NRL Profile: North Queensland Cowboys

North Queensland Cowboys enter the 2025 NRL season without some star players that have served them well, and it remains to be seen how they will cope over the coming months.

The Cowboys surprised many in 2024 when they finished fifth on the ladder at the end of the regular season.

Todd Payten’s side then made it through the first week of finals before losing the semi-final against Cronulla Sharks the week after.

The aim for the Cowboys will be to push for the top four once again, but with a new-look roster, the jury is out for now.

Let’s take a look how the North Queensland Cowboys are shaping up ahead of the 2025 NRL season.

Payten at the helm

Todd Payten is four seasons into his second spell as Cowboys head coach, guiding them to finals in both 2022 and 2024.

2022 was their most successful season when they finished third on the ladder and were one game away from a grand final against Penrith Panthers.

In that season, Payten was named Dally M coach of the year, so there is no doubting that the Cowboys have a top coach on their hands.

The wheels came off in 2023 as they missed out on finals, before returning to the top eight once again last season.

Now all eyes will be on how Payten copes with the loss of key players and a new-look squad for 2025.

The Cowboys still have a very talented roster and Payten has shown he can get the best out of his players and prove the doubters wrong.

Cowboys lose key trio

The Cowboys have made some solid additions to their squad ahead of the new season, but a lot of the focus has been on who has left.

Their backline has been hit with try-scoring machine Kyle Feldt moving on to the English Super League with St Helens.

Valentine Holmes has switched to the Dragons, while experienced playmaker Chad Townsend has joined the Sydney Roosters.

Those positions will take some filling, and it remains to be seen how the new-look halves pairing of Tom Dearden and Jake Clifford will shape up.

Dearden is a class act and will be key for the Cowboys in 2025, as will star fullback Scott Drinkwater.

The Cowboys are very strong in the forwards with Reuben Cotter, Jason Taumalolo and Jeremiah Nanai all in the side.

They will be joined by new signing, veteran forward John Bateman, who should slot in comfortably.

The return of centre Zac Laybutt, who missed virtually the whole of 2024 with an ACL injury, will also be like having a new signing.

North Queensland Cowboys odds

The Cowboys are not being completely written off as far as winning the 2025 grand final is concerned, and they can be backed at 19.00 to go all the way.

However making the top four would be a huge achievement and they are 4.25 to make it, and 1.22 to miss out.

Any odds displayed were correct at the time of writing and are subject to fluctuation.