The 2018 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 24th in the club's history. Coached by Paul Green and co-captained by Johnathan Thurston and Matthew Scott, they competed in the NRL's 2018 Telstra Premiership. The team finished the regular season in 13th position and did not qualify for the finals.[1]
| 2018 North Queensland Cowboys season | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NRL Rank | 13th | |||
| Play-off result | Missed finals | |||
| 2018 record | Wins: 8; draws: 0; losses: 16 | |||
| Points scored | For: 449; against: 521 | |||
| Team information | ||||
| CEO | Greg Tonner | |||
| Coach | Paul Green | |||
| Captain | ||||
| Stadium | 1300SMILES Stadium | |||
| Avg. attendance | 15,417 | |||
| High attendance | 25,095 (vs. Parramatta Eels, Round 24) | |||
| Top scorers | ||||
| Tries | Kyle Feldt (14) | |||
| Goals | Johnathan Thurston (77) | |||
| Points | Johnathan Thurston (166) | |||
| ||||
Season summary
editMilestones
edit- Round 1: Johnathan Thurston played his 300th NRL game.[2]
- Round 1: Johnathan Thurston played his 271st game for the club, becoming the Cowboys' most capped player.[2]
- Round 1: Jordan McLean made his debut for the club.
- Round 2: Antonio Winterstein played his 200th NRL game.
- Round 2: Jordan McLean scored his first try for the club.
- Round 7: Ethan Lowe played his 100th NRL game for the club.
- Round 11: Jason Taumalolo played his 150th NRL game for the club.
- Round 11: Francis Molo made his debut for the club.
- Round 13: Mitchell Dunn made his NRL debut.
- Round 13: Jake Granville played his 100th NRL game.
- Round 13: Enari Tuala scored his first NRL try.
- Round 16: Gavin Cooper played his 200th NRL game for the club.
- Round 19: Jake Clifford made his NRL debut.
- Round 20: The club won their 250th game.
- Round 24: Jake Granville played his 100th NRL game for the club.
- Round 24: Matthew Scott played his 250th game for the club.
- Round 25: Gavin Cooper scored in his 9th consecutive game, breaking the record set by Frank Burge in 1918 for most consecutive try scoring games by a forward.
Squad
edit
Squad movement
editGains
edit| Player | Signed From | Until End of | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carlin Anderson | 2019 |
||
| Jordan McLean | 2020 |
||
| Francis Molo | 2018 |
Losses
edit| Player | Signed To | Until End of | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corey Horsburgh | 2019 |
||
| Marcus Jensen | 2018 |
||
| Patrick Kaufusi | 2019 |
||
| Blake Leary | 2018 |
||
| Patrick Mago | 2018 |
||
| Kalyn Ponga | 2022 |
||
| Ben Spina | 2018 |
||
| Ray Thompson | Retired | - |
|
| Braden Uele | 2019 |
Re-signings
edit| Player | Club | Until End of | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jake Clifford | 2021 |
||
| Jake Granville | 2020 |
||
| Coen Hess | 2022 |
||
| Francis Molo | 2020 |
||
| Michael Morgan | 2023 |
||
| Justin O'Neill | 2021 |
||
| Emry Pere | 2020 |
||
| Shane Wright | 2020 |
Ladder
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 542 | 361 | +181 | 34 | |
| 2 | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 536 | 363 | +173 | 34 | |
| 3 | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 582 | 437 | +145 | 34 | |
| 4 | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 519 | 423 | +96 | 34 | |
| 5 | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 517 | 461 | +56 | 32 | |
| 6 | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 556 | 500 | +56 | 32 | |
| 7 | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 519 | 472 | +47 | 32 | |
| 8 | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 472 | 447 | +25 | 32 | |
| 9 | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 377 | 460 | −83 | 26 | |
| 10 | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 563 | 540 | +23 | 22 | |
| 11 | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 414 | 607 | −193 | 20 | |
| 12 | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 428 | 474 | −46 | 18 | |
| 13 | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 449 | 521 | −72 | 18 | |
| 14 | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 472 | 582 | −110 | 18 | |
| 15 | 24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 1 | 500 | 622 | −122 | 16 | |
| 16 | 24 | 6 | 0 | 18 | 1 | 374 | 550 | −176 | 14 | |
Fixtures
editPre-season
edit| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 17 February | Trial 1 | Barlow Park | 30 – 16 | Asiata, Clifford, Hess | Clifford (2/2), Lowe (0/1) | - | ||||
| Friday, 23 February | Trial 2 | Suncorp Stadium | 16 – 14 | Feldt (3), Thurston | Lowe (0/2), Cooper (0/1), Feldt (0/1) | 25,000[19] | ||||
| Legend: Win Loss Draw | ||||||||||
Regular season
editStatistics
edit| Name | App | T | G | FG | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Asiata | 15 | - | - | - | - |
| Scott Bolton | 22 | - | - | - | - |
| Javid Bowen | 6 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Jake Clifford | 6 | - | - | - | - |
| Gavin Cooper | 23 | 13 | - | - | 52 |
| Lachlan Coote | 9 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Mitchell Dunn | 2 | - | - | - | - |
| Kyle Feldt | 24 | 14 | 1 | - | 58 |
| Shaun Fensom | 14 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Gideon Gela-Mosby | 4 | 3 | - | - | 12 |
| Jake Granville | 24 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Ben Hampton | 22 | 8 | - | - | 32 |
| Coen Hess | 23 | 7 | - | - | 28 |
| Sam Hoare | 3 | - | - | - | - |
| Corey Jensen | 18 | - | - | - | - |
| Kane Linnett | 12 | - | - | - | - |
| Ethan Lowe | 15 | - | - | - | - |
| Te Maire Martin | 23 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Jordan McLean | 10 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Francis Molo | 7 | - | - | - | - |
| Michael Morgan | 11 | 1 | - | 1 | 5 |
| Justin O'Neill | 21 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Matthew Scott | 18 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Jason Taumalolo | 23 | 4 | - | - | 16 |
| Johnathan Thurston | 24 | 3 | 77 | - | 166 |
| Enari Tuala | 10 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Antonio Winterstein | 16 | 7 | - | - | 28 |
| Shane Wright | 2 | - | - | - | - |
| Totals | 73 | 78 | 1 | 449 |
Representatives
editThe following players have played a representative match in 2018.
