2007 North Queensland Cowboys season

The 2007 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 13th in the club's history. Coached by Graham Murray and captained by Johnathan Thurston, they competed in the NRL's Telstra Premiership. They finished the regular season in 3rd place, falling one game short of the Grand Final after losing to the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.

2007 North Queensland Cowboys season
NRL Rank3rd
Play-off resultLost Preliminary Final
(v Manly Sea Eagles, 6–28)
recordWins: 15; draws: 0; losses: 9
Points scoredFor: 547; against: 618
Team information
CEOPeter Parr
CoachGraham Murray
Captain
StadiumDairy Farmers Stadium
Avg. attendance20,108
High attendance25,926 (vs. Brisbane Broncos, Round 18)
Top scorers
TriesMatthew Bowen (22)
GoalsJohnathan Thurston (78)
PointsJohnathan Thurston (196)
2006 2008 >

Season summary edit

The Cowboys started the 2007 NRL season strongly, winning their first four games. By the halfway point of the season, they were placed inside the top four, despite losing key forward Luke O'Donnell for the season in Round 4.

In August, News Limited sold its majority stake in the club to the Cowboys Leagues Club for just over $2 million. News Limited took over the club in late 2001, helping it through a turbulent and difficult era.

Following five losses from seven games, the Cowboys dropped to 8th place in Round 20. A strong finish to the regular season, in which they won their final five games, saw them finish in 3rd, their highest ever placing at the time. Their first two finals games were played at home, defeating the Canterbury Bulldogs (20–18) and the New Zealand Warriors (49–12), to move within one game of the Grand Final. The Cowboys' season ended the following week, losing to Manly in the preliminary final.

Club legend Paul Bowman retired at the end of the 2007 season. The last foundation player from the club's inaugural season, Bowman played 203 games for the Cowboys over 13 seasons. The club's Player of the Year medal was named in his honour following his retirement. He became an assistant coach with the club in 2008. 2007 also saw the debut of 19-year-old Scott Bolton, who would go on to play over 150 games for the Cowboys and be a member of their 2015 NRL Grand Final and 2016 World Club Challenge winning sides.

Milestones edit

Squad List edit

North Queensland Cowboys NRL Squad 2007
First team squad Coaching staff

Head coach

Assistant coaches

  • Ian Millward (assistant coach)
  • Grant Bell (assistant coach)
  • Kelly Egan (football manager)
  • Glen Murphy (strength & conditioning coach)
  • Steve Hooper (Strength & Conditioning Trainer)

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



Squad Movement edit

2007 Gains edit

Player Signed From
Brett Anderson   Parramatta Eels
Matthew Bartlett   Melbourne Storm
Ben Farrar   Parramatta Eels
Sione Faumuina   Warriors
Karl Johnson   North Sydney Bears
Scott Minto   Brisbane Broncos
Jackson Nicolau   Melbourne Storm
Jason Smith   Canberra Raiders
Ben Vaeau   Brisbane Broncos
Colin Wilkie   Melbourne Storm

2007 Losses edit

Player Signed To
Clint Amos   Gold Coast Titans
Jason Barsley Released
Gavin Cooper   Gold Coast Titans
Mark Dalle Cort   Celtic Crusaders
Brett Firman   Penrith Panthers
Josh Hannay   Cronulla Sharks
Ben Lowe   South Sydney Rabbitohs
Brent McConnell   Brisbane Broncos
Travis Norton Retired
Mitchell Sargent   Newcastle Knights
Matt Sing   Hull F.C.
Daniel Strickland   University Saints RLFC
Robert Tanielu Retired

