Eight players exit as Cowboys ready to splash cash on roster

North Queensland will have millions of dollars up their sleeve, and up to 20 per cent of its roster to fill, as club icon Matt Scott and Kiwis international Jordan Kahu headline eight Cowboys leaving.

Retiring props Scott and Scott Bolton will be farewelled at the club's presentation night next week, while Kahu has also knocked back a new deal as he weighs up pursuing a move to rugby union in his native New Zealand.

Between them Scott and Bolton have played more than 500 games for the club, with the former on the improve after suffering a late-season stroke, returning to Townsville and touring the city's new stadium with his teammates this week.

Outside backs Javid Bowen, Gideon Gela-Mosby and Enari Tuala will also exit from Paul Green's top-30 squad.

Fullback Carlin Anderson's development deal is another that won't be renewed.

Highly-rated Dragons junior Reece Robson joins the club on a three-year deal next season and will push for a regular first grade spot, but back-up hooker Kurt Baptiste also moves on as a result.

Reuben Cotter's new one-year deal brings him into the full-time squad, with a couple of other youngsters set to be given new first grade and development deals by the end of September.

All up the Cowboys could have up to six spots to fill in their top-30 squad for next season, with each club required to have 24 players locked in by November 1.

And Green will have cash to make a splash amid any off-season market movement, with the club already setting aside as much as $900,000 for Valentine Holmes should his NFL bid in New York unravel.

Whether their free salary cap space is spent on Holmes remains to be seen, but the Cowboys have been actively scouring for outside backs.

North Queensland's attack has stagnated markedly over the last two seasons, producing just 15.75 points a game to rank 14th in the NRL this year.

The club missed out on Dallin Watene-Zelezniak and Knights outcast Jesse Ramien and also released Papua New Guinean winger Nene Macdonald in July, but has backed a winner with mid-season recruit Scott Drinkwater since his arrival from Melbourne.