| Year: | 1996 |
| Team Colour: | navy |
| Font Colour: | white |
| League: | NRL |
| League Rank: | 17th |
| League Wins: | 6 |
| League Draws: | 0 |
| League Losses: | 15 |
| Points For: | 288 |
| Points Against: | 643 |
| Playoff Result: | Missed finals |
| Coach Title: | Coach |
| Avg Attendance: | 19,366 |
| High Attendance: | 27,096 (vs. South Sydney Rabbitohs, Round 16) |
| Top Tries: | David Bouveng, Kris Tassell (8) |
| Top Goals: | Shane Howarth (21) |
| Top Points: | Shane Howarth (49) |
| Next Season: | 1997 |
The 1996 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 2nd in the club's history. Coached by Graham Lowe and captained by Adrian Vowles, they competed in the Optus Cup.
After finishing their debut season in last place, there was nowhere to go but up for the Cowboys in 1996. Under new head coach, former New Zealand, Queensland, Manly and Wigan boss Graham Lowe, the club recruited fairly strongly bringing in first grade regulars Jason Death (from Canberra) and Andrew Dunemann (from Gold Coast), former All Black Shane Howarth and New Zealand representatives Se'e Solomona and Whetu Taewa. Dunemann's signing would see him reunite with his brother Ian, the pair becoming the first siblings to play for the club.
Due to the ongoing Super League war, the clubs affiliated with the breakaway competition refused to participate in their Round 1 games, with the Cowboys' opening fixture, against fellow Super League-aligned club the Canterbury Bulldogs, cancelled. After losing their first game of the year against the Sydney City Roosters, the Cowboys picked up their first win of the season a week later against the Sydney Tigers. Seven straight losses followed until a Round 11 victory over the Newcastle Knights was followed by a win over the Cronulla Sharks, the club's first ever back-to-back wins. After four straight losses, the Cowboys ended the season in their strongest form to date, with three wins from their final six games. That included a win over the St George Dragons at Kogarah Oval in Round 21, the club's first win in Sydney. The club would end their second season in 17th place, with six wins from 21 games, tripling their win total from the year before. Steve Edmed, a long time Balmain Tiger who joined the Cowboys for the 1996 season, was named Player of the Year after playing in all 21 games in his lone season with the club.
The club made headlines during the season when Moranbah junior Josh Hannay was named to make his first grade debut at just 16-years old. The selection was later vetoed by the Australian Rugby League as Hannay was not 16 when the year began. Had he played, he would have been the second youngest player to make his senior debut in Australian rugby league history. Hannay would make his debut two years later and go onto play 150 games for the club over nine seasons.[1] [2]
| Player | Signed From | |
|---|---|---|
| Cronulla Sharks | ||
| Canberra Raiders | ||
| Gold Coast Chargers | ||
| Sydney Tigers | ||
| Auckland RU | ||
| South Queensland Crushers | ||
| Auckland Warriors | ||
| Auckland Warriors | ||
| Auckland Warriors | ||
| Canterbury Bulldogs |
| Player | Signed To | |
|---|---|---|
| Gold Coast Chargers | ||
| Cardiff RFC | ||
| Gold Coast Chargers | ||
| Sheffield Eagles | ||
| Paris Saint-Germain | ||
| Gateshead Thunder | ||
