The North Queensland Toyota Cowboys have announced an overhaul of the feeder club player allocation system for the 2022 season.
A review following the 2021 season has resulted in an increased focus on building combinations and player familiarity for top squad players not playing in the NRL.
The majority of the Cowboys’ NRL squad will be split between the Mackay Cutters and Northern Pride.
The Townsville Blackhawks will receive a smaller allocation of NRL players, but will include the majority of the Cowboys’ emerging talents, following in-depth discussions between the Queensland Cup powerhouse and the Cowboys. The Blackhawks’ allocation contains some of the Cowboys’ brightest rising stars from the NRL Development List and Young Guns program, including Jake Bourke, Tom Chester and Riley Price.
“The Blackhawks have done a wonderful job building their roster to ensure they have solid depth and experience across all positions and as such we are going to entrust them and the environment they have built with the development of our emerging superstars,” Cowboys General Manager of Football Micheal Luck said.
“This gives us the opportunity to split the rest of the squad between Mackay and the Northern Pride.
“Both clubs have outstanding up and coming coaches in Dave Elliott and Ty Williams and we’re extremely excited to see how our players develop under their guidance.
“This decision will also allow us to align our players outside the weekly NRL squad in positional units to build continuity and ensure players become accustomed to playing alongside each other.”
Full allocation lists will be published in the coming week.
