2012 North Queensland Cowboys season
| 2012 North Queensland Cowboys season | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NRL | 5th | |||
| Play-off result | Lost Semi Final (v Manly Sea Eagles, 12-22) |
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| 2012 record | Wins: 15; Draws: 0; Losses: 9 | |||
| Points scored | For: 597; Against: 445 | |||
| Team information | ||||
| CEO | Peter Jourdain | |||
| Coach | Neil Henry | |||
| Captain | ||||
| Stadium | Dairy Farmers Stadium | |||
| Avg. Attend. | 14,637 | |||
| High. Attend. | 21,307 (vs. Brisbane Broncos, Finals Week 1) | |||
| Top scorers | ||||
| Tries | Ashley Graham (21) | |||
| Goals | Johnathan Thurston (90) | |||
| Points | Johnathan Thurston (192) | |||
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The 2012 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 18th in the club's history. Coached by Neil Henry and co-captained by Johnathan Thurston and Matthew Scott, they competed in the National Rugby League's 2012 Telstra Premiership. They finished the regular season in 5th placed and were knocked out in the second week of the finals by the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, for the second year in a row.
Contents
Season summary
The Cowboys were aiming to build on its 7th place finish in 2011, after a near-wooden spoon 2010 season only prevented by the Melbourne Storm salary cap breach, with a strong 2012 season.
The season did not start well, with the Cowboys producing one of their worst performances in almost ten years as they lost 18-0 to the Gold Coast Titans at home, with a completion rate of only 35%, the worst on record.[1][2][3] In Round 2, the Cowboys defeated the Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium, with Matthew Bowen scoring the match-winning try on his 30th birthday.
Despite the opening loss, the Cowboys went on to produce a consistent, never once dropping out of the top eight from Round 3 onwards. They records big victories over the Parramatta Eels in Round 3 (42-6), the Sydney Roosters in Round 7 (50-12), the St George Illawarra Dragons in Round 9 (30-6), the Canberra Raiders in Round 16 (40-18) and the Warriors in Round 23 (52-12). They ended the regular season on four game winning streak, finishing in 5th place, their highest finish since 2007.
In Week 1 of the finals, the Cowboys defeated the Brisbane Broncos 33-16, with Michael Morgan scoring a hat-trick, the first halfback to do so in a finals game. It was their third win over Brisbane in 2012. A week later they were eliminated by Manly in controversial circumstances.
Club legend Aaron Payne announced his retirement at the end of the 2012 season, he became a life member at the club after playing his 200th game for the Cowboys. Earlier in the season, Matthew Bowen became the first player to play 250 NRL games for North Queensland.
Milestones
- Round 1: Kane Linnett and Robert Lui made their debuts for the club.
- Round 1: Mosese Pangai made his NRL debut.
- Round 6: Aaron Payne played his 200th NRL game.
- Round 6: Johnathan Thurston played his 150th NRL game for the club.
- Round 6: Johnathan Thurston scored his 1000th point for the club.
- Round 17: Anthony Mitchell made his debut for the club.
- Round 21: Dallas Johnson played his 200th NRL game.
- Round 25: Blake Leary made his NRL debut.
- Finals Week 1: Matthew Bowen played his 250th NRL game.
- Finals Week 2: Dallas Johnson played his 50th NRL game for the club.
Squad List
| North Queensland Cowboys NRL Squad 2012 | |||||||||
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| First team squad | Coaching staff | ||||||||
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Head coach Assistant coaches
Updated: 29 July 2012 |
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Ladder
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs |
24 | 18 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 568 | 369 | +199 | 40 |
| 2 |  Melbourne Storm (P) |
24 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 579 | 361 | +218 | 38 |
| 3 |  South Sydney Rabbitohs |
24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 559 | 438 | +121 | 36 |
| 4 |  Manly Warringah Sea Eagles |
24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 497 | 403 | +94 | 36 |
| 5 | File:North Queensland colours.svg North Queensland Cowboys | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 597 | 445 | +152 | 34 |
| 6 |  Canberra Raiders |
24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 545 | 536 | +9 | 30 |
| 7 |  Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
24 | 12 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 445 | 441 | +4 | 29 |
| 8 |  Brisbane Broncos |
24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 481 | 447 | +34 | 28 |
| 9 |  St. George Illawarra Dragons |
24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 405 | 438 | -33 | 26 |
| 10 |  Wests Tigers |
24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 506 | 551 | -45 | 26 |
| 11 |  Gold Coast Titans |
24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 449 | 477 | -28 | 24 |
| 12 |  Newcastle Knights |
24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 448 | 488 | -40 | 24 |
| 13 |  Sydney Roosters |
24 | 8 | 1 | 15 | 2 | 462 | 626 | -164 | 21 |
| 14 |  New Zealand Warriors |
24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 497 | 609 | -112 | 20 |
| 15 |  Penrith Panthers |
24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 409 | 575 | -166 | 20 |
| 16 |  Parramatta Eels |
24 | 6 | 0 | 18 | 2 | 431 | 674 | -243 | 16 |
Squad Movement
2012 Gains
| Player | Signed From | Until End of |
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| Luke Harlen | File:Northern Pride colours.png Northern Pride |
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| Kane Linnett | Sydney Roosters |
