The North Queensland Toyota Cowboys have agreed to a two-year contract extension with outside back Ben Hampton.

One of the most versatile players in the NRL, the Mareeba product returned home to North Queensland from Melbourne in 2017 and helped the Cowboys reach the grand final in his maiden season at the club.

The 27-year-old has started games at all five backline positions as well as hooker across his 91-game NRL career.

Hampton’s 2019 season ended in Round 10 after tearing a bicep against Parramatta, but Cowboys medical staff expect the utility to be fully fit for the start of pre-season in November.

“Benny has been a really valuable player to us since arriving in 2017. He can play multiple positions, he does anything that is required for the team and he’s played in two grand finals, so he’s a guy with big game experience,” Cowboys Director of Football Peter Parr said.

“Losing a number of senior players over the past couple of seasons, Ben’s experience, professionalism and versatility made it very attractive for us to keep him at the Cowboys.

“Ben is a high-quality person who does all the little things right. He’s got great attention to detail when it comes to his training and preparation for games and because of that he’s very important to our club when it comes to the education of our younger players.”