| 1995 North Queensland Cowboys season | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARL Rank | 20th | |||
| Play-off result | Missed finals | |||
| 1995 record | Wins: 2; draws: 0; losses: 20 | |||
| Points scored | For: 269; against: 660 | |||
| Team information | ||||
| CEO | Kerry Boustead | |||
| Coach | Grant Bell | |||
| Captain | ||||
| Stadium | Stockland Stadium | |||
| Avg. attendance | 21,670 | |||
| High attendance | 24,855 (vs. Brisbane Broncos, Round 5) | |||
| Top scorers | ||||
| Tries | David Bouveng, Justin Loomans (9) | |||
| Goals | Jonathan Davies (19) | |||
| Points | Jonathan Davies (43) | |||
| ||||
The 1995 North Queensland Cowboys season was the first in the club's history. Coached by Grant Bell and captained by Laurie Spina, they competed in the ARL Premiership.
Two years after being admitted into Australia's premier rugby league competition, the North Queensland Cowboys played their first official premiership game on Saturday, March 11. Led by inaugural captain and Ingham local Laurie Spina, the club faced the Sydney Bulldogs in front of a crowd of 23,156 at Stockland Stadium. There was no fairy tale beginning for the club, as centre Adrian Vowles was sent off for a high shot six minutes into the match and the Bulldogs won the game 32-16. [1] Teenage fullback Damian Gibson, who was making his first grade debut, scored the club's first premiership try.
The club found little success during their debut season in the premiership. They began the season with seven straight losses before picking up their first ever win against the Illawarra Steelers at Steelers Stadium in Round 8. A six-game losing streak followed, which was then snapped in Round 15, when the club recorded their first ever home win, defeating the Western Suburbs Magpies. It would be the last time the club enjoyed victory that season, as they ended the year with seven consecutive losses. The Cowboys finished 1995 in 20th place, winning the dreaded wooden spoon, with just two wins from 22 games.
Former Eastern Suburbs Roosters prop Wayne Sing, who played 20 games, was named Player of the Year and Players' Player at the end of the season. The Cowboys would also have three players participate in the 1995 Rugby League World Cup. Jonathan Davies (a former Welsh rugby union international) and Kevin Ellis (who spent the entire season in reserve grade) both represented Wales, while Robert Piva (a recruit from Wakefield Trinity) represented Western Samoa.
Perhaps the one bright spot from the Cowboys' inaugural season was the debut of young Proserpine centre Paul Bowman. Bowman, who played seven games in 1995, would go onto captain the club and play 203 games over 13 seasons. Following his retirement in 2007, the club renamed their Player of the Year award the Paul Bowman Medal in his honour. He would join the club's coaching staff as an assistant coach and later their high performance manager, being on the staff for their NRL Premiership and 2016 World Club Challenge winning sides.
| First team squad | Coaching staff | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Head coach
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| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 22 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 687 | 248 | +439 | 40 |
| 2 |  Canberra Raiders | 22 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 634 | 255 | +379 | 40 |
| 3 |  Brisbane Broncos | 22 | 17 | 0 | 5 | 600 | 364 | +236 | 34 |
| 4 |  Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 22 | 16 | 0 | 6 | 516 | 287 | +229 | 32 |
| 5 |  Newcastle Knights | 22 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 549 | 396 | +153 | 30 |
| 6 |  Sydney Bulldogs (P) | 22 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 468 | 352 | +116 | 28 |
| 7 |  St. George Dragons | 22 | 13 | 0 | 9 | 583 | 382 | +201 | 26 |
| 8 |  North Sydney Bears | 22 | 11 | 2 | 9 | 542 | 331 | +211 | 24 |
| 9 |  Sydney City Roosters | 22 | 12 | 0 | 10 | 466 | 406 | +60 | 24 |
| 10 |  Auckland Warriors | 22 | 13 | 0 | 9 | 544 | 493 | +51 | 24 |
| 11 |  Western Reds | 22 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 361 | 549 | -188 | 22 |
| 12 |  Illawarra Steelers | 22 | 10 | 1 | 11 | 519 | 431 | +88 | 21 |
| 13 |  Western Suburbs Magpies | 22 | 10 | 0 | 12 | 459 | 534 | -75 | 20 |
| 14 |  Penrith Panthers | 22 | 9 | 0 | 13 | 481 | 484 | -3 | 18 |
| 15 |  Sydney Tigers | 22 | 7 | 0 | 15 | 309 | 591 | -282 | 14 |
| 16 |  South Queensland Crushers | 22 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 303 | 502 | -199 | 13 |
| 17 |  Gold Coast Seagulls | 22 | 4 | 1 | 17 | 350 | 628 | -278 | 9 |
| 18 |  South Sydney Rabbitohs | 22 | 4 | 1 | 17 | 319 | 686 | -367 | 9 |
| 19 |  Parramatta Eels | 22 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 310 | 690 | -380 | 6 |
| 20 |  North Queensland Cowboys | 22 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 269 | 660 | -391 | 4 |
| Name | App | T | G | FG | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Faron Anderson | 2 | - | - | - | - |
| George Bartlett | 21 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Martin Bella | 14 | - | - | - | - |
| Ray Blackman | 3 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| David Bouveng | 16 | 9 | - | - | 36 |
| Paul Bowman | 7 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Shane Christensen | 10 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Reggie Cressbrook | 8 | - | 5 | - | 10 |
| Jonathan Davies | 9 | 1 | 19 | 1 | 43 |
| Ian Dunemann | 13 | 2 | 7 | - | 22 |
| Jason Erba | 5 | - | - | - | - |
| Paul Galea | 19 | 4 | - | - | 16 |
| Damian Gibson | 20 | 3 | 1 | - | 14 |
| Leigh Groves | 17 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Michael Hogue | 4 | - | - | - | - |
| Steven Holmes | 5 | - | 2 | - | 4 |
| Peter Jones | 12 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Aaron Ketchell | 3 | - | - | - | - |
| Justin Loomans | 16 | 9 | - | - | 36 |
| David Maiden | 2 | - | - | - | - |
| Jason Martin | 8 | 3 | - | - | 12 |
| Jamie Mathiou | 7 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Andrew Meads | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Craig Menkins | 4 | - | - | - | - |
| Willie Morganson | 8 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Paul Morris | 2 | - | - | - | - |
| Glen Murphy | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Robert Piva | 9 | - | - | - | - |
| Ian Russell | 11 | - | - | - | - |
| Dean Schifilliti | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Bruce Sinclair | 11 | - | - | - | - |
| Wayne Sing | 20 | - | - | - | - |
| John Skardon | 16 | 3 | - | - | 12 |
| Noel Slade | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Noel Solomon | 6 | - | - | - | - |
| Laurie Spina | 13 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Craig Teitzel | 12 | - | - | - | - |
| Adrian Vowles | 20 | 3 | 2 | - | 16 |
| Andrew Whittington | 11 | - | - | - | - |
| Totals | 49 | 36 | 1 | 269 |
Source: [2]
The following players played a representative match in 1995.
