2003 North Queensland Cowboys season

The 2003 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 9th in the club's history. Coached by Graham Murray and captained by Paul Bowman, they competed in the NRL's 2003 Telstra Premiership. Although the club once again finished 11th, they recorded their highest number of wins (10) and competition points (24) in a season.[1]

2003 North Queensland Cowboys season
NRL Rank11th
Play-off resultMissed finals
2003 recordWins: 10; draws: 0; losses: 14
Points scoredFor: 606; against: 629
Team information
CEODenis Keeffe
CoachGraham Murray
Captain
StadiumDairy Farmers Stadium
Avg. attendance14,892
High attendance25,242 (vs. Brisbane Broncos, Round 4)
Top scorers
TriesMatt Sing (21)
GoalsJosh Hannay (95)
PointsJosh Hannay (230)
< 2002 2004 >

Season summary

The rebuild continued for the Cowboys heading into the 2003 season, with 12 players leaving the club. Their key signings included premiership-winning back rower Kevin Campion, New Zealand international prop Paul Rauhihi and journeyman utility David Myles. All three would eventually help the club to their first finals appearance a year later.

Following a solid end to the 2002 season, the new year started brightly for the club, as they won six games from the first 12 rounds to sit inside the Top 8. They picked up three straights win from Rounds 10-12, their first three-game winning streak since 1998. A mid-season slump would soon follow, with eight losses from their next nine fixtures.

The season ended strongly once again, with three wins from their final four games to secure a second consecutive 11th place finish, four competition points outside the Top 8. During the season Matt Sing became the first Cowboy to represent Australia, when selected for their July Test match against New Zealand.

Milestones

Squad List
North Queensland Cowboys NRL Squad 2003
First team squad Coaching staff

Head coach

Assistant coach

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


Squad Movement

2003 Gains
Player Signed From
Jason Barsley Central Comets
Dane Campbell Redcliffe Dolphins
Kevin Campion Warriors
Paul McNicholas South Sydney Rabbitohs
Michael Meigan Canterbury Bulldogs
Aaron Morgan Wests Panthers
David Myles Warriors
Paul Rauhihi Canterbury Bulldogs
Neil Sweeney Newcastle Knights

2003 Losses
Player Signed From
Ashley Alberts Brisbane Broncos
Tevita AmoneReleased
Tarin BradfordRetired
Tim BrasherRetired
John DoyleRetired
Peter JonesRetired
Tim Maddison Pia Donkeys
John Manning Melbourne Storm
Ken McGuinnessRetired
Justin McKay Wests Tigers
Shaun ValentineRetired

Ladder
2003 NRL season
Pos Team Pld W D L B PF PA PD Pts
1 Penrith Panthers (P) 2418062659527+13240
2 Sydney Roosters 2417072680445+23538
3 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 2416082702419+28336
4 Canberra Raiders 2416082620463+15736
5 Melbourne Storm 2415092564486+7834
6 New Zealand Warriors 2415092545510+3534
7 Newcastle Knights 24140102632635-332
8 Brisbane Broncos 24120122497464+3328
9 Parramatta Eels 24110132570582-1226
10 St George Illawarra Dragons 24110132548593-4526
11 North Queensland Cowboys 24100142606629-2324
12 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 2480162497704-20720
13 Wests Tigers 2470172470598-12818
14 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 2470172557791-23418
15 South Sydney Rabbitohs 2430212457758-30110

