medal winner through 16 matches in 2020 averaged 207 run metres per game according to NRL stats,<\/em> which is the highest he's averaged throughout his career. Taumalolo in round two last year also set a single-game record when he amassed 345 run metres, the most by a forward in NRL history.<\/p>\n With the speed of the game increasing last year, along with fewer stoppages following a number of rule changes implemented by the NRL<\/a>, Taumalolo admits he's a "big fan" of the adjustments; with the fitter and faster players of the game reaping the benefits.<\/p>\n "The new rule changes benefit certain players and different situations," he said.<\/p>\n "Everyone's got to get fitter and faster and a lot of big boys will have to lose weight if they're to hang around in this game.<\/p>\n "I'm a big fan of the rule changes. We saw a lot of injuries last year, but I think clubs are better adapted this pre-season and I th\u00ad\u00adink the game will really kick-off."<\/p>\n But as teams consistently look for new ways to slow down the hard-running forward, Taumalolo revealed he hopes to use more of his passing game this season.<\/p>\n "More and more teams are finding different ways to not only defend me but play against me which is good – it keeps me on my feet," he added.<\/p>\n "I've always known that I've got to add a few strings to my game. I've definitely been working on a bit of second-phase – a bit of a passing game. Hopefully, I can show a bit of that this season coming.<\/p>\n "Using it more [the passing game]. I know I've got a good passing game.<\/p>\n "I feel I haven't really had to use it. It's just finding the time to use that pass or do a bit of balling playing. With the players we have around me, that will definitely make my job easier."<\/p>\n On the doorstep of 200 first grade games, with 196 to his name already while still in the prime of his career, the work ethic of Taumalolo is one that's never been questioned.<\/p>\n Never seen out of shape or even looking a little off-pace, Taumalolo credits his elite level of fitness and physique to the hard lessons he learned while making his way through first grade as a youngster.<\/p>\n The 2015 Cowboys premiership winner admitted he learned at an early age to quit the easy option of take-away food, while also having the composure not to continue drinking every weekend.<\/p>\n "I know I'm getting older. With age, I guess it gets harder to stay fit and maintain it," Taumalolo said.<\/p>\n "Being a young kid coming through, bulletproof vest, used to do whatever I wanted and eat whatever I wanted. Found that out through senior players that it gets a lot harder growing up<\/p>\n "Diet, when you come through the ranks as a young guy, you seem to be eating out a lot, eating take away and going out drinking every weekend. That's all changed as the years have gone by.<\/p>\n "I like to think if can stay physically fit, I will be good in the sense of being mentally fit going into competition. I love exercising and even better, I like to compete."<\/p>\n For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" North Queensland Cowboys superstar Jason Taumalolo says he's excited about the season ahead, with the club looking to bounce back after missing out on finals […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35248"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=35248"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35248\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35250,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35248\/revisions\/35250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=35248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=35248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=35248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
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