2018 North Queensland Cowboys season

2018 North Queensland Cowboys season
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	Johnathan Thurston ; Matthew Scott;
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)

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]

Season summary

Milestones

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

North Queensland Cowboys NRL Squad 2018
First team squad								Coaching staff
Carlin Anderson – FB, WG John Asiata – PR, LK Scott Bolton – PR Javid Bowen – CE, WG Josh Chudleigh – HK Jake Clifford – HB Gavin Cooper – SR Lachlan Coote – FB Mitchell Dunn – SR, FE Kyle Feldt – WG Shaun Fensom – LK, PR Gideon Gela-Mosby – WG		Jake Granville – HK Ben Hampton – CE, FB Coen Hess – SR Sam Hoare – PR Shaun Hudson – CE Corey Jensen – PR Kyle Laybutt – HB, FE Kane Linnett – CE Ethan Lowe – SR Te Maire Martin – FE Jordan McLean – PR Francis Molo – PR		Michael Morgan – FE, HB Justin O'Neill – CE Emry Pere – PR Matthew Scott (c) – PR Jason Taumalolo – LK Murray Taulagi – WG Johnathan Thurston (c) – HB Enari Tuala – CE Antonio Winterstein – WG Shane Wright – SR				Head coach Paul Green Assistant coaches David Fairleigh (assistant coach) Todd Payten (assistant coach) Josh Hannay (assistant coach) Paul Bowman (high performance manager) Mark Henry (assistant strength & conditioning coach) Ashley Graham (elite pathways performance coach) Anthony Wood (rehabilitation manager) Steve Sartori (physiotherapist) Legend: (c) Captain(s) (vc) Vice-captain(s) Updated: 9 June 2018 Source(s): Cowboys Squad 2018

Squad movement

Gains

Player	Signed From	Until End of	Notes
Carlin Anderson	Townsville Blackhawks	2019	^[3]
Jordan McLean	Melbourne Storm	2020	^[4]
Francis Molo	Townsville Blackhawks	2018	^[5]

Losses

Player	Signed To	Until End of	Notes
Corey Horsburgh	Canberra Raiders	2019
Marcus Jensen	Townsville Brothers	2018
Patrick Kaufusi	Melbourne Storm	2019	^[6]
Blake Leary	Burleigh Bears	2018
Patrick Mago	Brisbane Broncos	2018	^[7]
Kalyn Ponga	Newcastle Knights	2022	^[8]
Ben Spina	Herbert River Crushers	2018
Ray Thompson	Retired	-	^[9]
Braden Uele	Cronulla Sharks	2019	^[10]

Re-signings

Player	Club	Until End of	Notes
Jake Clifford	North Queensland Cowboys	2021	^[11]
Jake Granville	North Queensland Cowboys	2020	^[12]
Coen Hess	North Queensland Cowboys	2022	^[13]
Francis Molo	North Queensland Cowboys	2020	^[14]
Michael Morgan	North Queensland Cowboys	2023	^[15]
Justin O'Neill	North Queensland Cowboys	2021	^[16]
Emry Pere	North Queensland Cowboys	2020	^[17]
Shane Wright	North Queensland Cowboys	2020	^[18]

Ladder

2018 NRL season v t e
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Sydney Roosters	24	16	0	8	1	542	361	+181	34
2	Melbourne Storm	24	16	0	8	1	536	363	+173	34
3	South Sydney Rabbitohs	24	16	0	8	1	582	437	+145	34
4	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	24	16	0	8	1	519	423	+96	34
5	Penrith Panthers	24	15	0	9	1	517	461	+56	32
6	Brisbane Broncos	24	15	0	9	1	556	500	+56	32
7	St. George Illawarra Dragons	24	15	0	9	1	519	472	+47	32
8	New Zealand Warriors	24	15	0	9	1	472	447	+25	32
9	Wests Tigers	24	12	0	12	1	377	460	−83	26
10	Canberra Raiders	24	10	0	14	1	563	540	+23	22
11	Newcastle Knights	24	9	0	15	1	414	607	−193	20
12	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	24	8	0	16	1	428	474	−46	18
13	North Queensland Cowboys	24	8	0	16	1	449	521	−72	18
14	Gold Coast Titans	24	8	0	16	1	472	582	−110	18
15	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	24	7	0	17	1	500	622	−122	16
16	Parramatta Eels	24	6	0	18	1	374	550	−176	14

