Cowboys.com.au are providing an in-depth positional analysis of the 2021 North Queensland Toyota Cowboys squad. We begin the series with the fullback position headlined by superstar Valentine Holmes and young gun Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow.
The players are ranked by their NRL experience with their career numbers of games in brackets next to their name.
Valentine Holmes (117)
An ankle injury limited Holmes to 12 games during his maiden season in North Queensland. The 25-year-old showed flashes of his attacking brilliance, crossing for four tries, including the first-ever Cowboys four-pointer at the brand new Queensland Country Bank Stadium. Holmes’ ball-playing also impressed and at one point early in the season, he was leading the NRL in try assists before finishing the season with nine.
Scott Drinkwater (27)
Drinkwater made the full-time transition to five-eighth in 2020, although he did start three games at fullback in the middle of the season. Drinkwater is expected to again spend the majority of his time in the halves again in 2021, but has proven just as dynamic in the No.1 jersey.
Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow (14)
Twelve months ago Tabuai-Fidow had just finished high school, but one season in the NRL was all the Cairns-bred youngster needed to solidify himself as one of the most exciting talents in rugby league. The 19-year-old did most of his damage from the wing in his debut season, but started seven of his 14 games at his natural position of fullback.