| Pacific Test | Denver Test | State of Origin 1 | State of Origin 2 | State of Origin 3 | Prime Minister's XIII | October Tests | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jake Clifford | – |
– |
– |
– |
– |
Prime Minister's XIII |
–
|
| Gavin Cooper | – |
– |
Queensland |
Queensland |
Queensland |
– |
–
|
| Coen Hess | – |
– |
Queensland |
Queensland |
Queensland |
– |
–
|
| Kyle Laybutt | – |
– |
– |
– |
– |
Papua New Guinea |
–
|
| Te Maire Martin | – |
New Zealand |
– |
– |
– |
– |
–
|
| Jordan McLean | – |
– |
– |
– |
– |
Prime Minister's XIII |
Australia
|
| Michael Morgan | – |
– |
Queensland |
– |
– |
– |
–
|
| Jason Taumalolo | Tonga |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
Tonga
|
| Enari Tuala | – |
– |
– |
– |
– |
Prime Minister's XIII |
–
|
Honours
editLeague
edit- Dally M Lock of the Year: Jason Taumalolo
- Rugby League Players Association Halfback of the Year: Johnathan Thurston
- Rugby League Players Association Lock of the Year: Jason Taumalolo
Club
edit- Paul Bowman Medal: Jason Taumalolo
- Players' Player: Jason Taumalolo
- Coach's Award: Kyle Feldt
- Member's Player of the Year: Kyle Feldt
- Club Person of the Year: Johnathan Thurston
- Rookie of the Year: Jake Clifford
- Townsville Bulletins' Fan Choice Award: Johnathan Thurston
Feeder Clubs
editMackay Cutters - 14th, missed finals
Northern Pride - 4th, lost elimination final
Townsville Blackhawks - 3rd, lost elimination final
References
edit- ^ "2018 NRL ladder". nrl.com. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
- ^ a b Arnold, Rikki-Lee (10 March 2018). "JT Riding High in the Saddle". The Courier-Mail. pp. 84–85.
- ^ "Anderson inks deal with Cowboys". NQ Cowboys. 26 April 2017.
- ^ "McLean to join Cowboys from 2018". NQ Cowboys. 20 March 2017.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Patrick Kaufusi set to join Storm". NRL. 1 September 2017.
- ^ "Why Brisbane Broncos win from Adam Blair's money move". Fox Sports Australia. 5 October 2017.
- ^ "Cowboys coach confirms Kalyn Ponga will join Knights". NQ Cowboys. 24 February 2017.
- ^ "Ray Thompson to retire at season's end". NRL. 8 August 2017.
- ^ "7th Tackle: Sharks snare Cowboys wrecking ball". Yahoo. 3 August 2017.
- ^ "Granville extends stay with Cowboys". NRL. 28 May 2018.
- ^ "Cowboys extend young star's contract with eye on post-JT era". NRL. 17 April 2018.
- ^ "Hess extends stay with Cowboys". NQ Cowboys. 14 December 2018.
- ^ "Molo extends stay with Cowboys". Cowboys. 19 June 2018.
- ^ "Cowboys re-sign Morgan on five-year deal". NRL. 2 March 2018.
- ^ "O'Neill reveals he penned three-year extension with Cowboys". Zero Tackle. 13 May 2019.
- ^ "Pere re-signs as a Cowboy". NQ Cowboys. 27 April 2018.
- ^ "Building young stock – Wright, Clifford re-sign". NQ Cowboys. 17 April 2018.
- ^ "NRL Trial: Storm v Cowboys". Austadiums. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
- ^ "NRL: Cowboys v Sharks". Austadiums. Retrieved 15 March 2018.