| Sydney Tigers | ||
| Paris Saint-Germain | ||
| Paris Saint-Germain (mid-season) | ||
| Retired |
| width=20 abbr="Position×" | width=240 | Team | width=20 abbr="Played" | Pld | width=20 abbr="Won" | W | width=20 abbr="Drawn" | D | width=20 abbr="Lost" | L | width=20 abbr="Points for" | PF | width=20 abbr="Points against" | PA | width=20 abbr="Points difference" | PD | width=20 abbr="Points" | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles (P) | 22 | 18 | 0 | 4 | 549 | 191 | +358 | 36 | ||||||||||
| 2 | Brisbane Broncos | 21 | 17 | 0 | 4 | 607 | 263 | +344 | 34 | ||||||||||
| 3 | North Sydney Bears | 22 | 15 | 2 | 5 | 598 | 325 | +273 | 32 | ||||||||||
| 4 | Sydney City Roosters | 22 | 15 | 1 | 6 | 521 | 321 | +200 | 31 | ||||||||||
| 5 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 21 | 14 | 2 | 5 | 399 | 268 | +131 | 30 | ||||||||||
| 6 | Canberra Raiders | 21 | 13 | 1 | 7 | 538 | 384 | +154 | 27 | ||||||||||
| 7 | St. George Dragons | 21 | 12 | 1 | 8 | 443 | 360 | +83 | 27 | ||||||||||
| 8 | Western Suburbs Magpies | 22 | 12 | 1 | 9 | 394 | 434 | −40 | 25 | ||||||||||
| 9 | Newcastle Knights | 21 | 10 | 1 | 10 | 416 | 388 | +28 | 23 | ||||||||||
| 10 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 21 | 11 | 0 | 10 | 375 | 378 | −3 | 22 | ||||||||||
| 11 | Auckland Warriors | 21 | 10 | 0 | 11 | 412 | 427 | −15 | 22 | ||||||||||
| 12 | Sydney Tigers | 22 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 319 | 459 | −140 | 22 | ||||||||||
| 13 | Parramatta Eels | 21 | 9 | 1 | 11 | 404 | 415 | −11 | 21 | ||||||||||
| 14 | Illawarra Steelers | 22 | 8 | 0 | 14 | 403 | 444 | −41 | 16 | ||||||||||
| 15 | Penrith Panthers | 21 | 7 | 1 | 13 | 363 | 464 | −101 | 15 | ||||||||||
| 16 | Western Reds | 21 | 6 | 1 | 14 | 313 | 420 | −107 | 13 | ||||||||||
| 17 | North Queensland Cowboys | 21 | 6 | 0 | 15 | 288 | 643 | −355 | 12 | ||||||||||
| 18 | Gold Coast Chargers | 22 | 5 | 1 | 16 | 359 | 521 | −162 | 11 | ||||||||||
| 19 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 22 | 5 | 1 | 16 | 314 | 634 | −320 | 11 | ||||||||||
| 20 | South Queensland Crushers | 21 | 3 | 0 | 18 | 220 | 496 | −276 | 8 | ||||||||||
| Name | App | T | G | FG | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | - | - | - | - | ||
| 6 | 1 | - | - | 4 | ||
| 5 | 1 | - | - | 4 | ||
| 6 | 2 | - | - | 8 | ||
| 6 | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1 | - | - | - | - | ||
| 9 | - | - | - | - | ||
| 11 | 1 | - | - | 4 | ||
| 15 | 2 | 12 | - | 32 | ||
| 20 | 3 | - | - | 12 | ||
| 16 | 2 | - | 1 | 9 | ||
| 13 | 2 | - | - | 8 | ||
| 21 | 1 | - | - | 4 | ||
| 5 | - | - | - | - | ||
| 11 | 4 | - | - | 16 | ||
| 2 | - | - | - | - | ||
| 12 | 1 | 21 | 3 | 49 | ||
| 6 | 1 | - | - | 4 | ||
| 19 | 1 | - | - | 4 | ||
| 6 | - | - | - | - | ||
| 11 | 1 | - | - | 4 | ||
| 21 | 8 | - | - | 32 | ||
| 12 | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4 | - | - | - | - | ||
| 6 | 4 | - | - | 16 | ||
| 4 | 2 | - | - | 8 | ||
| 15 | 1 | - | - | 4 | ||
| 16 | - | 2 | - | 4 | ||
| 1 | - | - | - | - | ||
| 10 | - | - | - | - | ||
| 15 | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3 | 2 | - | - | 8 | ||
| 4 | - | - | - | - | ||
| 12 | 2 | - | - | 8 | ||
| 9 | 8 | - | - | 32 | ||
| 21 | 2 | 3 | - | 14 | ||
| 1 | - | - | - | - | ||
| Totals | 52 | 38 | 4 | 288 |