North Queensland Cowboys

The 25-year-old has appeared in 87 games over the course of five seasons for the St George Illawarra Dragons and Wests Tigers.

Despite his 188cm, 114kg frame, Leilua is regarded as one of the premier ball-playing forwards in the NRL. In 2021 he finished eighth in the NRL with 38 offloads, sixth among all forwards with 68 tackle breaks along with five line-break assists and two try assists.

Sadrugu and Masikau, who was a member of the Fiji team that beat New Zealand in the final at this year's Tokyo Games, have been handed train and trial deals at North Queensland.

The pair had been on the radar of Cowboys recruitment manager Dane Campbell and he got the chance to see them in action an Oceania Rugby Sevens tournament in Townsville in June.

"I'd known of them from watching some vision," Campbell told NRL.com. "For them both to be here in Townsville, watching them up close, we got an understanding of some of the athletic traits and skills they had."

It was a relieving 32-16 result as halfback Mitchell Moses stood up to ensure Parramatta snapped their four-match losing streak.

Arthur labelled the performance "Mitchy's best running game of the year" after the No.7 tallied three try assists and kicked beautifully.

It may not appease the doubters, but Arthur said the style of the victory wasn't of much importance after a lean trot that has resulted in the Eels slipping from the top four before the finals.

"We had one job tonight and that was to win a game of footy," he said.

The visiting Cowboys led 8-4 at the interval but were undone by two tries in the space of four minutes, as Shaun Johnson played a key role with hands and boot.

The Sharks had won the previous two meetings with the Cowboys and six of the past eight, but they fell behind three minutes in when Scott Drinkwater sprinted clear to score.

Ronaldo Mulitalo levelled after 36 minutes from Johnson's pass, but Matthew Scott restored the Cowboys' advantage just three minutes later, powering through a defensive blockade to spin and dot down just before the interval.

Cowboys assistant coach Josh Hannay has also noted how McLean, now fully recovered from an ankle injury that led to him missing 14 games last year, is talking more at training and taking on more of a leadership role as he settles in to life in Townsville after five seasons at the Melbourne Storm.

McLean averaged 155 metres per game in the final six rounds of 2018 and was key in four Cowboys wins.

Macdonald was with the St George Illawarra Dragons this season after debuting for Sydney Roosters in 2014.

According to the North Queensland Cowboys official website, Macdonald has arrived at the club’s camp in preparation for the 2019 season.

The 24-year-old recently participated in the PM’s XIII in Port Moresby where Australia beat PNG 34 – 18.

Born in Port Moresby but growing up in North Queensland, Macdonald debuted in the red, black and gold jersey in 2013 – when he was 19 years of age.

So far he has played nine Test matches for the PNG Kumuls. 

An NRL spokesman confirmed to NRL.com that the Cowboys had informed NRL officials about the incident.

Bolton has been granted conditional bail after he was charged in relation to the alleged indecent assault of a woman at Bondi Beach.

The NSW Police Force released a statement on the incident:

Following a 54-8 hammering at the hands of St George Illawarra back in round three, the Titans looked to have turned a corner to win two of their next three games against Brisbane and Manly.

But all that good work was brought undone at 1300 Smiles Stadium, as the Cowboys went on to break their five-game losing streak.

Green, who became head coach in 2014, ended months of speculation about his future when he confirmed on Monday he had agreed to a three-year deal and was staying on at the Cowboys.

Green is relieved to have sorted out his future.

"I am very happy to have my future sorted and even happier my future is with the Cowboys," he said.

"My family is really settled here, my wife hails from the region and we are all really pleased to be able to continue to be part of the North Queensland community.

The Cowboys, to their credit, have built a reputation as a team where success is expected.

I tipped them to finish in the top two. They need to start playing like that and they need to turn it around in the next month where they play the Panthers, Warriors, Bulldogs, Titans and Raiders. They can't afford to drop more than one of those games.

Paul Green mentioned it in his post-match press conference after the Melbourne loss that they are not doing the one-per-cent efforts that are needed.