Cowboys star came up against Bulldogs for the first time since move
North
Queensland
Cowboys hooker Reed Mahoney has been recognized for a moment of kindness during a tense match against his former team, the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, after a serious collision left Kurt Mann disoriented on the field.
The incident occurred in the 36th minute of Friday night’s game when Mann attempted to tackle Matt Lodge but suffered a heavy blow to the head. Lodge raised his forearm during the contact, striking Mann high and causing him to stumble backward into Sitili Tupouniua, who had also moved in to complete the tackle.
Mann managed to stand up on his own, but he appeared visibly confused as play stopped. Mahoney, who previously played with Mann at the Bulldogs, immediately stepped in to support the 33-year-old, helping him stay upright while medical staff rushed onto the field.
The Cowboys hooker remained with Mann until a trainer arrived, keeping his former teammate steady during the aftermath of the collision. Mann was later assessed by medical staff and showed signs of a category one concussion, leading to his immediate removal from the game.
Under the NRL’s mandatory protocols, Mann will now miss at least 11 days, ruling him out of next Thursday night’s match against the Dolphins at Suncorp Stadium. This injury adds to the growing list of setbacks for the Bulldogs, with Viliame Kikau sidelined due to a pectoral issue and Max King also unavailable.
Despite the physical nature of the contest between the two teams, Mahoney’s act quickly caught the attention of fans, many of whom shared their reactions on social media. One fan wrote, “That moment stole my heart.” Another commented, “Say what you like about him. But he’s a decent human being.” A third added, “It’s been a blessing in disguise that he’s now out of the Dogs. He’s really calmed down and playing more like a gentleman.”
Prior to the match, Cowboys coach Todd Payten mentioned that Mahoney had extra motivation going into the clash.
“I would suspect, going back and playing there, means more to him than any other player this weekend,” Payten said. “He might say publicly it doesn’t, but I know myself, I’ve been in that situation, it does. He’s super motivated.”
Canterbury’s struggling attack failed to perform again as the Bulldogs suffered a 28-12 loss to North Queensland. The Bulldogs fell to their third consecutive defeat on Friday as the Cowboys secured a crucial win at Accor Stadium, boosting off-contract head coach Todd Payten’s hopes of extending his contract.
Payten’s side have been one of the NRL’s most entertaining, high-scoring teams in 2026 but opted for a more defensive approach during the match, relying on solid defense to secure their sixth win in seven games. Payten was particularly pleased with his team’s defensive efforts, especially in the middle, which kept the Bulldogs to just 12 points.
“There’s no doubt that we’re going to have to be more resilient as a group when we defend and we showed that tonight and have shown it in periods through this year,” Payten said. “The thing I also like is how consistent we’ve been getting out of our own end and not making the errors and putting us under pressure there. Everyone’s contributing and that was a real team performance tonight.”