Fixtures

Pre-season

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance
Saturday, 17 February	Trial 1	Wests Tigers	Barlow Park	30 – 16	Asiata, Clifford, Hess	Clifford (2/2), Lowe (0/1)	-
Friday, 23 February	Trial 2	Melbourne Storm	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

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance
Friday, 9 March	Round 1	Cronulla Sharks	1300SMILES Stadium	20 – 14	Cooper, Feldt, Hess, O'Neill	Thurston (2/5)	15,900^[20]
Friday, 16 March	Round 2	Brisbane Broncos	Suncorp Stadium	20 – 24	Cooper, Granville, McLean	Thurston (4/4)	46,080
Thursday, 22 March	Round 3	Melbourne Storm	AAMI Park	14 – 30	Hess (2)	Thurston (3/3)	12,866
Thursday, 29 March	Round 4	Penrith Panthers	1300SMILES Stadium	14 – 33	Feldt (2), Winterstein	Thurston (1/3)	11,907
Saturday, 7 April	Round 5	Warriors	Mt Smart Stadium	12 – 22	Feldt, Hampton	Thurston (2/2)	25,600
Saturday, 14 April	Round 6	Canterbury Bulldogs	1300SMILES Stadium	10 – 27	Feldt, Hampton	Thurston (1/2)	14,434
Saturday, 21 April	Round 7	Gold Coast Titans	1300SMILES Stadium	26 – 14	Feldt, Hampton, Hess, Taumalolo	Thurston (5/7)	12,885
Saturday, 28 April	Round 8	Canberra Raiders	1300SMILES Stadium	8 – 18	Cooper	Thurston (2/2)	14,004
Friday, 4 May	Round 9	Penrith Panthers	Carrington Park	26 – 20	Cooper, Hampton, Morgan, Thurston	Thurston (5/6)	10,289
Thursday, 10 May	Round 10	Wests Tigers	Leichhardt Oval	12 – 20	Martin, Winterstein	Thurston 2/2)	13,127
Saturday, 19 May	Round 11	South Sydney Rabbitohs	1300SMILES Stadium	19 – 20	Winterstein (2)	Thurston (5/5); Morgan (1 FG)	14,270
Friday, 25 May	Round 12	Melbourne Storm	1300SMILES Stadium	6 – 7	Feldt	Thurston (1/1)	16,003
Thursday, 31 May	Round 13	Manly Sea Eagles	Lottoland	26 – 12	Winterstein (2), Taumalolo, Tuala	Thurston (5/6)	6,172
Saturday, 9 June	Round 14	Parramatta Eels	TIO Stadium	20 – 14	Feldt, Scott, Tuala	Thurston (1/3)	8,393
Friday, 15 June	Round 15	Warriors	1300SMILES Stadium	16 – 23	Feldt (2), Bowen	Thurston (2/4)	11,062
Sunday, 1 July	Round 16	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Barlow Park	21 – 20	Cooper, Coote, Winterstein	Thurston (4/4)	7,651
	Round 17	Bye
Saturday, 14 July	Round 18	Canberra Raiders	GIO Stadium	12 – 38	Coote, Cooper	Thurston (2/2)	11,471
Saturday, 21 July	Round 19	St George Illawarra Dragons	1300SMILES Stadium	10 – 24	Cooper	Thurston (3/4)	18,068
Friday, 27 July	Round 20	Newcastle Knights	1300SMILES Stadium	20 – 18	Cooper, Hess, O'Neill, Thurston	Thurston (2/4)	11,709
Saturday, 4 August	Round 21	Sydney Roosters	Allianz Stadium	20 – 26	Cooper, Taumalolo, Thurston	Thurston (4/5)	9,721
Thursday, 9 August	Round 22	Brisbane Broncos	1300SMILES Stadium	34 – 30	Cooper, Feldt, Gela-Mosby, Hess, Taumalolo	Thurston (7/8), Feldt (1/1)	19,663
Saturday, 18 August	Round 23	Cronulla Sharks	Southern Cross Group Stadium	16 – 28	Cooper, Hess, McLean	Thurston (2/4)	12,270
Friday, 24 August	Round 24	Parramatta Eels	1300SMILES Stadium	44 – 6	Feldt (3), Hampton (2), Cooper Gela-Mosby	Thurston (6/6)	25,095
Saturday, 1 September	Round 25	Gold Coast Titans	Cbus Super Stadium	30 –26	Hampton (2), Cooper, Fensom, Gela-Mosby	Thurston (5/5)	26,681
Legend: Win Loss Draw Bye

