2007 North Queensland Cowboys season

Last updated

2007 North Queensland Cowboys season
NRL Rank3rd
Play-off resultLost Preliminary Final
(v Manly Sea Eagles, 6–28)
recordWins: 15; draws: 0; losses: 9
Points scoredFor: 547; against: 618
Team information
CEOPeter Parr
Coach Graham Murray
Captain
Stadium Dairy Farmers Stadium
Avg. attendance20,108
High attendance25,926 (vs. Brisbane Broncos, Round 18)
Top scorers
Tries Matthew Bowen (22)
Goals Johnathan Thurston (78)
Points Johnathan Thurston (196)
  2006 2008  

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.

Contents

Season summary

The Cowboys started the 2007 NRL season strongly, winning their first four games. By the halfway point of the season, they were placed inside the top four, despite losing key forward Luke O'Donnell for the season in Round 4.

In August, News Limited sold its majority stake in the club to the Cowboys Leagues Club for just over $2 million. News Limited took over the club in late 2001, helping it through a turbulent and difficult era.

Following five losses from seven games, the Cowboys dropped to 8th place in Round 20. A strong finish to the regular season, in which they won their final five games, saw them finish in 3rd, their highest ever placing at the time. Their first two finals games were played at home, defeating the Canterbury Bulldogs (20–18) and the New Zealand Warriors (49–12), to move within one game of the Grand Final. The Cowboys' season ended the following week, losing to Manly in the preliminary final.

Club legend Paul Bowman retired at the end of the 2007 season. The last foundation player from the club's inaugural season, Bowman played 203 games for the Cowboys over 13 seasons. The club's Player of the Year medal was named in his honour following his retirement. He became an assistant coach with the club in 2008. 2007 also saw the debut of 19-year-old Scott Bolton, who would go on to play over 150 games for the Cowboys and be a member of their 2015 NRL Grand Final and 2016 World Club Challenge winning sides.

Milestones

Squad List

North Queensland Cowboys NRL Squad 2007
First team squadCoaching staff

Head coach

Assistant coaches

  • Ian Millward (assistant coach)
  • Grant Bell (assistant coach)
  • Kelly Egan (football manager)
  • Glen Murphy (strength & conditioning coach)
  • Steve Hooper (Strength & Conditioning Trainer)

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


Squad Movement

2007 Gains

PlayerSigned From
Brett Anderson Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta Eels
Matthew Bartlett Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm
Ben Farrar Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta Eels
Sione Faumuina New Zealand colours.svg Warriors
Karl Johnson North Sydney colours.svg North Sydney Bears
Scott Minto Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane Broncos
Jackson Nicolau Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm
Jason Smith Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders
Ben Vaeau Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane Broncos
Colin Wilkie Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm

2007 Losses

PlayerSigned To
Clint Amos Gold Coast Titans colours.svg Gold Coast Titans
Jason Barsley Retired
Gavin Cooper Gold Coast Titans colours.svg Gold Coast Titans
Mark Dalle Cort Cruscolours.svg Celtic Crusaders
Brett Firman Penrith Panthers square flag icon with 2020 colours.svg Penrith Panthers
Josh Hannay Cronulla colours.svg Cronulla Sharks
Ben Lowe South Sydney colours.svg South Sydney Rabbitohs
Brent McConnell Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane Broncos
Travis Norton Retired
Mitchell Sargent Newcastle colours.svg Newcastle Knights
Matt Sing Hullcolours.svg Hull F.C.
Daniel Strickland Hunter colours.svg University Saints RLFC
Robert Tanielu Retired

Ladder

PosTeamPldWDLBPFPAPDPts
1 Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm 2421031627277+35044
2 Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 2418061597377+22038
3 North Queensland colours.svg North Queensland Cowboys 2415091547618−7132
4 New Zealand colours.svg New Zealand Warriors 24131101593434+15929
5 Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta Eels 24130111573481+9228
6 Canterbury colours.svg Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 24120121575528+4726
7 South Sydney colours.svg South Sydney Rabbitohs 24120121408399+926
8 Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane Broncos 24110131511476+3524
9 Wests Tigers colours.svg Wests Tigers 24110131541561−2024
10 Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Sydney Roosters 24101131445610−16523
11 Cronulla colours.svg Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 24100141463403+6022
12 Gold Coast Titans colours.svg Gold Coast Titans 24100141409559−15022
13 St. George Illawarra colours.svg St George Illawarra Dragons 2490151431509−7820
14 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders 2490151522652−13020
15 Newcastle colours.svg Newcastle Knights 2490151418708−29020
16 Panthers colours.svg Penrith Panthers 2480161539607−6818