Ladder edit

Pos Team Pld W D L B PF PA PD Pts
1   Melbourne Storm 24 21 0 3 1 627 277 +350 44
2   Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 24 18 0 6 1 597 377 +220 38
3   North Queensland Cowboys 24 15 0 9 1 547 618 −71 32
4   New Zealand Warriors 24 13 1 10 1 593 434 +159 29
5   Parramatta Eels 24 13 0 11 1 573 481 +92 28
6   Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 24 12 0 12 1 575 528 +47 26
7   South Sydney Rabbitohs 24 12 0 12 1 408 399 +9 26
8   Brisbane Broncos 24 11 0 13 1 511 476 +35 24
9   Wests Tigers 24 11 0 13 1 541 561 −20 24
10   Sydney Roosters 24 10 1 13 1 445 610 −165 23
11   Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 24 10 0 14 1 463 403 +60 22
12   Gold Coast Titans 24 10 0 14 1 409 559 −150 22
13   St George Illawarra Dragons 24 9 0 15 1 431 509 −78 20
14   Canberra Raiders 24 9 0 15 1 522 650 −128 20
15   Newcastle Knights 24 9 0 15 1 418 708 −290 20
16   Penrith Panthers 24 8 0 16 1 539 607 −68 18

Fixtures edit

Pre-season edit

Date Round Opponent Venue Score Tries Goals Attendance
17 February Trial 1   Canberra Raiders Browne Park 10 – 28 - - -
24 February Trial 2   Warriors Leprechaun Park 32 – 14 B. Bowen (2), Bolton, M. Bowen, Payne, Lillyman Thurston (4/6) -
3 March Trial 3   Manly Sea Eagles Barlow Park 10 – 14 Bolton, Justin Smith Thurston (2/2) -

Regular season edit

Date Round Opponent Venue Score Tries Goals Attendance
16 March Round 1   Brisbane Broncos Suncorp Stadium 23 – 16 Graham (2), M. Bowen, Henry Thurston (3/5), M. Bowen (1 FG) 50,416
24 March Round 2   Sydney Roosters Dairy Farmers Stadium 43 – 6 B. Bowen (2), M. Bowen (2), Thurston (2), O'Donnell Thurston (6/6), Graham (1/1), Payne (1 FG) 21,396
31 March Round 3   St George Illawarra Dragons WIN Stadium 22 – 18 B. Bowen, Bowman, Graham, Thurston Thurston (3/4) 10,232
7 April Round 4   Wests Tigers Dairy Farmers Stadium 25 – 24 Graham (2), M. Bowen, Sweeney Thurston (4/4), M. Bowen (1 FG) 21,879
15 April Round 5   Warriors Mt Smart Stadium 14 – 34 B. Bowen, M. Bowen, Thurston Thurston (1/3) 11,260
23 April Round 6   South Sydney Rabbitohs Dairy Farmers Stadium 6 – 10 Bowman Thurston (1/1) 17,768
28 April Round 7   Manly Sea Eagles Dairy Farmers Stadium 30 – 26 M. Bowen (2), B. Bowen, Farrar, Ja. Smith Thurston (5/6) 18,682
7 May Round 8   Gold Coast Titans Carrara Stadium 24 – 10 M. Bowen, Bowman, Jensen Thurston (6/6) 17,806
12 May Round 9   Penrith Panthers Dairy Farmers Stadium 12 – 22 Anderson, Bolton Thurston (2/2) 17,393
19 May Round 10   Parramatta Eels Parramatta Stadium 14 – 44 Faumuina, Graham, Minto Graham (1/3) 10,182
25 May Round 11   Canterbury Bulldogs Suncorp Stadium 26 – 16 M.Bowen (2), Faumuina, Tronc Thurston (5/5) 15,412
2 June Round 12   Cronulla Sharks Dairy Farmers Stadium 26 – 24 Williams (2), Minto, Scott, Sweeney Thurston (3/5) 20,075
9 June Round 13   Sydney Roosters Sydney Football Stadium 30 – 64 M. Bowen (2), Bartlett, Southern, Tronc Graham (5/5) 4,186
16 June Round 14   Melbourne Storm Dairy Farmers Stadium 12 – 58 B. Bowen, M. Bowen, William Thurston (0/3) 20,023
23 June Round 15   Canberra Raiders Canberra Stadium 28 – 24 B. Bowen (2), M. Bowen (2), Thurston Thurston (4/5) 11,263
Round 16 Bye
7 July Round 17   Warriors Dairy Farmers Stadium 18 – 12 Sione Faumuina, Graham, Webb Thurston (2/2), Graham (1/1) 19,864
13 July Round 18   Brisbane Broncos Dairy Farmers Stadium 16 – 24 Graham (2), M. Bowen Graham (2/3) 25,926
22 July Round 19   South Sydney Rabbitohs Telstra Stadium 14 – 20 M. Bowen, Graham, Minto Thurston (1/3) 10,022
30 July Round 20   Wests Tigers Leichhardt Oval 10 – 54 Bartlet, Ju. Smith Thurston (1/2) 17,101
4 August Round 21   Canberra Raiders Dairy Farmers Stadium 28 – 22 Farrar (2), Graham, M. Bowen, Thurston Graham (2/5), Thurston (0/1) 15,791
13 August Round 22   Penrith Panthers CUA Stadium 30 – 26 Graham (3), B. Bowen, M. Bowen, Ju. Smith Thurston (3/5) 7,618
18 August Round 23   St George Illawarra Dragons Dairy Farmers Stadium 24 – 14 M. Bowen, Bowman, Cashmere, Ja. Smith Thurston (4/4) 18,721
24 August Round 24   Newcastle Knights EnergyAustralia Stadium 34 – 18 Graham (2), M. Bowen, Sweeney, Thurston, Williams Thurston (5/6) 12,264
31 August Round 25   Canterbury Bulldogs Dairy Farmers Stadium 38 – 32 Farrar, Williams, Ju. Smith, Thurston Thurston (7/7) 24,050
Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw   Bye

