2019 North Queensland Cowboys season explained

Year:	2019
Team Colour:	navy
Font Colour:	white
League:	NRL
League Rank:	14th
League Wins:	9
League Draws:	0
League Losses:	15
Points For:	378
Points Against:	500
Playoff Result:	Missed finals
Ceo Title:	CEO
Ceo:	Jeff Reibel
Coach Title:	Coach
Avg Attendance:	13,658
High Attendance:	18,415 (vs. St George Illawarra, Round 1)
Top Tries:	Kyle Feldt (11)
Top Goals:	Jordan Kahu (40)
Top Points:	Jordan Kahu (86)
Next Season:	2020

The 2019 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 25th in the club's history. Coached by Paul Green and captained by Michael Morgan, they competed in the NRL's 2019 Telstra Premiership. Their first season since 2004 without club legend Johnathan Thurston, who retired at the end of 2018, the side finished 14th and missed the finals for the second straight year.

Season summary

Milestones

Round 1: Jordan Kahu, Nene Macdonald, Josh McGuire and Tom Opacic made their debuts for the club.
Round 1: Nene Macdonald scored his first try for the club.
Round 2: Jordan Kahu scored his first try for the club.
Round 4: The club played their 600th game.
Round 4: Ben Hampton played his 50th game for the club.
Round 4: Jordan McLean played his 100th NRL game.
Round 5: Jordan Kahu played his 100th NRL game.
Round 5: Kurt Baptiste made his debut for the club.
Round 6: Josh McGuire played his 200th NRL game.
Round 7: John Asiata played his 100th game for the club.
Round 9: Tom Opacic scored his first try for the club.
Round 10: Michael Morgan played his 150th game for the club.
Round 10: Kyle Feldt played his 100th game for the club.
Round 11: Justin O'Neill played his 100th game for the club.
Round 13: Reuben Cotter made his NRL debut.
Round 13: Francis Molo scored his first try in the NRL.
Round 15: Scott Drinkwater made his debut for the club.
Round 15: Scott Drinkwater scored his first try for the club.
Round 17: Gavin Cooper played his 300th NRL game.
Round 17: Jake Clifford scored his first try for the club.
Round 18: Murray Taulagi made his NRL debut.
Round 18: Paul Green coached his 150th NRL game.
Round 21: Peter Hola made his NRL debut.
Round 21: Shane Wright scored his first try in the NRL.
Round 23: Murray Taulagi scored his first try in the NRL.
Round 24: Shane Wright scored the final try at 1300SMILES Stadium.

Squad

Squad movement

Gains

Player	Signed From	Until End of	Notes
Kurt Baptiste	Sydney Roosters
Ben Barba	St. Helens
Scott Drinkwater	Melbourne Storm (mid-season)
Jordan Kahu	Brisbane Broncos
Nene Macdonald	St George Illawarra Dragons
Josh McGuire	Brisbane Broncos
Tom Opacic	Brisbane Broncos
Dan Russell	Souths Logan Magpies

Losses

Player	Signed To	Until End of	Notes
Ben Barba	Released (pre-season)
Josh Chudleigh	Townsville Blackhawks
Lachlan Coote	St. Helens
Shaun Fensom	Brisbane Broncos
Sam Hoare	Townsville Blackhawks
Shaun Hudson	Townsville Blackhawks
Kyle Laybutt	Townsville Blackhawks
Kane Linnett	Hull Kingston Rovers
Ethan Lowe	South Sydney Rabbitohs
Nene Macdonald	Released (mid-season)
Johnathan Thurston	Retired
Antonio Winterstein	Retired

Re-signings

Player	Club	Until End of	Notes
Jake Clifford	North Queensland Cowboys
Gavin Cooper	North Queensland Cowboys
Reuben Cotter	North Queensland Cowboys
Mitchell Dunn	North Queensland Cowboys
Tom Gilbert	North Queensland Cowboys
Ben Hampton	North Queensland Cowboys
Peter Hola	North Queensland Cowboys
Corey Jensen	North Queensland Cowboys
Murray Taulagi	North Queensland Cowboys

Fixtures

Pre-season

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance
Saturday, 23 February	Trial 1	Gold Coast Titans	Sunshine Coast Stadium	22 – 16	Clifford (3), Martin	Clifford (3/4)	10,680
Saturday, 2 March	Trial 2	Melbourne Storm	BB Print Stadium	14 – 6	Cooper, Hampton, O'Neill	Kahu (1/3)	10,000
Legend:

Regular season

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance
Saturday, 16 March	Round 1	St George Illawarra Dragons	1300SMILES Stadium	24 – 12	Bowen, Macdonald, Martin, Morgan, O'Neill	Kahu (2/4), Martin (0/1)	18,415
Friday, 22 March	Round 2	Brisbane Broncos	Suncorp Stadium	10 – 29	Kahu, O'Neill	Kahu (1/2)	45,023
Saturday, 30 March	Round 3	Cronulla Sharks	1300SMILES Stadium	16 –42	Cooper, Martin, McLean	Kahu (2/3)	11,610
Saturday, 6 April	Round 4	Canberra Raiders	1300SMILES Stadium	12 – 30	Asiata, Cooper	Kahu (2/2)	11,750
Friday, 12 April	Round 5	Melbourne Storm	1300SMILES Stadium	12 – 18	Hampton, Martin	Kahu (2/3)	14,130
Saturday, 20 April	Round 6	Warriors	Mt Smart Stadium	17 – 10	Hess, O'Neill	Kahu (4/4), Morgan (1 FG)	11,395
Friday, 26 April	Round 7	Canterbury Bulldogs	ANZ Stadium	12 – 24	Hampton, O'Neill	Kahu (2/3)	6,711
Friday, 3 May	Round 8	Gold Coast Titans	1300SMILES Stadium	28 – 14	Asiata, Granville, O'Neill, Taumalolo	Kahu (6/6)	10,655
Sunday, 12 May	Round 9	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Suncorp Stadium	16 – 32	O'Neill (2), Opacic	Kahu (2/3)	34,564
Saturday, 18 May	Round 10	Parramatta Eels	1300SMILES Stadium	17 – 10	Feldt, Opacic, Scott	Kahu (2/4, 1 FG)	12,493
Saturday, 25 May	Round 11	Canberra Raiders	GIO Stadium	22 – 16	Feldt, O'Neill, Opacic	Kahu (5/6)	14,647
Sunday, 2 June	Round 12	Gold Coast Titans	Cbus Super Stadium	6 – 4	Taumalolo	Kahu (1/1)	11,226
Saturday, 8 June	Round 13	Manly Sea Eagles	1300SMILES Stadium	20 – 22		Clifford (4/4)	13,314
Friday, 14 June	Round 14	Wests Tigers	1300SMILES Stadium	26 – 27		Clifford (5/6)	11,692
Friday, 28 June	Round 15	St George Illawarra Dragons	WIN Stadium	14 – 22	Opacic (2), Drinkwater	Kahu (1/3), Clifford (0/1)	7,008
	Round 16	Bye
Sunday, 14 July	Round 17	Sydney Roosters	Central Coast Stadium	15 – 12		Clifford (2/2, 1 FG), Kahu (1/2)	14,668
Saturday, 20 July	Round 18	South Sydney Rabbitohs	1300SMILES Stadium	18 – 30		Clifford (3/6)	16,638
Thursday, 25 July	Round 19	Cronulla Sharks	Southern Cross Group Stadium	14 – 16		Clifford (1/3)	6,144
Thursday, 1 August	Round 20	Wests Tigers	Leichhardt Oval	4 – 24	Feldt	Clifford (0/1)	10,016
Thursday, 8 August	Round 21	Brisbane Broncos	1300SMILES Stadium	14 – 18	Clifford, Wright	Clifford (3/3)	17,530
Saturday, 17 August	Round 22	Newcastle Knights	McDonald Jones Stadium	6 – 42	Clifford	Kahu (1/1)	16,752
Friday, 23 August	Round 23	Penrith Panthers	1300SMILES Stadium	24 – 10		Kahu (4/4)	10,523
Thursday, 29 August	Round 24	Canterbury Bulldogs	1300SMILES Stadium	15 – 8	Feldt, Wright	Kahu (2/2, 1 FG), Bolton (1/1)	15,141
Friday, 6 September	Round 25	Melbourne Storm	AAMI Park	16 – 24	Cooper, Feldt, Taulagi	Feldt (2/2), Kahu (0/1)	12,085
Legend:

Statistics

Name	App	T	G	FG	Pts
	24	3	-	-	12
	9	-	-	-	-
	18	-	1	-	2
	7	2	-	-	8
	15	3	18	1	49
	24	3	-	-	12
	5	-	-	-	-
	10	3	-	-	12
	9	-	-	-	-
	16	11	2	-	48
	3	-	-	-	-
	24	1	-	-	4
	8	2	-	-	8
	22	1	-	-	4
	5	-	-	-	-
	6	-	-	-	-
	19	1	40	2	86
	5	1	-	-	4
	7	3	-	-	12
	17	-	-	-	-
	22	1	-	-	4
	24	2	-	-	8
	20	2	-	1	9
	8	8	-	-	32
	19	7	-	-	28
	17	2	-	-	8
	6	2	-	-	8
	18	3	-	-	12
	7	-	-	-	-
	14	2	-	-	8
Totals		63	61	4	378

Representatives

The following players have played a representative match in 2019.

						Oceanic Cup
John Asiata
Kurt Baptiste
Tom Gilbert
Kyle Feldt
Corey Jensen
Josh McGuire
Michael Morgan
Daniel Russell
Jason Taumalolo

Honours

Club

Paul Bowman Medal: Jason Taumalolo
Players' Player: Jordan McLean
Coach's Award: Francis Molo
Member's Player of the Year: Jason Taumalolo
Club Person of the Year: Ben Hampton
Rookie of the Year: Shane Wright
Townsville Bulletin Fan's Choice Award: Kyle Feldt