Statistics

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

The 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

League

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

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

Queensland Cup

Mackay Cutters - 14th, missed finals
Northern Pride - 4th, lost elimination final
Townsville Blackhawks - 3rd, lost elimination final

References

^ "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.

27°27′53″S 153°0′34″E / 27.46472°S 153.00944°E / -27.46472; 153.00944

[1] "2018 NRL ladder". nrl.com. Retrieved 8 September 2018.

[saddle-2] Arnold, Rikki-Lee (10 March 2018). "JT Riding High in the Saddle". The Courier-Mail. pp. 84–85.

[3] "Anderson inks deal with Cowboys". NQ Cowboys. 26 April 2017.

[4] "McLean to join Cowboys from 2018". NQ Cowboys. 20 March 2017.

[5] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 23 October 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[6] "Patrick Kaufusi set to join Storm". NRL. 1 September 2017.

[7] "Why Brisbane Broncos win from Adam Blair's money move". Fox Sports Australia. 5 October 2017.

[8] "Cowboys coach confirms Kalyn Ponga will join Knights". NQ Cowboys. 24 February 2017.

[9] "Ray Thompson to retire at season's end". NRL. 8 August 2017.

[10] "7th Tackle: Sharks snare Cowboys wrecking ball". Yahoo. 3 August 2017.

[11] "Granville extends stay with Cowboys". NRL. 28 May 2018.

[12] "Cowboys extend young star's contract with eye on post-JT era". NRL. 17 April 2018.

[13] "Hess extends stay with Cowboys". NQ Cowboys. 14 December 2018.

[14] "Molo extends stay with Cowboys". Cowboys. 19 June 2018.

[15] "Cowboys re-sign Morgan on five-year deal". NRL. 2 March 2018.

[16] "O'Neill reveals he penned three-year extension with Cowboys". Zero Tackle. 13 May 2019.

[17] "Pere re-signs as a Cowboy". NQ Cowboys. 27 April 2018.

[18] "Building young stock – Wright, Clifford re-sign". NQ Cowboys. 17 April 2018.

[19] "NRL Trial: Storm v Cowboys". Austadiums. Retrieved 15 March 2018.

[20] "NRL: Cowboys v Sharks". Austadiums. Retrieved 15 March 2018.

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v t e North Queensland Cowboys
Est. 1995 in Townsville, Queensland
The club	History Records Honours Players Coaches Representatives
Home ground	1300SMILES Stadium (1995–2019) North Queensland Stadium (2020–)
Culture	Queensland derby
League	ARL SL NRL NRLW
Important Figures	Johnathan Thurston Matt Scott Matt Bowen
Titles	Premierships (1) 2015 NRL Nines (2) 2014 2020
Seasons (30)	1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Other competitions	Current NRL Nines Past NRL Under-20s New South Wales Cup
Affiliations	NRL Women's North Queensland Cowboys Women Queensland Cup (Current) Mackay Cutters Northern Pride Past Cairns Cyclones North Queensland Young Guns Townsville Blackhawks Townsville Stingers