| World Cup | |
|---|---|
| Jonathan Davies | Wales |
| Kevin Ellis | Wales |
| Robert Piva | Western Samoa |
Laurie Joseph Spina is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and rugby league commentator. In 1995, Spina was the inaugural captain of the North Queensland Cowboys.
Damian Gibson is a former Wales international rugby league footballer. Primarily a fullback, Gibson was the North Queensland Cowboys first ever try scorer.
The 2007 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 13th in the club's history. Coached by Graham Murray and captained by Johnathan Thurston, they competed in the NRL's Telstra Premiership. They finished the regular season in 3rd place, falling one game short of the Grand Final after losing to the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.
The 2004 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 11th in the club's history. Coached by Graham Murray and captained by Travis Norton, they competed in the NRL's 2005 Telstra Premiership. They finished the regular season in 5th and played in their first Grand Final, which they lost to the Wests Tigers.
The 2004 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 10th in the club's history. Coached by Graham Murray and captained by Travis Norton, they competed in the NRL's 2004 Telstra Premiership. It was the first time the club had made the finals, finishing the regular season in 7th, falling one game short of the Grand Final.
The 2008 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 14th season in the club's history. They were coached by Graham Murray and captained by Johnathan Thurston, they competed in the National Rugby League's 2008 Telstra Premiership.
The 2003 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 9th in the club's history. Coached by Graham Murray and captained by Paul Bowman, they competed in the NRL's 2003 Telstra Premiership. Although the club once again finished 11th, they recorded their highest number of wins (10) and competition points (24) in a season.
The 2006 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 12th in the club's history. Coached by Graham Murray and captained by Travis Norton, they competed in the NRL's 2006 Telstra Premiership.
The 1996 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 2nd in the club's history. Coached by Graham Lowe and captained by Adrian Vowles, they competed in the Optus Cup.
The 1997 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 3rd in the club's history. Coached by Tim Sheens and captained by Ian Roberts, they competed in the breakaway News Limited-run competition, the Telstra Cup.
The 1998 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 4th in the club's history. Coached by Tim Sheens and captained by John Lomax, they competed in the inaugural season of the newly formed National Rugby League (NRL) competition.
The 2002 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 8th in the club's history. Coached by Murray Hurst and captained by Paul Bowman, they competed in the NRL's 2002 Telstra Premiership. Graham Murray replaced Hurst after three rounds and helped the club to their highest finish (11th) and most competition points (20) at the time.
The 2001 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 7th in the club's history. Coached by Tim Sheens and captained by Paul Bowman, they competed in the NRL's 2001 Telstra Premiership.
The 2000 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 6th in the club's history. Coached by Tim Sheens and captained by new signing Tim Brasher, they competed in the National Rugby League's 2000 Telstra Premiership, finishing in last place.
The 1999 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 5th in the club's history. Coached by Tim Sheens and captained by Noel Goldthorpe, they competed in the National Rugby League.
The 2009 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 15th season in the club's history. Coached by Neill Henry and captained by Johnathan Thurston, they competed in the National Rugby League's 2009 Telstra Premiership and finished the regular season 12th place, failing to reach the finals for the second consecutive year.
The 2010 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 16th season in the club's history. Coached by Neil Henry and co-captained by Johnathan Thurston and Matthew Scott, they competed in the National Rugby League's 2010 Telstra Premiership, finishing in 15th place and failing to make the finals for the 3rd consecutive year.
The 2011 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 17th season in the club's history. They competed in the National Rugby League's 2011 Telstra Premiership. They finished the regular season in 7th place and were knocked out in the first week of the finals by the eventual premiers, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.
The 2012 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 18th in the club's history. Coached by Neil Henry and co-captained by Johnathan Thurston and Matthew Scott, they competed in the National Rugby League's 2012 Telstra Premiership. They finished the regular season in 5th place and were knocked out in the second week of the finals by the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, for the second year in a row.
The 2013 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 19th in the club's history. Coached by Neil Henry and co-captained by Johnathan Thurston and Matthew Scott, they competed in the NRL's 2013 Telstra Premiership. The Cowboys finished the season in 8th place and were knocked out in the first week of the finals by the Cronulla Sharks.