Fixtures

Pre-season

DateRoundOpponentVenueScoreTriesGoalsAttendance
17 FebruaryTrial 1 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders Browne Park 10 – 28---
24 FebruaryTrial 2 New Zealand colours.svg Warriors Leprechaun Park 32 – 14 B. Bowen (2), Bolton, M. Bowen, Payne, Lillyman Thurston (4/6)-
3 MarchTrial 3 Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly Sea Eagles Barlow Park 10 – 14 Bolton, Justin Smith Thurston (2/2)-

Regular season

DateRoundOpponentVenueScoreTriesGoalsAttendance
16 MarchRound 1 Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane Broncos Suncorp Stadium 23 – 16 Graham (2), M. Bowen, Henry Thurston (3/5), M. Bowen (1 FG)50,416
24 MarchRound 2 Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Sydney Roosters Dairy Farmers Stadium 43 – 6 B. Bowen (2), M. Bowen (2), Thurston (2), O'Donnell Thurston (6/6), Graham (1/1), Payne (1 FG)21,396
31 MarchRound 3 St. George Illawarra colours.svg St George Illawarra Dragons WIN Stadium 22 – 18 B. Bowen, Bowman, Graham, Thurston Thurston (3/4)10,232
7 AprilRound 4 Wests Tigers colours.svg Wests Tigers Dairy Farmers Stadium 25 – 24 Graham (2), M. Bowen, Sweeney Thurston (4/4), M. Bowen (1 FG)21,879
15 AprilRound 5 New Zealand colours.svg Warriors Mt Smart Stadium 14 – 34 B. Bowen, M. Bowen, Thurston Thurston (1/3)11,260
23 AprilRound 6 South Sydney colours.svg South Sydney Rabbitohs Dairy Farmers Stadium 6 – 10 Bowman Thurston (1/1)17,768
28 AprilRound 7 Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly Sea Eagles Dairy Farmers Stadium 30 – 26 M. Bowen (2), B. Bowen, Farrar, Ja. Smith Thurston (5/6)18,682
7 MayRound 8 Gold Coast Titans colours.svg Gold Coast Titans Carrara Stadium 24 – 10 M. Bowen, Bowman, Jensen Thurston (6/6)17,806
12 MayRound 9 Penrith Panthers square flag icon with 2020 colours.svg Penrith Panthers Dairy Farmers Stadium 12 – 22 Anderson, Bolton Thurston (2/2)17,393
19 MayRound 10 Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta Eels Parramatta Stadium 14 – 44 Faumuina, Graham, Minto Graham (1/3)10,182
25 MayRound 11 Canterbury colours.svg Canterbury Bulldogs Suncorp Stadium 26 – 16 M.Bowen (2), Faumuina, Tronc Thurston (5/5)15,412
2 JuneRound 12 Cronulla colours.svg Cronulla Sharks Dairy Farmers Stadium 26 – 24 Williams (2), Minto, Scott, Sweeney Thurston (3/5)20,075
9 JuneRound 13 Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Sydney Roosters Sydney Football Stadium 30 – 64 M. Bowen (2), Bartlett, Southern, Tronc Graham (5/5)4,186
16 JuneRound 14 Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm Dairy Farmers Stadium 12 – 58 B. Bowen, M. Bowen, William Thurston (0/3)20,023
23 JuneRound 15 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders Canberra Stadium 28 – 24 B. Bowen (2), M. Bowen (2), Thurston Thurston (4/5)11,263
Round 16 Bye
7 JulyRound 17 New Zealand colours.svg Warriors Dairy Farmers Stadium 18 – 12 Sione Faumuina, Graham, Webb Thurston (2/2), Graham (1/1)19,864
13 JulyRound 18 Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane Broncos Dairy Farmers Stadium 16 – 24 Graham (2), M. Bowen Graham (2/3)25,926
22 JulyRound 19 South Sydney colours.svg South Sydney Rabbitohs Telstra Stadium 14 – 20 M. Bowen, Graham, Minto Thurston (1/3)10,022
30 JulyRound 20 Wests Tigers colours.svg Wests Tigers Leichhardt Oval 10 – 54 Bartlet, Ju. Smith Thurston (1/2)17,101
4 AugustRound 21 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders Dairy Farmers Stadium 28 – 22 Farrar (2), Graham, M. Bowen, Thurston Graham (2/5), Thurston (0/1)15,791
13 AugustRound 22 Penrith Panthers square flag icon with 2020 colours.svg Penrith Panthers CUA Stadium 30 – 26 Graham (3), B. Bowen, M. Bowen, Ju. Smith Thurston (3/5)7,618
18 AugustRound 23 St. George Illawarra colours.svg St George Illawarra Dragons Dairy Farmers Stadium 24 – 14 M. Bowen, Bowman, Cashmere, Ja. Smith Thurston (4/4)18,721
24 AugustRound 24 Newcastle colours.svg Newcastle Knights EnergyAustralia Stadium 34 – 18 Graham (2), M. Bowen, Sweeney, Thurston, Williams Thurston (5/6)12,264
31 AugustRound 25 Canterbury colours.svg Canterbury Bulldogs Dairy Farmers Stadium 38 – 32 Farrar, Williams, Ju. Smith, Thurston Thurston (7/7)24,050
Legend:   Win  Loss  Draw  Bye

