2023 North Queensland Cowboys season

The 2023 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 29th in the club's history. Coached by Todd Payten and captained by Jason Taumalolo and Chad Townsend, they competed in the NRL's 2023 Telstra Premiership but did not qualify for the finals.

2023 North Queensland Cowboys season
NRL Rank11th
Play-off resultMissed finals
2023 recordWins: 12; draws: 0; losses: 12
Points scoredFor: 546; against: 542
Team information
CEOJeff Reibel
CoachTodd Payten
Captain
StadiumQueensland Country Bank Stadium
Avg. attendance19,175
High attendance22,811 (vs. Dolphins Round 6)
Top scorers
TriesKyle Feldt (13)
GoalsValentine Holmes (68)
PointsValentine Holmes (170)
← 2022 2024 →

Season summary

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Milestones

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Squad

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Top 30 NRL Squad – 2023 season Development Players Coaching Staff

Extended squad

Head coach

Assistant coaches


Legend:
  • (c) Captain(s)
  • (vc) Vice-captain(s)
  • Development players[1]
  • Extended squad[2]

Updated: 9 May 2023
Source(s): NQ Cowboys


Squad movement

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Gains

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Player Signed From Until End of Notes
Jack Gosiewski   St George Illawarra Dragons
2023
Sam McIntyre   Gold Coast Titans (mid-season)
2024
James Tamou   Wests Tigers
2023
Semi Valemei   Canberra Raiders (mid-season)
2025

Losses

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Player Signed To Until End of Notes
Iosefo Baleiwairiki   Fijian Drua
2023
Kane Bradley   Brisbane Tigers
2023
Brendan Frei   Wynnum Manly Seagulls
2023
Tom Gilbert   Dolphins
2025
Connelly Lemuelu   Dolphins
2024
Jordan Lipp   Western Clydesdales (mid-season)
2023
Morgan McWhirter   North Sydney Bears
2023
Laitia Moceidreke   Newcastle Knights (mid-season)
2023
Emry Pere   Burleigh Bears
2023
Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow   Dolphins
2024
Tyreece Woods   Newcastle Knights
2023

Re-signings

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Player Signed From Until End of Notes
Jeremiah Nanai   North Queensland Cowboys
2027

Ladder

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Pos Team Pld W D L B PF PA PD Pts
1   Penrith Panthers (P) 24 18 0 6 3 645 312 +333 42
2   Brisbane Broncos 24 18 0 6 3 639 425 +214 42
3   Melbourne Storm 24 16 0 8 3 627 459 +168 38
4   New Zealand Warriors 24 16 0 8 3 572 448 +124 38
5   Newcastle Knights 24 14 1 9 3 626 451 +175 35
6   Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 24 14 0 10 3 619 497 +122 34
7   Sydney Roosters 24 13 0 11 3 472 496 −24 32
8   Canberra Raiders 24 13 0 11 3 486 623 −137 32
9   South Sydney Rabbitohs 24 12 0 12 3 564 505 +59 30
10   Parramatta Eels 24 12 0 12 3 587 574 +13 30
11   North Queensland Cowboys 24 12 0 12 3 546 542 +4 30
12   Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 24 11 1 12 3 545 539 +6 29
13   Dolphins 24 9 0 15 3 520 631 −111 24
14   Gold Coast Titans 24 9 0 15 3 527 653 −126 24
15   Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 24 7 0 17 3 438 769 −331 20
16   St. George Illawarra Dragons 24 5 0 19 3 474 673 −199 16
17   Wests Tigers 24 4 0 20 3 385 675 −290 14

Fixtures

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Pre-season

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Date Round Opponent Venue Score Tries Goals Attendance
Saturday, 12 February Trial 1   Dolphins Barlow Park 22 – 22 Derby (2), Moceidreke (2) Duffy (3/4), Laybutt (0/1) 6,922
Saturday, 18 February Trial 2   Brisbane Broncos Sunshine Coast Stadium 18 - 22 Holmes, Feldt, Nanai Holmes (3/3)
Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw   Bye

