2015 North Queensland Cowboys season explained

Year:	2015
Team Colour:	navy
Font Colour:	white
League:	NRL
League Rank:	3rd
League Wins:	17
League Draws:	0
League Losses:	7
Points For:	587
Points Against:	454
Playoff Result:	Premiers
Ceo Title:	CEO
Ceo:	Greg Tonner
Coach Title:	Coach
Avg Attendance:	16,230
High Attendance:	24,531 (vs. Brisbane Broncos, Round 10)
Top Tries:	Antonio Winterstein (16)
Top Goals:	Johnathan Thurston (93)
Top Points:	Johnathan Thurston (208)
Next Season:	2016

The 2015 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 21st in the club's history. Coached by Paul Green and co-captained by Johnathan Thurston and Matthew Scott, they competed in the NRL's 2015 Telstra Premiership. The Cowboys celebrated 20 years as a club in 2015 and played in the first all-Queensland grand final, defeating the Brisbane Broncos 17–16 in golden point to win their first premiership.

Season summary

After going through their pre-season trials undefeated, the Cowboys started their 2015 season with three straight losses. The side hit back with three consecutive wins on Monday Night Football over the Melbourne Storm, Penrith Panthers and South Sydney Rabbitohs, on their way to a club record 11 game winning streak. The Cowboys finished in 3rd place, winning 17 games, giving the club their most successful regular season in its history.

Milestones

• Round 1: Jake Granville, Ben Hannant and Justin O'Neill made their debut for the club.
• Round 2: Kelepi Tanginoa made his debut for the club.
• Round 3: Lachlan Coote made his debut for the club.
• Round 3: Kane Linnett played his 100th NRL game.
• Round 7: Ben Hannant played his 200th NRL game.
• Round 7: Johnathan Thurston played his 250th NRL game.
• Round 11: The club played their 500th premiership game.
• Round 15: The club recorded their longest winning streak with their 11th straight win.
• Round 15: Rory Kostjasyn played his 50th game for the club.
• Round 16: Patrick Kaufusi made his NRL debut.
• Round 19: Gavin Cooper played his 200th NRL game.
• Round 21: Lachlan Coote played his 100th NRL game.
• Round 21: Matthew Scott played his 200th game for the club.
• Round 22: Antonio Winterstein played his 100th game for the club.
• Round 22: Antonio Winterstein scored his 50th try for the club.
• Round 24: Coen Hess made his NRL debut.
• Round 24: Coen Hess scored his first NRL try.
• Round 25: Antonio Winterstein played his 150th NRL game.
• Round 26: The club won the 2015 NRL Club Championship.
• Round 26: Paul Green coached his 50th NRL game.
• Finals Week 2: Kane Linnett played his 100th game for the club.
• Finals Week 3: Scott Bolton played his 150th game for the club.
• Finals Week 3: The club qualified for their second Grand Final.
• Grand Final: Rory Kostjasyn played his 100th NRL game.
• Grand Final: The club won its first NRL premiership.

Squad List

2015 NRL Squad

Squad Movement

2015 Gains

Player	Signed From	Until End of	Notes
Jake Granville	Brisbane Broncos
Ben Hannant	Brisbane Broncos
Justin O'Neill	Melbourne Storm
Kelepi Tanginoa	Parramatta Eels

2015 losses

Player	Signed to	Until end of	Notes
Anthony Mitchell	Townsville Blackhawks
Curtis Rona	Canterbury Bulldogs
Ashton Sims	Warrington Wolves
Tariq Sims	Newcastle Knights
Brent Tate	Retired
Ricky Thorby	Townsville Blackhawks
Joel Riethmuller	Released

Re-signings

Player	Club	Until End of	Notes
John Asiata	North Queensland Cowboys
Scott Bolton	North Queensland Cowboys
Josh Chudleigh	North Queensland Cowboys
Ben Hannant	North Queensland Cowboys
Coen Hess	North Queensland Cowboys
Kyle Laybutt	North Queensland Cowboys
Ethan Lowe	North Queensland Cowboys
Michael Morgan	North Queensland Cowboys
Gideon Gela-Mosby	North Queensland Cowboys
Ben Spina	North Queensland Cowboys
Jason Taumalolo	North Queensland Cowboys
Ray Thompson	North Queensland Cowboys

Fixtures

NRL Auckland Nines

See main article: 2015 NRL Auckland Nines. The NRL Auckland Nines is a pre-season rugby league nines competition featuring all 16 NRL clubs. The 2015 competition was played over two days on January 31 and February 1 at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand. The Cowboys featured in the Waiheke pool and played Melbourne, Penrith and South Sydney. The top two teams of each pool qualified for the quarter-finals. The Cowboys, who were the defending champions, were knocked out in the quarter-finals.

