2012 North Queensland Cowboys season
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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 place and were knocked out in the second week of the finals by the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, for the second year in a row.
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 game for the club.
- Round 6: Johnathan Thurston played his 150th game for the club.
- Round 6: Johnathan Thurston scored his 1000th point for the club.
- Round 8: Gavin Cooper played his 50th game 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 for the club, the first player to do so.
- Finals Week 2: Dallas Johnson played his 50th game for the club.
Squad List
First team squad | Coaching staff | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
| Head coach Assistant coaches
Updated: 29 July 2012 |
Squad Movement
2012 Gains
Player | Signed From | Until End of |
---|---|---|
Luke Harlen | ![]() | 2012 |
Kane Linnett | ![]() | 2013 |
Robert Lui | ![]() | 2013 |
Anthony Mitchell | ![]() | 2013 |
2012 Losses
Player | Signed To | Until End of |
---|---|---|
Isaak Ah Mau | ![]() | 2013 |
Leeson Ah Mau | ![]() | 2013 |
Clint Amos | Retired | - |
Michael Bani | ![]() | 2012 |
Jack Cooper | ![]() | 2012 |
Shannon Gallant | ![]() | 2012 |
Dylan Smith | ![]() | 2012 |
Willie Tonga | ![]() | 2013 |
Will Tupou | ![]() | 2013 |
Ladder
| ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
1 | ![]() | 24 | 18 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 568 | 369 | +199 | 40 |
2 | ![]() | 24 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 579 | 361 | +218 | 38 |
3 | ![]() | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 559 | 438 | +121 | 36 |
4 | ![]() | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 497 | 403 | +94 | 36 |
5 | ![]() | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 597 | 445 | +152 | 34 |
6 | ![]() | 24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 545 | 536 | +9 | 30 |
7 | ![]() | 24 | 12 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 445 | 441 | +4 | 29 |
8 | ![]() | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 481 | 447 | +34 | 28 |
9 | ![]() | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 405 | 438 | -33 | 26 |
10 | ![]() | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 506 | 551 | -45 | 26 |
11 | ![]() | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 449 | 477 | -28 | 24 |
12 | ![]() | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 448 | 488 | -40 | 24 |
13 | ![]() | 24 | 8 | 1 | 15 | 2 | 462 | 626 | -164 | 21 |
14 | ![]() | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 497 | 609 | -112 | 20 |
15 | ![]() | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 409 | 575 | -166 | 20 |
16 | ![]() | 24 | 6 | 0 | 18 | 2 | 431 | 674 | -243 | 16 |
Fixtures
Pre-season
Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4 February | Trial 1 | ![]() | Dolphin Oval | 22 – 28 | Bolton, Segeyaro, Thompson, Ulugia | Foster (2/2), Faifai Loa (1/2) | 4,500 | |||
11 February | Trial 2 | ![]() | NIB Stadium | 18 – 12 | Cooper, Graham, Linnett, Winterstein | Graham (1) | 8,588 | |||
18 February | Trial 3 | ![]() | Virgin Australia Stadium | 28 – 36 | Faifai Loa (2), Pangai (2), Thurston | Thurston (3/4), Cooper (1/1) | - | |||
Legend: Win Loss Draw |
Regular season
Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
3 March | Round 1 | ![]() | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 0 – 18 | - | - | 16,311 | |||
9 March | Round 2 | ![]() | Suncorp Stadium | 26 – 28 | Bowen (2), Johnson, Segeyaro, Tate | Thurston (4/5) | 43,171 | |||
17 March | Round 3 | ![]() | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 42 – 6 | Graham (3), Bowen, Cooper, Linnett, Scott, Taumalolo | Thurston (5/8) | 8,239 | |||
24 March | Round 4 | ![]() | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 14 – 20 | Bowen, Cooper, Graham | Thurston (1/4) | 11,364 | |||
2 April | Round 5 | ![]() | Canberra Stadium | 22 – 6 | Graham (2), Tate, Thompson | Thurston (3/4) | 12,135 | |||
