2015 North Queensland Cowboys season

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.

2015 North Queensland Cowboys season
NRL Rank3rd
Play-off resultPremiers
2015 recordWins: 17; draws: 0; losses: 7
Points scoredFor: 587; against: 454
Team information
CEOGreg Tonner
CoachPaul Green
Captain
Stadium1300SMILES Stadium
Avg. attendance16,230
High attendance24,531 (vs. Brisbane Broncos, Round 10)
Top scorers
TriesAntonio Winterstein (16)
GoalsJohnathan Thurston (93)
PointsJohnathan Thurston (208)
← 2014 2016 →

Season summary

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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.

 
Johnathan Thurston & Matt Scott

Milestones

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Squad List

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2015 NRL Squad

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First team squad Coaching staff

Head coach

Assistant coaches


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

Updated: 16 February 2015
Source(s): Cowboys Squad 2015


Squad Movement

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2015 Gains

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Player Signed From Until End of Notes
Jake Granville   Brisbane Broncos
2016
Ben Hannant   Brisbane Broncos
2015
Justin O'Neill   Melbourne Storm
2016
Kelepi Tanginoa   Parramatta Eels
2016

2015 losses

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Player Signed to Until end of Notes
Anthony Mitchell   Townsville Blackhawks
2016
Curtis Rona   Canterbury Bulldogs
2016
Ashton Sims   Warrington Wolves
2016
Tariq Sims   Newcastle Knights
2016
Brent Tate Retired
-
Ricky Thorby   Townsville Blackhawks
2016
Joel Riethmuller Released
-

Re-signings

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Player Club Until End of Notes
John Asiata   North Queensland Cowboys
2017
Scott Bolton   North Queensland Cowboys
2017
Josh Chudleigh   North Queensland Cowboys
2016
Ben Hannant   North Queensland Cowboys
2016
Coen Hess   North Queensland Cowboys
2018
Kyle Laybutt   North Queensland Cowboys
2017
Ethan Lowe   North Queensland Cowboys
2016
Michael Morgan   North Queensland Cowboys
2018
Gideon Gela-Mosby   North Queensland Cowboys
2017
Ben Spina   North Queensland Cowboys
2017
Jason Taumalolo   North Queensland Cowboys
2017
Ray Thompson   North Queensland Cowboys
2017

Ladder

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Pos Team Pld W D L B PF PA PD Pts
1   Sydney Roosters 24 18 0 6 2 591 300 +291 40
2   Brisbane Broncos 24 17 0 7 2 574 379 +195 38
3   North Queensland Cowboys (P) 24 17 0 7 2 587 454 +133 38
4   Melbourne Storm 24 14 0 10 2 467 348 +119 32
5   Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 24 14 0 10 2 522 480 +42 32
6   Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 24 14 0 10 2 469 476 −7 32
7   South Sydney Rabbitohs 24 13 0 11 2 465 467 −2 30
8   St. George Illawarra Dragons 24 12 0 12 2 435 408 +27 28
9   Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 24 11 0 13 2 458 492 −34 26
10   Canberra Raiders 24 10 0 14 2 577 569 +8 24
11   Penrith Panthers 24 9 0 15 2 399 477 −78 22
12   Parramatta Eels 24 9 0 15 2 448 573 −125 22
13   New Zealand Warriors 24 9 0 15 2 445 588 −143 22
14   Gold Coast Titans 24 9 0 15 2 439 636 −197 22
15   Wests Tigers 24 8 0 16 2 487 562 −75 20
16   Newcastle Knights 24 8 0 16 2 458 612 −154 20

Fixtures

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NRL Auckland Nines

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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

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Waiheke pool
Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
  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:   Win   Loss

Pre-season

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

Regular season

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Date Round Opponent Venue Score Tries Goals Attendance
Saturday, 7 March Round 1   Sydney Roosters 1300SMILES Stadium 4 – 28 O'Neill 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:   Win   Loss   Draw   Bye

Finals

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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 Michael Morgan (2), Bolton, Feldt, Lowe, O'Neill, Winterstein 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 Feldt, O'Neill, Tamou Thurston (2/3, 1 FG) 82,758
Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw

Statistics

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Name App T G FG Pts
John Asiata 25 - - - -
Scott Bolton 20 2 - - 8
Gavin Cooper 27 11 - - 44
Lachlan Coote 26 6 - 1 25
Kyle Feldt 9 8 1 - 34
Jake Granville 28 10 - - 40
Glenn Hall 3 - - - -
Ben Hannant 28 - - - -
Coen Hess 1 1 - - 4
Sam Hoare 9 - - - -
Patrick Kaufusi 1 - - - -
Cameron King 2 - - - -
Rory Kostjasyn 23 1 - - 4
Kane Linnett 28 10 - - 40
Ethan Lowe 28 4 8 - 32
Robert Lui 4 - - - -
Tautau Moga 6 - - - -
Michael Morgan 23 15 - - 60
Justin O'Neill 26 13 - - 52
Matthew Scott 25 3 - - 12
Ben Spina 5 1 - - 4
James Tamou 24 2 - - 8
Kelepi Tanginoa 3 - - - -
Jason Taumalolo 26 2 - - 8
Ray Thompson 9 1 - - 4
Johnathan Thurston 25 4 93 6 208
Antonio Winterstein 26 16 - - 64
Matthew Wright 17 9 - - 36
Totals 119 102 7 687

Representatives

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The following players have played a representative match in 2015

All Stars match ANZAC Test Melanesian Cup Polynesian Cup State of Origin 1 State Of Origin 2 State of Origin 3
Viliame Kikau
-
-
Fiji
-
-
-
-
Tautau Moga
-
-
-
Samoa
-
-
-
Michael Morgan
-
-
-
-
Queensland
Queensland
Queensland
Matthew Scott
-
Australia
-
-
Queensland
Queensland
Queensland
James Tamou
-
Australia
-
-
New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales
Jason Taumalolo
NRL All Stars
-
-
-
-
-
-
Ray Thompson
Indigenous All Stars
-
Papua New Guinea
-
-
-
-
Johnathan Thurston
Indigenous All Stars
Australia
-
-
Queensland
Queensland
Queensland
Antonio Winterstein
NRL All Stars
-
-
-
-
-
-

Honours

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League

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Club

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Feeder Clubs

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References

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  1. ^ "Granville signs on with the Cowboys; NRL". North Queensland Cowboys. 22 July 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  2. ^ "Hannant signs on with the Cowboys; NRL". North Queensland Cowboys. 7 October 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  3. ^ "O'Neill to return to the north; NRL". North Queensland Cowboys. 7 October 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  4. ^ "Tanginoa to join the Toyota Cowboys". North Queensland Cowboys. 29 August 2014. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  5. ^ "Cutters' Mitchell going home; NRL". Daily Mercury. 14 October 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2015.[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ "Bulldogs sign Curtis Rona; NRL". Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. 20 August 2014. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  7. ^ "Warrington sign Fiji forward Sims | NRL". Zero Tackle. 2 July 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  8. ^ "Knights sign Tariq Sims | NRL". Zero Tackle. 2 July 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  9. ^ "Inspirational Tate says farewell; NRL". North Queensland Cowboys. 3 September 2014. Archived from the original on 7 September 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  10. ^ "Townsville Blackhawks make first signings; NRL". RLW. 16 October 2014. Archived from the original on 16 February 2015. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  11. ^ "Cowboys allow Glasby to stay at Storm; NRL". NRL. 8 October 2014. Archived from the original on 16 February 2015. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  12. ^ "Asiata extends Cowboys' contract - Zero Tackle". zerotackle.com. 21 May 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  13. ^ a b c d "Cowboys re-sign experience and youth - Zero Tackle". zerotackle.com. 23 September 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  14. ^ "Hess extends contract to 2018". cowboys.com.au. 19 March 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  15. ^ "Lowe extends Cowboys contract". cowboys.com.au. 8 May 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  16. ^ "Morgan re-signs to 2018". cowboys.com.au. 11 March 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  17. ^ "Mosby re-signs until 2017 - Zero Tackle". zerotackle.com. 21 August 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  18. ^ "Spina extends Cowboys contract - Zero Tackle". zerotackle.com. 10 June 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  19. ^ "Taumalolo extends NQ contract". cowboys.com.au. 26 February 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  20. ^ "Thompson re-signs with Cowboys - Zero Tackle". zerotackle.com. 16 June 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2018.

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