Cowboy shooting for more attacking flair

Reece Robson is learning how to get his body to cope with playing 80-minute NRL games.

Now the next assignment will be to introduce some new components into his game.

With eight games under his belt in half-a-season for North Queensland, that's equal to the total of what he played in two years at St George Illawarra.

"I'm obviously loving the game and being up here and the boys have been really good. It would obviously be better if we had a few more wins," Robson told NRL.com

"First I'm trying to get more comfortable playing the 80 minutes and I'm fuelling myself up a bit more. Every week it gets a bit easier as the match fitness kicks in, and I also get smarter with how I play."

Now he's after improvements in his kicking game, in terms of frequency and metres. He's also an NRL hooker with no forced dropouts to his name after eight rounds.

"Those are parts of my game that I definitely practise a lot and I want to introduce more," Robson said.

"At the moment I've been wanting to work my way around the team and get more confidence in my role with them before I start maybe introducing a bit more of those things."

Robson has been a lifelong fan of Danny Buderus and Cameron Smith as hookers he likes to study.

"I do a lot of video on Cameron at the moment each week, trying to implement things I see him do into my own game.

"I've also taken a lot out of working each week with Jake Granville. He's been excellent for me."

From the outside looking in, that could seem awkward – former starting No.9 loses his place to newly arrived former Junior Kangaroo.

Robson averaged 50 minutes coming off the bench in the first four games of 2020, but has started the last four games and played all 80.

"Me and Jakey get on well. I still try to learn as much as I can off him as I did all the way through the pre-season. He's a great player and I have a lot of respect for him," Robson said.

"The weeks ahead we want to put ourselves in a position to win a few more games, and that might mean developing more things in my game."

The month ahead is an unenviable one for the Cowboys, who were on the receiving end of a 42-4 thumping at the hands of first-placed Parramatta at Bankwest Stadium on Friday night.

Until Manly dropped out of the top eight last round, the Cowboys were set to meet four top-of-the-table teams in Roosters this weekend (round nine), followed by the Panthers, the Sea Eagles and the Raiders.

Most commentators might think the Cowboys will be competitive but may still end up 0-4.

"Well, you've just got to take that on board. It would be a fair statement with how our form has been but the mood in the camp is pretty confident," Robson said.

"We know we've got the team to do it we just need to put a few things together.

"I think we can get a few wins in there. The better opposition will make us lift a bit – I'm actually looking forward to it."

For Paul Green's team to defy the odds, much will depend on seasoned campaigners in the pack like Jason Taumalolo, Jordan McLean and Josh McGuire.

There's nothing like hearing the footsteps of those three and fellow big bopper Coen Hess looming up for a carry when Robson is at dummy-half.

"Far better for me to see them coming up behind me than standing in front of them," he said.

"It's massive to play alongside those guys, pass to those guys. Getting a quick play-the-ball off the back of them certainly helps my game."

And if they can get a roll on, Robson will be able to unveil his improving attacking skills to ideally take the pressure of young halves Scott Drinkwater and Jake Clifford.