2006 North Queensland Cowboys season

The 2006 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 12th in the club's history. Coached by Graham Murray and captained by Travis Norton, they competed in the NRL's 2006 Telstra Premiership.

2006 North Queensland Cowboys season
NRL Rank9th
Play-off resultMissed finals
recordWins: 11; draws: 0; losses: 13
Points scoredFor: 450; against: 463
Team information
CEOPeter Parr
CoachGraham Murray
Captain
StadiumDairy Farmers Stadium
Avg. attendance19,681
High attendance24,658 (vs. Brisbane Broncos, Round 20)
Top scorers
TriesMatt Sing (13)
GoalsJohnathan Thurston (49)
PointsJohnathan Thurston (142)
← 2005 2007 →

Season summary

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Coming off the back of their maiden Grand Final appearance, the Cowboys were strong premiership favourites heading into the 2006 season. They looked like they would be living up to those expectations, with a six-game winning streak to start the season. It wouldn't last though, as the club would lose eight of their next 10, including a six-game losing streak which left them outside the Top 8 halfway through the season. A win against arch-rivals Brisbane in the Queensland derby put them into 6th place with six games remaining but they would lose Johnathan Thurston to injury and another losing streak followed, dashing their finals aspirations. Wins over South Sydney and Parramatta ended their season a good note but it wasn't enough, the pre-season title favourites finishing the season in 9th.

Despite the disappointing season, 2006 saw the debut of club legend Gavin Cooper, who made his debut in Round 2. Cooper would leave the club at the end of the year, spending two seasons with the Gold Coast Titans and two with the Penrith Panthers before rejoining the Cowboys in 2011. Cooper would become an integral part of the club, starting in their 2015 NRL Grand Final and 2016 World Club Challenge winning sides.

2006 was also the final season for club stalwarts Travis Norton and Matt Sing. Norton, who captained the side from 2004 to 2007, and Sing, who scored 73 tries for the club and rejuvenated his career in the process, were key figures in the club's transformation from cellar dwellers into a credible premiership threat. In 2015, Sing was one of the two inaugural inductees into the Cowboys Hall of Fame.

Milestones

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Squad List

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North Queensland Cowboys NRL Squad 2006
First team squad Coaching staff

Head coach

Assistant coaches


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



Squad Movement

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2006 Gains

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Player Signed From
Russell Aitken   Cronulla Sharks
Brett Anderson   Parramatta Eels
Ray Cashmere   Wests Tigers
Ashley Graham   Parramatta Eels (mid-season)
Mark Henry   Central Comets
Robert Tanielu   Melbourne Storm

2006 Losses

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Player Signed To
Russell Aitken   Melbourne Storm (mid-season)
Jaiman Lowe   South Sydney Rabbitohs
Micheal Luck   Warriors
Leigh McWilliams Retired
David Myles   Toulouse Olympique
Paul Rauhihi   Warrington Wolves

Ladder

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Pos Team Pld W D L B PF PA PD Pts
1   Melbourne Storm 24 20 0 4 2 605 404 +201 441
2   Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 24 16 0 8 2 608 468 +140 36
3   Brisbane Broncos (P) 24 14 0 10 2 497 392 +105 32
4   Newcastle Knights 24 14 0 10 2 608 538 +70 32
5   Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 24 14 0 10 2 534 493 +41 32
6   St George Illawarra Dragons 24 14 0 10 2 519 481 +38 32
7   Canberra Raiders 24 13 0 11 2 525 573 -48 30
8   Parramatta Eels 24 12 0 12 2 506 483 +23 28
9   North Queensland Cowboys 24 11 0 13 2 450 463 -13 26
10   New Zealand Warriors 24 12 0 12 2 552 463 +89 242
11   Wests Tigers 24 10 0 14 2 490 565 -75 24
12   Penrith Panthers 24 10 0 14 2 510 587 -77 24
13   Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 24 9 0 15 2 515 544 -29 22
14   Sydney Roosters 24 8 0 16 2 528 650 -122 20
15   South Sydney Rabbitohs 24 3 0 21 2 429 772 -343 10

1 The Melbourne Storm were later stripped of this minor premiership due to gross salary cap breaches.
2 The New Zealand Warriors were deducted 4 competition points due to gross salary cap breaches.