Finals edit

Date Round Opponent Venue Score Tries Goals Attendance
8 September Qualifying Final   Canterbury Bulldogs Dairy Farmers Stadium 20 – 18 Thurston (2), Bowman Thurston (4/4) 24,004
16 September Semi Final   Warriors Dairy Farmers Stadium 49 – 12 Farrar (2), M. Bowen, Cashmere, Graham, Henry, Ja. Smith, Williams Thurston (7/7), Bowman (1/1), M. Bowen (1 FG) 21,487
22 September Preliminary Final   Manly Sea Eagles SFS 6 – 28 Lillyman Thurston (1/1) 32,611
Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw   Bye

Statistics edit

Name App T G FG Pts
Brett Anderson 1 1 - - 4
Matthew Bartlett 13 2 - - 8
Scott Bolton 6 1 - - 4
Brenton Bowen 16 9 - - 36
Matthew Bowen 27 22 - 3 91
Paul Bowman 21 5 1 - 22
Ray Cashmere 24 2 - - 8
David Faiumu 20 - - - -
Ben Farrar 11 7 - - 28
Sione Faumuina 18 3 - - 12
Sam Faust 13 - - - -
John Frith 1 - - - -
Ashley Graham 22 18 12 - 96
Mark Henry 10 2 - - 8
Rod Jensen 6 1 - - 4
Jacob Lillyman 21 1 - - 4
Scott Minto 14 3 - - 12
Shane Muspratt 3 - - - -
Jackson Nicolau 1 - - - -
Luke O'Donnell 4 1 - - 4
Aaron Payne 27 - - 1 1
Matthew Scott 23 1 - - 4
Jason Smith 20 3 - - 12
Justin Smith 24 3 - - 12
Steve Southern 19 1 - - 4
Neil Sweeney 11 3 - - 12
Johnathan Thurston 25 10 78 - 196
Shane Tronc 17 2 - - 8
Ben Vaeau 8 - - - -
Carl Webb 18 1 - - 4
Ty Williams 15 7 - - 28
Totals 109 91 4 622

Source:[1]

Representatives edit

The following players played a representative match in 2007

ANZAC Test State of Origin 1 State of Origin 2 State of Origin 3 Trans-Tasman Test
Matthew Bowen
-
-
-
Queensland
-
David Faiumu
New Zealand
-
-
-
New Zealand
Jacob Lillyman
-
Queensland
Queensland
-
-
Johnathan Thurston
Australia
Queensland
Queensland
Queensland
-
Carl Webb
-
-
Queensland
Queensland
-

Honours edit

League edit

Club edit

Feeder Clubs edit

Queensland Cup edit

References edit

  1. ^ "NRL 2007 - North Queensland Cowboys - Rugby League Project".

External links edit

19°18′58″S 146°42′43″E / 19.31611°S 146.71194°E / -19.31611; 146.71194 (Willow Sports Complex)