1998 North Queensland Cowboys season

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1998 North Queensland Cowboys season
NRL Rank16th
Play-off resultMissed finals
1998 recordWins: 9; draws: 0; losses: 15
Points scoredFor: 361; against: 556
Team information
Coach Tim Sheens
Captain
Stadium Malanda Stadium
Avg. attendance17,034
High attendance30,250 (vs. Brisbane Broncos, Round 22)
Top scorers
Tries Josh Hannay (15)
Goals Josh Hannay (29)
Points Josh Hannay (118)
<  1997 1999  >

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.

Contents

Season summary

After a disappointing 1997 season, the Cowboys entered the newly unified National Rugby League competition with high hopes. While the squad from a year earlier was kept mostly the same, the club added former Australia and Queensland representative and local favourite Dale Shearer, veteran forward Dale Fritz from the recently folded Perth Reds and former Canberra Raiders flyer Noa Nadruku, who reunited with coach Tim Sheens.

The year got off to the best start possible, as the club went on a four-game winning streak, the first time they'd won three and four games in a row. They then bounced back from a big loss to Brisbane in Round 5, with a 17-4 win over Newcastle. After six rounds, the club sat in equal 1st on 10 competition points and a maiden finals appearance looked to be a real possibility.

It turned out to be false dawn, as a five-game losing streak followed. The club would then make history in Round 12, defeating the Penrith Panthers 36-28, after trailing 26-0 at half time. As of 2019, this still stands as the biggest comeback victory in Australian first grade history. They followed that up with another milestone, recording 40 points in a game for the first time, defeating the Western Suburbs Magpies 40-10. Over the last 10 rounds, the club would win just two games, finishing in 16th place after such a promising start to the season. The club's lone representative in 1998, New Zealand's John Lomax, was named Player of the Year and Players' Player.

The club blooded two talented 18-year-olds during the season, Moranbah's Josh Hannay and Mt Isa's Scott Prince. Hannay, whose planned debut in 1996 as a 16-year-old was vetoed by the ARL, played 21 games and was the club's top try and point scorer. He went onto set numerous point scoring records for the club, playing 150 games over nine seasons, and representing Queensland on two occasions. Prince, a Junior Kangaroo in 1998, played 16 games (10 of those off the bench) and would play 53 games over three seasons before joining the Cowboys' arch-rivals, the Brisbane Broncos, in 2001. In 2005, he guided the Wests Tigers to their maiden premiership, defeating the Cowboys in the Grand Final.

Milestones

Squad list

North Queensland Cowboys NRL Squad 1998
First team squadCoaching staff

Head coach

Assistant coaches


Legend:
  • (c) Captain(s)
  • (vc) Vice-captain(s)


Squad movement

1998 Gains

PlayerSigned From
Dale Fritz Western Reds colours.svg Perth Reds
Leigh McWilliams Hunter colours.svg Hunter Mariners
Noa Nadruku Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders
Dale Shearer Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Sydney City Roosters
Scott Wilson Western Reds colours.svg Perth Reds

1998 Losses

PlayerSigned To
Justin Loomans South Sydney colours.svg South Sydney Rabbitohs
Luke Phillips Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly Sea Eagles
Scott Wilson Canterbury colours.svg Canterbury Bulldogs (mid-season)

Ladder

PosTeamPldWDLPFPAPDPts
1 Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane Broncos (P)241815688310+37837
2 Newcastle colours.svg Newcastle Knights 241815562381+18137
3 Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm 241716546372+17435
4 Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta Eels 241716468349+11935
5 North Sydney colours.svg North Sydney Bears 241707663367+29634
6 Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Sydney City Roosters 241608680383+29732
7 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders 241509564429+13530
8 St. George colours.svg St. George Dragons 2413110486490-427
9 Canterbury colours.svg Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 2413011489411+7826
10 Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 2413011503473+3026
11 Cronulla colours.svg Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 2412111438387+5125
12 Illawarra colours.svg Illawarra Steelers 2411112476539-6323
13 Balmain colours.svg Balmain Tigers 249114381463-8219
14 Penrith Panthers square flag icon with 2020 colours.svg Penrith Panthers 248214525580-5518
15 Auckland colours.svg Auckland Warriors 249015417518-10118
16 North Queensland colours.svg North Queensland Cowboys 249015361556-19518
17 Adelaide colours.svg Adelaide Rams 247017393615-22214
18 South Sydney colours.svg South Sydney Rabbitohs 245019339560-22110
19 Gold Coast Chargers colours.svg Gold Coast Chargers 244020289654-3658
20 Western Suburbs colours.svg Western Suburbs Magpies 244020371802-4318

