North Queensland captain Jason Taumalolo will notch 200 appearances for the NRL club on Saturday to become just their eighth double centurion.
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Taumalolo will join former teammates Jonathan Thurston, Matt Scott, Matt Bowen, Scott Bolton and Gavin Cooper in achieving the games milestone when the Cowboys face the Sydney Roosters in Brisbane.
The youngest player to make his NRL debut for North Queensland in 2010, at the age of 17, Taumalolo won the 2015 premiership, followed that up by claiming the Dally M medal a year later and signing a bumper 10-year, $10 million deal.
The ride hasn't always been smooth, however, but Taumalolo says he's happy to stay in the Cowboys' saddle for the remainder of his career.
"Its good to join the likes of few other lifetime members that I used to play with, so it means a lot, especially at this club," the powerful lock said.
"I've signed pretty much my life away here at the Cowboys, so yeah, I'm happy here and I want to be a one team guy."
Teammate Jordan McLean says the aura that Taumalolo brings is unmatched.
"He has an impact on everyone around him, he's that kind of player," McLean said.
"He's done a lot for North Queensland and the Cowboys and it's an opportunity for us to give back to him this weekend."
Taumalolo has battled hand injuries throughout season 2021, only playing in three of nine matches.
The Cowboys (4-5) sit 11th and their skipper is hopeful he can back up his strong showing against Brisbane last week with another big performance against the wounded Roosters in Magic Round.
"They've suffered a lot of injuries over the last few weeks but their forward pack hasn't really changed so that'll be their go to," Taumalolo said of the Roosters.
"They'll play physical like they have been over the last few weeks and they've got Sam Walker leading them around.
"He's been unreal for them over the last few weeks."
Taumalolo said if the Cowboys want to deliver an 80-minute performance alluded to by coach Todd Payten they need to embrace the physicality of their opposition.
"We can't go in there expecting it to happen (a full performance)," he said.
"We've done that before in the past and we've had our pants pulled down a couple of times.
"If we can hang on to some of that (against Brisbane) and go into this game with the mentality that it's going to be a physical game... I reckon we should be right."
Australian Associated Press
