By Fraser Barton
Reuben Cotter has a fire in his belly to string a full NRL season together for North Queensland, as the prop seeks to cull the demons of a preliminary final loss in 2022 after the highs of a breakout year.
Cotter is coming off his most consistent campaign in Cowboys colours, earned a call-up to Queensland’s victorious State of Origin side and a maiden berth in the Kangaroo’s World Cup-winning squad.
Cotter takes a hit during the round three NRL match against the Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium last season.Credit:Dan Peled/Getty Images
He played in 18 of North Queensland’s fixtures last season, after a mid-year hamstring injury sidelined the Sarina product for seven rounds.
The 24-year-old, who missed three consecutive seasons between 2016-18 because of multiple ACL tears, says the highs of 2022 were great but he wants to be playing at every opportunity in 2023.
“I really enjoyed it – I played more footy than ever,” he told reporters on Thursday.
Billy Slater congratulates Cotter at fulltime after Queensland’s win in game one of State of Origin last year, the only match Cotter played in the series. .Credit:NRL Photos
“The goal now is to play even more footy again. I missed a few games through injury so really looking looking forward to this year.
“I missed the next two Origins after game one so … something I’m definitely trying for this year is to put a series together. And we’d obviously like to go one more as well back at club land.“
Smaller in stature but not in heart, Cotter made 703 tackles in 2022. He missed only 19 and had 40 tackle breaks in his 18 games.
He scored just his second try of the year against Parramatta in their 24-20 home loss as the Cowboys fell short of a third grand final appearance in eight years.
Cotter says the scars from that evening in Townsville are still felt but there is a common belief among the squad they can go one further this season.
“We’ve dealt with that and we spoke about it as a group,” Cotter said.
“We’ve got heaps to improve on this year and we know our identity now and what our best footy looks like. So, we just have to do more of that.”