Pool Play

Waiheke pool
Team
South Sydney Rabbitohs	3	3	0	0	54	20	+34	6
North Qld Cowboys	3	2	0	1	43	35	+8	4
Melbourne Storm	3	1	0	2	32	45	-13	2
Penrith Panthers	3	0	0	3	16	45	-29	0

Date	Time (Local)	Round	Opponent	Venue	Score	Tries	Goals
Saturday, 31 January	1:20pm	Round 1	Melbourne Storm	Eden Park	17  - 8	Lowe (bonus try), O'Neill, Wright	Wright (2)
Saturday, 31 January	5:40pm	Round 2	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Eden Park	12  - 19	O'Neill (2), Cooper	-
Sunday, 1 February	12:25pm	Round 3	Penrith Panthers	Eden Park	14  - 8	Feldt, Moga, Taumalolo	Lui (1)
Sunday, 1 February	2:30pm	Quarter-final	Parramatta Eels	Eden Park	11  - 17	Granville (bonus try), O'Neill	Morgan (1)
Legend:

Pre-season

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance
Saturday, 7 February	Trial 1	Brisbane Broncos	Stadium Mackay	18  - 6	Feldt, Granville, Lui	Feldt (3)	style="text-align:center;"	-
Saturday, 14 February	Trial 2	Townsville Blackhawks	Jack Manski Oval	24  - 12	Bowen, Feldt, Kikau, King, Niemoeller	Bambling (1), Feldt (1)	style="text-align:center;"	-
Saturday, 21 February	Trial 3	Gold Coast Titans	Barlow Park	30  - 10	Moga (2), Cooper, Granville, Tanginoa, Wright	Thurston (3)	style="text-align:center;"	-
Legend:

Regular season

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance
Saturday, 7 March	Round 1	Sydney Roosters	1300SMILES Stadium	4  - 28		Thurston (0/1)	17,123
Saturday, 14 March	Round 2	Newcastle Knights	1300SMILES Stadium	14  - 16	Lowe, Scott	Thurston (3/3), Feldt (0/1)	13,006
Friday, 20 March	Round 3	Brisbane Broncos	Suncorp Stadium	22  - 44	Feldt (2), Morgan, O'Neill	Thurston (3/4)	40,047
Monday, 30 March	Round 4	Melbourne Storm	1300SMILES Stadium	18  - 17	Winterstein (2), Wright	Thurston (2/3, 2 FG)	11,609
Monday, 6 April	Round 5	Penrith Panthers	Sportingbet Stadium	30  - 10	Wright (3), Coote, Lowe	Thurston (5/6)	8,409
Monday, 13 April	Round 6	South Sydney Rabbitohs	ANZ Stadium	30  - 12	Thurston (2) Granville, O'Neill, Winterstein	Thurston (5/6)	13,866
Saturday, 18 April	Round 7	New Zealand Warriors	1300SMILES Stadium	28  - 24	Granville (3), Coote, Linnett	Thurston (4/5)	16,038
Saturday, 25 April	Round 8	Newcastle Knights	Hunter Stadium	26  - 24	O'Neill (2), Bolton, Coote, Morgan	Thurston (3/5)	15,518
Saturday, 9 May	Round 9	Canterbury Bulldogs	1300SMILES Stadium	23  - 16	Morgan (2), Cooper, Wright	Thurston (3/5, 1 FG)	15,794
Friday, 15 May	Round 10	Brisbane Broncos	1300SMILES Stadium	31  - 20	Morgan (3), Cooper, Lowe	Thurston (4/5), Coote (1 FG)	24,531
Saturday, 23 May	Round 11	Wests Tigers	Campbelltown Stadium	8  - 0	Winterstein	Lowe (2/2)	8267
Saturday, 30 May	Round 12	Manly Sea Eagles	1300SMILES Stadium	18  - 14	Scott (2), Cooper	Thurston (3/3)	14,196
Monday, 8 June	Round 13	Parramatta Eels	Pirtek Stadium	36  - 30	Cooper (3), Linnett, Morgan, Wright	Thurston (6/6)	9812
	Round 14	Bye
Saturday, 20 June	Round 15	Canberra Raiders	GIO Stadium	21  - 20	Cooper, Winterstein, Wright	Thurston (4/5, 1 FG)	10,170
Saturday, 27 June	Round 16	Cronulla Sharks	1300SMILES Stadium	18  - 24	Granville, O'Neill, Winterstein	Lowe (3/4)	18,826
Saturday, 4 July	Round 17	St George Illawarra Dragons	WIN Stadium	18  - 12	Linnett (2), Granville	Lowe (3/4)	11,183
	Round 18	Bye
Monday, 20 July	Round 19	Manly Sea Eagles	Brookvale Oval	30  - 12	Winterstein (2), Granville, Linnett, Morgan	Thurston (5/6)	7,643
Monday, 27 July	Round 20	Parramatta Eels	1300SMILES Stadium	46  - 4	Taumalolo (2), Coote, Kostjasyn, Linnett, Winterstein, Wright	Thurston (7/8)	13,767
Saturday, 1 August	Round 21	Canberra Raiders	1300SMILES Stadium	32  - 24	Winterstein (2), Cooper, Granville, Morgan	Thurston (6/7)	16,207
Saturday, 8 August	Round 22	Cronulla Sharks	Remondis Stadium	18  - 30	Linnett, Winterstein, Wright	Thurston (3/4)	13,878
Thursday, 13 August	Round 23	South Sydney Rabbitohs	1300SMILES Stadium	18  - 31	Coote, Morgan, O'Neill	Thurston (3/3)	16,685
Saturday, 22 August	Round 24	New Zealand Warriors	Mt Smart Stadium	50  - 16	Feldt (3), O'Neill (2), Hess, Linnett, Spina, Thurston	Thurston (7/9)	14,412
Saturday, 29 August	Round 25	Melbourne Storm	AAMI Park	6  - 14	Feldt	Thurston (1/1)	15,214
Saturday, 5 September	Round 26	Gold Coast Titans	1300SMILES Stadium	42  - 12	Linnett (2), Winterstein (2), Cooper, Coote, Granville, Tamou, Thompson	Thurston (2/4), Feldt (1/3), Lowe (0/2)	16,977
Legend:

