North Queensland Cowboys star Jason Taumalolo is being linked with a stunning move.
“It started off at the start of last year with Todd Payten coming out in one of his first press conferences and sort of criticising Taumalolo and that sort of rumour has never gone away really,” Te’o said on Triple M’s The Rush Hour.
“The fact that he is on limited minutes, he is on a big multi-year contract of a million dollars, something is going to have to give there because at the moment Todd’s not playing him enough minutes.
“Maybe he doesn’t trust Jason on the field for that long, something needs to happen, one needs to go maybe.”
Payten first called out Taumalolo publicly after the Cowboys’ 24-0 loss to Penrith Panthers in round one last year and the relationship has not been sturdy since.
“The thought process is around capping his stints. I don’t need him to play 40 minutes [in the first half]. I need him to do his job for 25 to 30 tops. He can have a rest, come back and finish the game,'” Payten said at the time.
“I think it was just a bizarre set-up really, he starts the game named in his usual position at lock… and then an injury comes in and they make some changes and they name him at prop.
“Now look props and locks are pretty much the same thing, I don’t think it was necessary to change him but what happened was he was getting prop minutes and was brought off the field for a long period of time and I just think personally he is someone who needs to play himself fit.
“And he’s just not getting enough minutes at the moment to get where he needs to.”