Fixtures

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Regular season

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Date Round Opponent Venue Score Tries Goals Attendance
12 March Round 1   Brisbane Broncos Suncorp Stadium 36 – 4 Thurston (3), Bowen, Sing, Sweeney Thurston (6/7) 46,229
18 March Round 2   Manly Sea Eagles Dairy Farmers Stadium 20 – 16 Sing (3), Firman Thurston (2/6) 23,936
25 March Round 3   Melbourne Storm Dairy Farmers Stadium 40 – 8 Thurston (2), Bowman, O'Donnell, Sweeney, Williams Thurston (8/8) 21,346
31 March Round 4   Parramatta Eels Parramatta Stadium 26 – 18 Sing (2), Faiumu, Scott Thurston (5/6) 15,131
7 April Round 5   Wests Tigers Dairy Farmers Stadium 32 – 12 Jensen (2), Cooper, Sing, Thurston Thurston (6/7) 20,262
16 April Round 6   Newcastle Knights EnergyAustralia Stadium 18 – 16 Bowen, Sargent, Thurston Thurston (3/3) 26,048
22 April Round 7   Cronulla Sharks Toyota Park 22 – 24 O'Donnell (2), Jensen, Sing Thurston (3/4) 9,025
29 April Round 8   Sydney Roosters Dairy Farmers Stadium 18 – 22 Payne, Sweeney, Thurston Thurston (3/3) 21,175
6 May Round 9   Penrith Panthers Dairy Farmers Stadium 22 – 6 B. Bowen, Payne, Thurston, Tronc Thurston (3/4) 16,808
13 May Round 10   Melbourne Storm Olympic Park 6 – 18 B. Bowen Thurston (1/1) 10,830
Round 11 Bye
27 May Round 12   Canberra Raiders Dairy Farmers Stadium 14 – 15 Cooper, Thurston Thurston (3/3) 16,971
4 June Round 13   Wests Tigers Telstra Stadium 14 – 24 Bowman, Cooper, Thurston Thurston (1/3) 16,736
10 June Round 14   Cronulla Sharks Dairy Farmers Stadium 4 – 26 B. Bowen Hannay (0/1) 16,778
18 June Round 15   Canterbury Bulldogs Carrara Stadium 12 – 20 B. Bowen, Bowman Thurston (2/2) 16,231
24 June Round 16   St George Illawarra Dragons WIN Stadium 14 – 34 Hannay, Sing, Sweeney Thurston (1/4) 13,289
1 July Round 17   South Sydney Rabbitohs Dairy Farmers Stadium 16 – 14 Payne (2), McConnell McConnell (1/1), Smith (1/2) 17,506
Round 18 Bye
15 July Round 19   Penrith Panthers CUA Stadium 8 – 17 Southern Thurston (2/2) 8,212
22 July Round 20   Brisbane Broncos Dairy Farmers Stadium 26 – 10 Sing (3), Graham, Hannay Hannay (3/6) 24,658
30 July Round 21   Sydney Roosters Sydney Football Stadium 20 – 40 Henry, Graham, Sing Hannay (2/4) 7,617
5 August Round 22   Canterbury Bulldogs Dairy Farmers Stadium 14 – 54 Graham, Henry, Scott Graham (1/2), Smith (0/1) 20,486
12 August Round 23   Warriors Mt Smart Stadium 0 – 26 5,425
19 August Round 24   Newcastle Knights Dairy Farmers Stadium 12 – 19 Smith, Sweeney McConnell (1/1), Sweeney (1/1) 17,898
27 August Round 25   South Sydney Rabbitohs Telstra Stadium 34 – 12 Smith (2), Bowen, Faiumu, O'Donnell, Payne Graham (5/7) 8,914
1 September Round 26   Parramatta Eels Dairy Farmers Stadium 22 – 8 Bowen (2), Payne, Sweeney Hannay (3/4) 18,351
Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw   Bye

Statistics

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Name App T G FG Pts
Clint Amos 6 - - - -
Brenton Bowen 7 4 - - 16
Matthew Bowen 24 5 - - 20
Paul Bowman 16 3 - - 12
Ray Cashmere 6 - - - -
Gavin Cooper 18 3 - - 12
David Faiumu 18 2 - - 8
Brett Firman 7 1 - - 4
Ashley Graham 14 3 6 - 24
Josh Hannay 9 2 8 - 24
Mark Henry 8 3 - - 12
Rod Jensen 12 3 - - 12
Jacob Lillyman 15 - - - -
Brent McConnell 3 1 2 - 8
Shane Muspratt 2 - - - -
Travis Norton 20 - - - -
Luke O'Donnell 16 4 - - 16
Aaron Payne 21 6 - - 24
Mitchell Sargent 20 1 - - 4
Matthew Scott 22 2 - - 8
Matt Sing 24 13 - - 52
Justin Smith 22 3 1 - 14
Steve Southern 18 1 - - 4
Daniel Strickland 1 - - - -
Neil Sweeney 13 6 1 - 26
Robert Tanielu 3 - - - -
Johnathan Thurston 17 11 49 - 142
Shane Tronc 21 1 - - 4
Carl Webb 20 - - - -
Ty Williams 5 1 - - 4
Totals 79 67 0 450

Source:[1]

Representatives

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The following players played a representative match in 2006.

ANZAC Test City vs Country State of Origin 1 State of Origin 2 State of Origin 3 Tri-Nations World Cup qualifiers
Matthew Bowen
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Queensland
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-
-
-
David Faiumu
New Zealand
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-
-
-
-
-
Josh Hannay
-
-
-
-
Queensland
-
-
Jacob Lillyman
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-
-
Queensland
-
-
-
Luke O'Donnell
Australia
-
New South Wales
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New South Wales
Australia
-
Mitchell Sargent
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Country
-
-
-
-
-
Matthew Scott
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-
Queensland
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-
-
-
Malo Solomona
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-
-
-
-
-
Samoa
Johnathan Thurston
Australia
-
Queensland
Queensland
Queensland
Australia
-
Carl Webb
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-
Queensland
Queensland
Queensland
-
-

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. ^ "NRL 2006 - North Queensland Cowboys - Rugby League Project".
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19°18′58″S 146°42′43″E / 19.31611°S 146.71194°E / -19.31611; 146.71194 (Willow Sports Complex)