North Queensland Cowboys recruit Reed Mahoney has taken a thinly-veiled swipe at his former employers, the Canterbury Bulldogs.
When asked about his feelings of playing off the bench for the latter rounds of the 2025 NRL season at Belmore, the 27-year-old from Nambour didn’t hold back.
“I’m an 80-minute player, every week,” Mahoney bristled at Cowboys HQ in Townsville, explaining he takes pride in working extremely hard in the off-season to get himself at peak fitness so he can play long, interrupted stints on the field.
“But there were some changes at the back end of last year.”
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“Some of those changes were a bit out of my control, that was the coach’s decision (Cameron Ciraldo) so I had to run with it,” Mahoney continued.
“But if I can take anything out of that situation, it motivates me for the year to come and I’m really looking forward to pushing myself to stay at that level.”
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‘I’m not here to be Reece Robson’ says Mahoney
Mahoney’s arrival at the Cowboys coincides with the departure of Reece Robson who has linked with the Roosters for 2026, but he isn’t worried by the pressure of replacing the incumbent NSW State of Origin hooker.
“Pressure is the environment we live in (as NRL players),” Mahoney explained.
“Reece has been great for this club for a couple of years now, they’re big shoes to fill, but I’m not here to be Reece Robson, I’m here to be Reed Mahoney, working hard, connecting with people and getting the best out of everyone around me.
“I play with passion, I want to win every game, every minute.
“I see a lot of improvement in us (compared with 2025) and see that we can get back to being like past Cowboys teams and performing at the highest level.”
A veteran of 175 NRL games, Mahoney spent the past three seasons with the Bulldogs after beginning his career with the Eels in 2018.