Finals

DateRoundOpponentVenueScoreTriesGoalsAttendance
8 SeptemberQualifying Final Canterbury colours.svg Canterbury Bulldogs Dairy Farmers Stadium 20 – 18 Thurston (2), Bowman Thurston (4/4)24,004
16 SeptemberSemi Final New Zealand colours.svg Warriors Dairy Farmers Stadium 49 – 12 Farrar (2), M. Bowen, Cashmere, Graham, Henry, Ja. Smith, Williams Thurston (7/7), Bowman (1/1), M. Bowen (1 FG)21,487
22 SeptemberPreliminary Final Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly Sea Eagles SFS 6 – 28 Lillyman Thurston (1/1)32,611
Legend:   Win  Loss  Draw  Bye

Statistics

Name App T G FG Pts
Brett Anderson 11--4
Matthew Bartlett 132--8
Scott Bolton 61--4
Brenton Bowen 169--36
Matthew Bowen 2722-391
Paul Bowman 2151-22
Ray Cashmere 242--8
David Faiumu 20----
Ben Farrar 117--28
Sione Faumuina 183--12
Sam Faust 13----
John Frith 1----
Ashley Graham 221812-96
Mark Henry 102--8
Rod Jensen 61--4
Jacob Lillyman 211--4
Scott Minto 143--12
Shane Muspratt 3----
Jackson Nicolau 1----
Luke O'Donnell 41--4
Aaron Payne 27--11
Matthew Scott 231--4
Jason Smith 203--12
Justin Smith 243--12
Steve Southern 191--4
Neil Sweeney 113--12
Johnathan Thurston 251078-196
Shane Tronc 172--8
Ben Vaeau 8----
Carl Webb 181--4
Ty Williams 157--28
Totals109914622

Source: [1]

Representatives

The following players played a representative match in 2007

ANZAC Test State of Origin 1 State of Origin 2 State of Origin 3 Trans-Tasman Test
Matthew Bowen
-
-
-
Queensland
-
David Faiumu
New Zealand
-
-
-
New Zealand
Jacob Lillyman
-
Queensland
Queensland
-
-
Johnathan Thurston
Australia
Queensland
Queensland
Queensland
-
Carl Webb
-
-
Queensland
Queensland
-

Honours

League

Club

Feeder Clubs

Queensland Cup

References

  1. "NRL 2007 - North Queensland Cowboys - Rugby League Project".

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