North Queensland’s 2025 hopes have copped a triple hit in the off-season with Jason Taumalolo undergoing foot surgery and rising stars Heilum Luki and Tom Chester suffering torn ACLs in training mishaps.
Luki was the latest to go down after suffering the injury at training on Saturday morning after Chester had also torn his ACL last week, with both players now expected to miss the entire 2025 season.
Taumalolo’s timeline for a return is unknown at this stage after he underwent surgery in early December to repair a Lisfranc injury suffered while playing for Tonga in the Pacific Championships in November.
The 31-year-old is not due to return to training until early January and then a return to play timeline will be determined by the club medicos.
Chester has already gone under the knife and Luki will undergo surgery in the coming weeks.
It’s a bitter blow for the Queensland State of Origin prospect, who has endured a horror run of injuries since making his NRL debut in 2021.
Luki tore the same ACL in 2022, suffered a hamstring injury just after his return in 2023 and missed seven weeks of the last campaign with an ankle issue.
The 23-year-old is still yet to play more than 20 games in a season, but had endured a productive end to the 2024 season as the Cowboys made it to the second week of the finals.
Cowboys coach Todd Payten needs a healthy roster to get the team back into the playoffs after he eased pressure surrounding his position by taking them to fifth last season.
They beat Newcastle in their elimination final before they were eliminated by Cronulla.
Heilum Luki. (Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)
The latest injury will sting for a North Queensland side that lost boom second-rower Kulikefu Finefeuiaki to the Dolphins for 2025, but could open up an opportunity for John Bateman to become a regular first-grader at his new club.
Wests Tigers released the Englishman from the remainder of his contract earlier this week to allow him to sign with the Cowboys for the next two seasons.
Fellow recruit Karl Lawton is another option to start on an edge alongside Maroons representative Jeremiah Nanai.
Bateman was released by the Wests from the final two years of his contract on Wednesday and the Tigers are chipping in half of his lucrative new deal.
The 31-year-old helps offset the collective 1000-plus games of NRL experience which left the club at the end of last season with Val Holmes, Kyle Feldt, Chad Townsend and Jake Granville moving on.
Bateman has played 285 Super League and NRL games and more than 30 Tests for England and Great Britain.
with AAP