Regular season

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Round123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627
GroundHAHHAHAHANHAAHHAHAHAHHAA
ResultWLLWLLLWLWWLLWBWWWBWWLLBLWL
Position813151314151615161413141614141310999781099911
Points22244446681010101214161820222426262628283030
Source: National Rugby League
A = Away; H = Home; N = Neutral; B = Bye; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss
Date Round Opponent Venue Score Tries Goals Attendance
Saturday, 4 March Round 1   Canberra Raiders QCB Stadium 19 - 18 Taulagi, Drinkwater (2) Holmes (3/5), Townsend (1 FG) 19,855
Friday, 10 March Round 2   Brisbane Broncos Suncorp Stadium 16 - 28 Nanai (2) Holmes (4/4) 43,162
Saturday, 18 March Round 3   NZ Warriors QCB Stadium 12 – 26 Chester, Robson Holmes (2/2) 17,818
Saturday, 25 March Round 4   Gold Coast Titans QCB Stadium 24 – 12 Chester, Holmes, Nanai, Tamou Holmes (4/4) 16,426
Sunday, 2 April Round 5   Canterbury Bulldogs Accor Stadium 14 – 15 Chester, Dearden Holmes (3/4) 9,626
Friday, 7 April Round 6   Dolphins QCB Stadium 22 – 32 Feldt (2), Hess, Holmes Holmes (3/4) 22,811
Saturday, 15 April Round 7   NZ Warriors Mount Smart Stadium 14 – 22 Cotter, Holmes, Taulagi Holmes (1/3) 23,695
Saturday, 22 April Round 8   Newcastle Knights QCB Stadium 18 – 16 Dearden, Feldt, Robson Holmes (3/3) 17,970
Thursday, 27 April Round 9   Cronulla Sharks PointsBet Stadium 6 – 44 Feldt Holmes (1/1) 8,148
Sunday, 7 May Round 10   Sydney Roosters Suncorp Stadium 20 – 6 Cotter, Gosiewski, Townsend Holmes (4/4) 45,085
Saturday, 13 May Round 11   St George Illawarra Dragons QCB Stadium 46 – 26 Feldt (2), Gosiewski, Luki (2), Dearden (2) Holmes (6/7, 1 2pt FG) 17,852
Saturday, 20 May Round 12   Wests Tigers Leichhardt Oval 18 – 66 Cotter, Feldt, Leilua Holmes (3/3) 12,247
Friday, 26 May Round 13   Parramatta Eels CommBank Stadium 16 – 24 Feldt (2), Drinkwater Townsend (2/3) 14,810
Sunday, 4 June Round 14   Melbourne Storm QCB Stadium 45 – 20 Valemei (3), Holmes, Taulagi (2), Nanai, Townsend Holmes (6/8), Townsend (1 FG) 18,867
Round 15 Bye
Friday, 16 June Round 16   Penrith Panthers QCB Stadium 27 – 23 Drinkwater (2), Dearden, Finefeuiaki, Feldt Townsend (3/4, 1 FG) 17,277
Sunday, 25 June Round 17   South Sydney Rabbitohs Accor Stadium 31 – 6 Taulagi, Holmes (2), Finefeuiaki, Dearden Drinkwater (1 FG), Holmes (5/6) 11,262
Saturday, 1 July Round 18   Wests Tigers QCB Stadium 74 – 0 Taulagi (3), Drinkwater (2), Holmes (2), Valemei (2), Dearden, Leilua, McLean, Nanai Holmes (11/13) 30,606
Round 19 Bye
Saturday, 15 July Round 20   Manly Sea Eagles 4 Pines Park 19 – 8 Cotter, Nanai, Drinkwater Holmes (3/3) 13,240
Saturday, 22 July Round 21   Parramatta Eels QCB Stadium 24 - 16 Hiku, Valemei (2), Drinkwater Holmes (4/5) 20,710
Sunday, 30 July Round 22   Gold Coast Titans Cbus Super Stadium 13 – 22 Hess, Valemei Holmes (2/2), Townsend (1 FG) 16,516
Saturday, 5 August Round 23   Brisbane Broncos QCB Stadium 14 – 30 Feldt (2), Luki Townsend (1/4) 22,659
Round 24 Bye
Thursday, 17 August Round 25   Cronulla Sharks QCB Stadium 12 – 32 Drinkwater, Valemei Drinkwater (2/2) 17,318
Friday, 25 August Round 26   Dolphins Suncorp Stadium 34 – 10 Laybutt (2), Drinkwater, Feldt, Hiku, Taulagi Drinkwater (5/6) 33,449
Saturday, 2 September Round 27   Penrith Panthers BlueBet Stadium 12 – 44 Laybutt, Neame Drinkwater (2/2) 21,525
Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw   Bye

