In preparation for the 2026 NRL season, the North Queensland Cowboys have confirmed their development list, which includes a combination of young talents and a host of new recruits.
Following three matches for the Sydney Roosters over the past two seasons, Ethan King returns home to Townsville, where he attended Ipswich Grammar School, played for the Ipswich Jets in the Mal Meninga Cup and was named in the Under-16s Queensland side during the start of his career.
The son of Andrew King, who played 133 first-grade matches for Gold Coast, Manly, Northern Eagles, and South Sydney, Ethan comes from a long line of former players, which includes ex-Parramatta Eels forward Chris King and Australian and NSW Blues representative Matt King.
Joining King is 2024 Australian Schoolboys sensation Mason Barber, who failed to play a single match during this year due to an ongoing shoulder injury, and Matthew Watts, who was a member of the club's Young Guns program and is a former St Patrick's College schoolboys teammate of Jaxon Purdue.
Xavier Kerrisk will also remain on the club's development list for the second straight season and is highly regarded as the future No.9 of the Cowboys.
The other two players on the development list are Liam Sutton and Ronald Philitoga.
After a strong season in the QLD Cup for the Wynnum Manly Seagulls after joining them from the Newcastle Knights mid-way through 2025, Zero Tackle understands that Sutton has been rewarded with a two-year contract.
Meanwhile, Philitoga joins the club after landing a train-and-replacement deal with the Brisbane Broncos and is set to make his international debut for Fiji against Papua New Guinea on Saturday afternoon.