Finals

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance
Saturday, 12 September	Qualifying Final	Brisbane Broncos	Suncorp Stadium	16  - 12	Thurston, Winterstein	Thurston (2/3)	50,388
Saturday, 19 September	Semi-final	Cronulla Sharks	1300SMILES Stadium	39  - 0		Thurston (5/8, 1 FG)	21,683
Saturday, 26 September	Preliminary Final	Melbourne Storm	AAMI Park	32  - 12	Cooper (2), Michael Morgan (2), O'Neill (2)	Thurston (4/6)	29,315
Sunday, 4 October	Grand Final	Brisbane Broncos	ANZ Stadium	17  - 16		Thurston (2/3, 1 FG)	82,758
Legend:

Statistics

Name	App	T	G	FG	Pts
	25	-	-	-	-
	20	2	-	-	8
	27	11	-	-	44
	26	6	-	1	25
	9	8	1	-	34
	28	10	-	-	40
	3	-	-	-	-
	28	-	-	-	-
	1	1	-	-	4
	9	-	-	-	-
	1	-	-	-	-
	2	-	-	-	-
	23	1	-	-	4
	28	10	-	-	40
	28	4	8	-	32
	4	-	-	-	-
	6	-	-	-	-
	23	15	-	-	60
	26	13	-	-	52
	25	3	-	-	12
	5	1	-	-	4
	24	2	-	-	8
	3	-	-	-	-
	26	2	-	-	8
	9	1	-	-	4
	25	4	93	6	208
	26	16	-	-	64
	17	9	-	-	36
Totals		119	102	7	687

Representatives

The following players have played a representative match in 2015

Viliame Kikau
Tautau Moga
Michael Morgan
Matthew Scott
James Tamou
Jason Taumalolo
Ray Thompson
Johnathan Thurston
Antonio Winterstein

Honours

League

• Golden Boot

Johnathan Thurston

• Clive Churchill Medal

Johnathan Thurston

• Dally M Medal

Johnathan Thurston

• Dally M Halfback of the Year: Johnathan Thurston
• Dally M Lock of the Year: Jason Taumalolo
  • Dally M Captain of the Year: Matthew Scott and Johnathan Thurston Rugby League Players Association Player of the Year: Johnathan Thurston
• NYC Team of the Year: Gideon Gela-Mosby, Coen Hess, Viliame Kikau

Club

• Paul Bowman Medal: Johnathan Thurston
• Players' Player: Jake Granville
• Member's Player of the Year: Jake Granville
• Club Person of the Year: Glenn Hall
  • Most Improved: Justin O'Neill Rookie of the Year: Coen Hess
• NYC Player of the Year: Andrew Niemoeller
• Townsville Bulletins' Fan Choice Award: Johnathan Thurston

Feeder Clubs

National Youth Competition

• North Queensland Cowboys - 2nd, lost preliminary final

Queensland Cup

• Mackay Cutters - 8th, missed finals
• Northern Pride - 6th, lost elimination final
• Townsville Blackhawks - 1st, lost Grand Final

References

-27.4647°N 153.0094°W