Fixtures

Regular season

DateRoundOpponentVenueScoreTriesGoalsAttendance
13 MarchRound 1 Adelaide colours.svg Adelaide Rams Adelaide Rams 18 – 8 Nadruku, Shearer, Walters Ferris (3/5)11,289
21 MarchRound 2 Balmain colours.svg Balmain Tigers Malanda Stadium 26 – 2 Mercy (4), Tassell Dunemann (2/3), Ferris (1/5)18,399
29 MarchRound 3 Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta Eels Parramatta Stadium 16 – 15 Bowman, Hannay, Tassell Ferris (1/2, 2 FG), Hannay (0/1)10,177
4 AprilRound 4 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders Malanda Stadium 14 – 12 Murphy, Nadruku Doyle (1/2), Ferris (1/1), Hannay (1/1)20,048
12 AprilRound 5 Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane Broncos ANZ Stadium 4 – 58 Hannay Hannay (0/1)20,904
18 AprilRound 6 Newcastle colours.svg Newcastle Knights Malanda Stadium 17 – 4 Warren (2), Hannay Hannay (2/5), Dunemann (1 FG)18,428
25 AprilRound 7 Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Sydney City Roosters Malanda Stadium 16 – 50 Mercy, Tassell, Warren Hannay (2/3)21,027
2 MayRound 8 Cronulla colours.svg Cronulla Sharks Shark Park 8 – 16 Hannay, Roberts Hannay (0/2)5,978
9 MayRound 9 Canterbury colours.svg Canterbury Bulldogs Malanda Stadium 18 – 24 Ahmat, Hannay, Mahon, Mercy Doyle (1/3), Hannay (0/2)15,288
17 MayRound 10 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders Bruce Stadium 12 – 50 Cunningham, Tassell Hannay (2/2)8,291
23 MayRound 11 Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta Eels Malanda Stadium 12 – 29 Hannay, Tassell Hannay (2/3)17,361
29 MayRound 12 Penrith Panthers square flag icon with 2020 colours.svg Penrith Panthers Penrith Panthers 36 – 28 Nadruku (3), Dunemann (2), Mercy, Shipway Hannay (4/7)8,685
6 JuneRound 13 Western Suburbs colours.svg Western Suburbs Magpies Malanda Stadium 40 – 10 Nadruku (2), Ferris, Mercy, Prince, Tassell, Warren, Warwick Shearer (2/2), Dunemann (1/1), Ferris (1/4), Warren (0/1)10,628
14 JuneRound 14 St. George colours.svg St George Dragons Kogarah Oval 14 – 16 Mercy (2), Hannay Hannay (1/3)9,486
20 JuneRound 15 Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm Malanda Stadium 8 – 10 Mercy Hannay (2/3)24,464
28 JuneRound 16 Illawarra colours.svg Illawarra Steelers WIN Stadium 18 – 24 Hannay (2), Nadruku, Tabuai Hannay (1/4)6,558
4 JulyRound 17 Gold Coast Chargers colours.svg Gold Coast Chargers Malanda Stadium 14 – 4 Hannay, Shearer Hannay (3/4)7,127
11 JulyRound 18 Balmain colours.svg Balmain Tigers Leichhardt Oval 0 – 1810,653
18 JulyRound 19 Adelaide colours.svg Adelaide Rams Malanda Stadium 14 – 10 Hannay, Locke Hannay (3/4)11,340
25 JulyRound 20 South Sydney colours.svg South Sydney Rabbitohs Malanda Stadium 16 – 22 Dunemann, Nadruku, Walters Hannay (2/3)10,409
31 JulyRound 21 Auckland colours.svg Auckland Warriors Ericsson Stadium 18 – 34 Hannay, Mercy, Shipway Hannay (3/4)4,500
8 AugustRound 22 Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane Broncos Malanda Stadium 10 – 22 Nadruku (2) Hannay (1/3)30,250
16 AugustRound 23 Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly Sea Eagles Brookvale Oval 12 – 28 Hannay (3) Hannay (0/3)8,422
23 AugustRound 24 North Sydney colours.svg North Sydney Bears North Sydney Oval 0 – 6215,604
Legend:   Win  Loss  Draw  Bye

Statistics

Name App T G FG Pts
Jimmy Ahmat 21--4
Paul Bowman 61--4
John Buttigieg 9----
Michael Coorey 7----
Owen Cunningham 231--4
Jason Death 17----
Scott Donald 1----
John Doyle 8-2-4
Andrew Dunemann 2133119
Jason Ferris 1917220
Dale Fritz 21----
Josh Hannay 211529-118
Liam Johnson 2----
Denny Lambert 1----
Martin Locke 171--4
John Lomax 21----
Scott Mahon 41--4
John Malu 2----
Ray Mercy 2412--48
Glen Murphy 91--4
Noa Nadruku 2211--44
Paul Pensini 6----
Scott Prince 161--4
Ian Roberts 121--4
Luke Scott 10----
Dale Shearer 1322-12
Mark Shipway 192--8
Bert Tabuai 51--4
Kris Tassell 186--24
Steve Walters 222--8
Kyle Warren 204--16
Adam Warwick 71--4
Scott Whiting 1----
Scott Wilson 2----
Totals68433361

Source: [1]

Representatives

The following players played a representative match in 1998.

Anzac Test
John Lomax
New Zealand

Feeder Clubs

Queensland Cup

Honours

Club

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References

  1. "NRL 1998 - North Queensland Cowboys - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org.

19°18′58″S146°42′43″E / 19.31611°S 146.71194°E / -19.31611; 146.71194 (Willow Sports Complex)