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| Robert Lui | Wests Tigers |
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| Anthony Mitchell | Sydney Roosters (mid-season) |
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2012 Losses
| Player | Signed To | Until End of |
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| Isaak Ah Mau | File:Redcliffe colours.svg Redcliffe Dolphins |
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| Leeson Ah Mau | File:St. George Illawarra colours.svg St George Illawarra Dragons |
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| Clint Amos | Retired |
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| Michael Bani | Canberra Raiders |
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| Jack Cooper |  Cairns District Rugby League |
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| Shannon Gallant |  Berkeley Eagles |
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| Dylan Smith | File:Mackay Cutters colours.svg Mackay Cutters |
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| Willie Tonga | Parramatta Eels |
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| Will Tupou |  Western Force |
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Fixtures
Pre-season
| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 February | Trial 1 | Brisbane Broncos |
Dolphin Oval | 22 – 28 | Bolton, Segeyaro, Thompson, Ulugia | Foster (2/2), Faifai Loa (1/2) | 4,500 | |||
| 11 February | Trial 2 | File:St. George Illawarra colours.svg St George Illawarra Dragons | NIB Stadium | 18 – 12 | Cooper, Graham, Linnett, Winterstein | Graham (1) | 8,588 | |||
| 18 February | Trial 3 | Gold Coast Titans |
Virgin Australia Stadium | 28 – 36 | Faifai Loa (2), Pangai (2), Thurston | Thurston (3/4), Cooper (1/1) | - | |||
| Legend: Win Loss Draw | ||||||||||
Regular season
Finals
| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September | Qualifying Final | Brisbane Broncos |
Dairy Farmers Stadium | 33 – 16 | Morgan (3), Bowen, Tate | Thurston (6/7), Bowen (1 FG) | 21,307 | |||
| 14 September | Semi Final | Manly Sea Eagles |
Allianz Stadium | 22 – 12 | Tamou, Winterstein | Thurston (2/2) | 16,678 | |||
| Legend: Win Loss Draw Bye | ||||||||||
Statistics
| Name | App | T | G | FG | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scott Bolton | 14 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Matthew Bowen | 26 | 13 | 12 | 2 | 78 |
| Gavin Cooper | 26 | 10 | - | - | 40 |
| Kalifa Faifai Loa | 6 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Ashley Graham | 24 | 21 | - | - | 84 |
| Glenn Hall | 23 | 4 | - | - | 16 |
| Dallas Johnson | 26 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Blake Leary | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Kane Linnett | 24 | 12 | - | - | 48 |
| Robert Lui | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Anthony Mitchell | 8 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Michael Morgan | 13 | 4 | - | - | 16 |
| Mosese Pangai | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Cory Paterson | 3 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Aaron Payne | 25 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Joel Riethmuller | 10 | - | - | - | - |
| Matthew Scott | 18 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| James Segeyaro | 14 | 3 | - | - | 12 |
| Ashton Sims | 25 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Tariq Sims | 7 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| James Tamou | 24 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Brent Tate | 23 | 9 | - | - | 36 |
| Jason Taumalolo | 17 | 5 | - | - | 20 |
| Ray Thompson | 18 | 5 | - | - | 20 |
| Ricky Thorby | 15 | - | - | - | - |
| Johnathan Thurston | 24 | 3 | 90 | - | 192 |
| Antonio Winterstein | 26 | 8 | - | - | 32 |
| Totals | 109 | 102 | 2 | 642 |
Source:[4]
Representatives
The following players have played a representative match in 2012
| All Stars match | City vs Country | ANZAC Test | State of Origin 1 | State of Origin 2 | State of Origin 3 | |
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| Matthew Bowen |
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| Cory Paterson |
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| Aaron Payne |
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| Matthew Scott |
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| Tariq Sims |
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| James Tamou |
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| Brent Tate |
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| Johnathan Thurston |
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Honours
League
- Dally M Five-Eighth of the Year: Johnathan Thurston
- RLIF Five-Eighth of the Year: Johnathan Thurston
- NRL Top Tryscorer: Ashley Graham
- NYC Team of the Year: Chris Grevsmuhl
Club
- Paul Bowman Medal: Johnathan Thurston
- Player's Player: James Tamou
- Club Person of the Year: Johnathan Thurston
- Rookie of the Year: Jason Taumalolo
- Most Improved: Kane Linnett
- NYC Player of the Year: Zac Santo
Feeder Clubs
National Youth Competition
- File:North Queensland colours.svg North Queensland Cowboys - 13th, missed finals
Queensland Cup
- File:Mackay Cutters colours.svg Mackay Cutters - 8th, missed finals
- File:Northern Pride colours.png Northern Pride - 7th, missed finals
References
- ↑ Titans punish sloppy Cowboys - ABC Grandstand Sport (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
- ↑ Woeful Cowboys thrashed by Titans | NRL, Rugby League, NRL Scores, NRL Ladder | Fox Sports
- ↑ Cowboys on lowest rung after horror handling performance against Titans | The Courier-Mail
- ↑ http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/seasons/nrl-2012/north-queensland-cowboys/summary.html
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