Statistics

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Name App T G FG Pts
Tom Chester 7 3 - - 12
Reuben Cotter 20 4 - - 16
Tom Dearden 23 7 - - 28
Robert Derby 1 - - - -
Scott Drinkwater 21 11 9 1 63
Mitchell Dunn 8 - - -
Brendan Elliot 2 - - -
Kyle Feldt 18 13 - - 52
Kulikefu Finefeuiaki 12 2 - - 8
Jack Gosiewski 7 2 - - 8
Jake Granville 24 - - -
Ben Hampton 1 - - - -
Coen Hess 24 2 - - 8
Peta Hiku 22 2 - - 8
Valentine Holmes 18 8 68 1 170
Zac Laybutt 4 3 - - 12
Luciano Leilua 13 2 - - 8
Heilum Luki 13 3 - - 12
Sam McIntyre 2 - - - -
Jordan McLean 22 1 - - 4
Jeremiah Nanai 13 6 - - 24
Griffin Neame 17 1 - - 4
Riley Price 2 - - -
Reece Robson 23 2 - - 8
Gehamat Shibasaki 2 - - -
James Tamou 3 1 - - 4
Murray Taulagi 20 9 - - 36
Jason Taumalolo 16 - - -
Jamayne Taunoa-Brown 17 - - - -
Chad Townsend 24 2 6 5 25
Semi Valemei 9 9 - - 36
Totals 93 87 7 546

Source:[16]

Representatives

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The following players played a representative match in 2023.

All Stars match State of Origin 1 State of Origin 2 State of Origin 3 Prime Minister's XIII
Reuben Cotter
Queensland
Queensland
Queensland
Australia
Robert Derby
Papua New Guinea
Valentine Holmes
Queensland
Queensland
Queensland
Zac Laybutt
Papua New Guinea
Jeremiah Nanai
Queensland
Queensland
Queensland
Murray Taulagi
Queensland
Queensland
Queensland
Australia
Reece Robson
New South Wales
New South Wales
Australia
Jamayne Taunoa-Brown
Indigenous All Stars

Honours

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Club

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Feeder Clubs

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While still affiliated with the Cutters and Pride, the Cowboys used the Blackhawks as their sole feeder club for their NRL players in 2023.

Women's team

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The North Queensland Cowboys Women's team competed in their first season of the NRL Women's Premiership in 2023. They finished 9th, winning two games and losing seven. They were coached by Ben Jeffries and captained by Kirra Dibb and Tallisha Harden.[18]

References

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  1. ^ Development players train with the Top 30 squad but cannot play NRL until after Round 10
  2. ^ Players in the extended squad train with the Top 30 squad but are on train and trial or junior contracts
  3. ^ "Cowboys sign Gosiewski". NQ Cowboys. 25 October 2022.
  4. ^ "Cowboys sign McIntyre". NQ Cowboys. 16 May 2023.
  5. ^ "Tamou returns to North Queensland". NQ Cowboys. 27 October 2022.
  6. ^ "Cowboys sign Valemei". NQ Cowboys. 12 May 2023.
  7. ^ "Iosefo Masi returns to the 7s team". Fiji Village. 22 August 2022.
  8. ^ a b "Rabbitohs re-sign 'impressive' young gun; Newcastle lock in Broncos half: Transfer Centre". Fox Sports Australia. 6 September 2022.
  9. ^ "Gilbert puts family first". Dolphins. 13 July 2022.
  10. ^ "Back-row convert signs with Dolphins". Dolphins. 11 May 2022.
  11. ^ "Round 8 Hostplus Cup team lists". QRL. 2 May 2023.
  12. ^ "Senior Reps team lists: Round 11". Newcastle Knights. 9 May 2023.
  13. ^ "The players who'll train and trial with Titans this pre-season". Gold Coast Titans. 25 October 2022.
  14. ^ "Excitement machine 'the Hammer' joins the Dolphins". Dolphins. 5 October 2022.
  15. ^ "Nanai signs long-term extension". NQ Cowboys. 15 February 2023.
  16. ^ "2023 North Queensland Cowboys season". www.rugbyleagueproject.org.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h "Full list of winners from the Cowboys 2023 Presentation Night". NQ Cowboys. 20 September 2023.
  18. ^ "Roosters overpower Cowboys to lock in home semi-final". NRL.com. 16 September 2023.