NRL Round 10 carries one of the more emotional sub-plots of the 2026 season for the North Queensland Cowboys, with Jason Taumalolo set to take down a club games record on Friday night against the Parramatta Eels at Queensland Country Bank Stadium. Freddy and The Eighth's tipping segment on NRL on Nine, this week minus Brad Fittler and presented by The Eighth alongside Aaron Woods, made the milestone the centrepiece of a confident Cowboys call.
'A big one for Jason Taumalolo. Brace JT's record. What a player Taumalolo. And no surprise - thank the Lord of Rugby League I never had to play against him,' said Woods, before being asked how he would have tackled the giant lock. 'Just grab him straight on the seeds,' he laughed. The pair both backed the Cowboys, citing six wins from their last seven and a fully fit forward pack against an Eels side still waiting on senior playmakers to return.
It was the only NRL game of the round Aaron Woods previewed with that level of conviction. The Round 10 slate, in his read, swings on form lines that have been hardening all month. The Dolphins, hosting the struggling Bulldogs at Suncorp on Thursday, were tabbed as the standout. 'Dolphins, for mine, best backline of the competition and their forward pack looks really strong,' Woods argued, while flagging the intrigue of Shawn O'Sullivan being slotted onto the Bulldogs bench: 'Maybe he might start at halfback - they might move Burton somewhere.'
The Roosters got a 'without a doubt' tick over the Titans at Gosford. The Saturday night Sea Eagles versus Broncos clash at 4 Pines, with Brisbane ravaged by injury and suspension and Manly coming off a near-upset of Penrith, was rated 'big crowd, sold out, Eagles get it done.' On the Sharks-Rabbitohs split, Woods broke from Fittler's tip and went Cronulla on confidence after their handling of the Tigers, while flagging a strong attacking sign for NSW Origin watchers in the way the Rabbitohs trailed but kept scoring late against the Knights.
The two most barbed lines of the segment were saved for the Storm. With multiple key spine players missing, Woods conceded that Melbourne's spine was 'pretty much all out' and tipped them to beat the depleted Tigers anyway. 'Storm to win and win well.' But asked whether a long-overdue victory could spark Craig Bellamy's side back into contention, his answer was uncharacteristically firm: 'No. I can't see them making the eight this year.'
That is a sharper call than even Bellamy's own 'most embarrassed I've ever been' assessment of his side last fortnight, and it is the line round 10 will be measured against. If the Storm beat the Tigers and somehow turn the slide into a run of wins, Woods looks foolish. If they don't, Melbourne's slide will go from the most-discussed sub-plot of the season to its first genuine post-mortem.
The round closes with Raiders versus Panthers on Sunday afternoon - 'I'm going to go Penrith, but won't be by much,' Woods conceded after admitting he was 'that close to picking the Raiders' on Ricky Stuart's reset and the visitors' road weariness. Aaron Woods's stand-out picks of the round, in summary: Dolphins, Sea Eagles and Cowboys. On a weekend Taumalolo writes himself a little further into Townsville folklore, the man also known as 'Sledge' is backing the home club to give him a win to go with it.
