Seven players from the North Queensland Toyota Cowboys Pathways program will graduate to the NRL squad in 2024.
Two of those players, Robert Derby and Zac Laybutt, made their NRL debuts in 2023, but sat outside the top squad on Train and Replacement contracts.
Both players debuted in Round 13 against Parramatta, which would be Derby’s only appearance of the season, while Laybutt registered four appearances in total, scoring three tries.
The duo were also named in the PNG Kumuls team to take on the Australian Prime Ministers’ XIII as well as the Kumuls' Pacific Championships squad.
Towering middle forward Mia Pua’avase joins Laybutt and Derby in joining North Queensland’s Top 30.
Pua’avase suffered an injury interrupted 2023 season, missing the final two months with a knee injury.
He made his Queensland Cup debut as an 18-year-old in 2022 after graduating from Kirwan State High School a year prior where he played alongside Jeremiah Nanai.
Jamal Shibasaki, Emarly Bitungane and Wil Sullivan graduate from the Young Guns program to the NRL squad.
Shibasaki enjoyed a remarkable season, playing at all three levels of the Queensland system.
The 18-year-old was named Mal Meninga Cup Player of the Year, was part of the premiership-winning Townsville Blackhawks Hastings Deering Colts side and made his Queensland Cup debut.
The brother of Cowboy No.306 Gehamat, Shibasaki is equally at home as a second-rower or middle forward.
An athletic middle forward, Bitungane received his first taste of top-level football in the Cowboys’ trial against The Dolphins prior to the 2023 season.
Bitungane made nine appearances for the Blackhawks in the Queensland Cup this season before a hip injury prematurely ended his season.
A 2023 Queensland Under 19s representative, Sullivan made six appearances in the Queensland Cup this season.
A lanky second-rower, Sullivan impressed Cowboys coaches during a stint with the NRL squad last pre-season.
Finally, 17-year-old Australian Schoolboy representative, Kaiden Lahrs will join the NRL squad straight out of high school.
The son of former Kangaroos and NSW prop Tom Learoyd-Lahrs, Kaiden has been a schoolboy sensation with Kirwan State High School.
Following in the footsteps of his Dad, Kaiden is a powerfully built middle forward.