8 April | Round 6 | ![]() | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 18 – 42 | Bowen, Cooper, Tamou | Thurston (3/3) | 20,206 | |||
14 April | Round 7 | ![]() | TIO Stadium | 50 – 12 | Bowen (2), Taumalolo (2), Winterstein (2), Faifai Loa, Graham, Thompson | Thurston (6/8), Bowen (1/1) | 10,008 | |||
28 April | Round 8 | ![]() | ANZ Stadium | 16 – 20 | Graham (2), Segeyaro | Thurston (2/3) | 12,213 | |||
4 May | Round 9 | ![]() | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 30 – 6 | Bowen, Linnett, T Sims, Tate, Thompson | Thurston (3/6), Bowen (2/2) | 15,006 | |||
12 May | Round 10 | ![]() | Hunter Stadium | 32 – 12 | Graham (2), Cooper, Morgan, Thompson | Thurston (6/6) | 18,191 | |||
19 May | Round 11 | ![]() | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 30 – 28 | Bowen, Cooper, Ashley Graham, A Sims, Winterstein | Bowen (5/7) | 11,648 | |||
27 May | Round 12 | ![]() | Campbelltown Stadium | 18 – 26 | Ashley Graham, Glenn Hall, Winterstein | Thurston (3/3) | 13,059 | |||
1 June | Round 13 | ![]() | Skilled Park | 12 – 28 | Paterson, Taumalolo | Thurston (2/2) | 12,092 | |||
Round 14 | Bye | |||||||||
15 June | Round 15 | ![]() | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 12 – 0 | Cooper, Linnett | Thurston (2/2) | 20,367 | |||
23 June | Round 16 | ![]() | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 40 – 18 | Hall (2), Bolton, Graham, Linnett, Thompson, Winterstein | Thurston (5/6), Bowen (1/1) | 14,344 | |||
1 July | Round 17 | ![]() | Mt Smart Stadium | 18 – 35 | Cooper, Graham, Linnett | Bowen (3/3) | 15,374 | |||
Round 18 | Bye | |||||||||
14 July | Round 19 | ![]() | AAMI Park | 20 – 16 | Linnett (2), Tate | Thurston (4/4) | 10,688 | |||
23 July | Round 20 | ![]() | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 29 – 16 | Cooper, Faifai Loa, Hall, Mitchell, Tate | Thurston (4/5), Bowen (1 FG) | 12,357 | |||
28 July | Round 21 | ![]() | ANZ Stadium | 18 – 32 | Linnett, Thurston, Winterstein | Thurston (3/3) | 18,652 | |||
4 August | Round 22 | ![]() | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 6 – 8 | Linnett | Thurston (1/1) | 14,401 | |||
11 August | Round 23 | ![]() | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 52 – 12 | Graham (3), Bowen, Cooper, Linnett, Payne, Tate, Winterstein | Thurston (8/9) | 13,616 | |||
20 August | Round 24 | ![]() | WIN Stadium | 32 – 22 | Linnett (2), Bowen, Graham, Thurston | Thurston (6/6) | 9,245 | |||
25 August | Round 25 | ![]() | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 22 – 14 | Bowen, Tate, Thurston | Thurston (5/5) | 15,119 | |||
2 September | Round 26 | ![]() | Toyota Stadium | 36 – 22 | Graham (2), Cooper, Segeyaro, Tate, Taumalolo | Thurston (6/7) | 16,829 | |||
Legend: Win Loss Draw Bye |
Finals
Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
8 September | Qualifying Final | ![]() | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 33 – 16 | Morgan (3), Bowen, Tate | Thurston (6/7), Bowen (1 FG) | 21,307 | |||
14 September | Semi Final | ![]() | 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 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Matthew Bowen | Indigenous All Stars | - | - | - | - | - |
Cory Paterson | Indigenous All Stars | - | - | - | - | - |
Aaron Payne | NRL All Stars | - | - | - | - | - |
Matthew Scott | - | - | - | Queensland | Queensland | Queensland |
Tariq Sims | - | Country | - | - | - | - |
James Tamou | - | - | Australia | New South Wales | New South Wales | New South Wales |
Brent Tate | NRL All Stars | - | - | Queensland | Queensland | Queensland |
Johnathan Thurston | Indigenous All Stars | - | Australia | Queensland | Queensland | Queensland |
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
North Queensland Cowboys - 13th, missed finals
Mackay Cutters - 8th, missed finals
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
- ^ "NRL 2012 - North Queensland Cowboys - Rugby League Project".
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