Fixtures

Regular season
Date Round Opponent Venue Score Tries Goals Attendance
15 MarchRound 1 Canberra RaidersDairy Farmers Stadium14 – 46Sing (2), HannayHannay (1/3)15,421
22 MarchRound 2 Manly Sea EaglesDairy Farmers Stadium30 – 20Lowe (2), McNicholas, SingHannay (7/8)10,937
31 MarchRound 3 South Sydney RabbitohsAussie Stadium27 – 20B. Bowen, Muckert, SheppardHannay (7/8), Sheppard (1 FG)9,422
5 AprilRound 4 Brisbane BroncosDairy Farmers Stadium24 – 32B. Bowen, Morrison, Myles, McWilliamsHannay (4/4), B. Bowen (0/1)25,242
12 AprilRound 5 Sydney RoostersDairy Farmers Stadium0 – 3212,089
21 AprilRound 6 WarriorsEricsson Stadium24 – 30Sing (2), Hannay, McWilliamsHannay (4/4)19,722
26 AprilRound 7 Melbourne StormDairy Farmers Stadium32 – 12Sing (3), Hannay, WilliamsHannay (6/6)12,023
Round 8Bye
11 MayRound 9 Brisbane BroncosANZ Stadium12 – 38M. Bowen, MylesHannay (2/2)13,197
17 MayRound 10 Wests TigersDairy Farmers Stadium26 – 8Sing (2), Luck, MusprattHannay (5/6)10,783
24 MayRound 11 Manly Sea EaglesBrookvale Oval31 – 20Sing (2), Hannay, Morrison, MylesHannay (5/6), Morrison (0/1), Sheppard (1 FG)7,028
1 JuneRound 12 St George Illawarra DragonsOki Jubilee Stadium36 – 16Sing (2), Bowman, Morrison, Sheppard, WilliamsHannay (6/7)13,517
7 JuneRound 13 Penrith PanthersDairy Farmers Stadium24 – 28Barsley, Hannay, Myles, WilliamsHannay (4/5)17,012
15 JuneRound 14 Sydney RoostersAussie Stadium14 – 15Morrison, MylesHannay (3/4)9,123
21 JuneRound 15 Parramatta EelsParramatta Stadium22 – 24Morgan, Morrison, Myles, SweeneyHannay (3/5)9,027
28 JuneRound 16 Cronulla SharksDairy Farmers Stadium28 – 34Williams (2), M. Bowen, MorrisonHannay (6/7)13,598
5 JulyRound 17 WarriorsDairy Farmers Stadium30 – 10Hannay, Morrison, Sing, WilliamsHannay (7/9)16,028
12 JulyRound 18 Melbourne StormOlympic Park16 – 22Dezolt, Morgan, MylesMorrison (2/4)7,643
19 JulyRound 19 St George Illawarra DragonsDairy Farmers Stadium16 – 38M. Bowen, Bowman, SingMorrison (2/3), Hannay (0/1)16,542
27 JulyRound 20 Canterbury BulldogsSydney Showground22 – 42Hannay, Myles, McDonald, SingHannay (3/5)7,091
Round 21Bye
9 AugustRound 22 Newcastle KnightsDairy Farmers Stadium24 – 60M. Bowen, Muckert, Rauhihi, WilliamsHannay (4/4)15,072
16 AugustRound 23 Canberra RaidersCanberra Stadium34 – 28B. Bowen, Bowman, Hannay, Myles, Payne, WilliamsHannay (5/7)8,074
23 AugustRound 24 South Sydney RabbitohsDairy Farmers Stadium60 – 8M. Bowen (3), Hannay, Muckert, Myles, Payne, Rauhihi, Sing, WilliamsHannay (10/12)13,872
31 AugustRound 25 Wests TigersCampbelltown Stadium34 – 14Williams (3), Sing (2), Hannay, MuckertHannay (3/6), M. Bowen (0/1)6,158
7 SeptemberRound 26 Newcastle KnightsEnergyAustralia Stadium26 – 34M. Bowen, Myles, SingM. Bowen (5/7)18,244
Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw   Bye

Statistics
NameAppTGFGPts
Jason Barsley31--4
Brenton Bowen63--12
Matthew Bowen2095-46
Paul Bowman163--12
John Buttigieg8----
Kevin Campion24----
Paul Dezolt91--4
Nathan Fien2----
George Gatis1----
Josh Hannay231095-230
Jacob Lillyman3----
Jaiman Lowe242--8
Micheal Luck221--4
Jamie McDonald111--4
Paul McNicholas71--4
Leigh McWilliams142--8
Aaron Morgan22--8
Glenn Morrison2274-36
Chris Muckert234--16
Shane Muspratt211--4
David Myles2411--44
Aaron Payne42--8
Chris Sheppard222-210
Matt Sing2021--84
Daniel Sorbello1----
Daniel Strickland17----
Neil Sweeney71--4
David Thompson6----
Derrick Watkins1----
Scott Whiting2----
Ty Williams2212--48
Totals991042606

Source:[2]

Representatives

The following players played a representative match in 2003.

City vs CountryState of Origin 1State of Origin 2State of Origin 3July TestOctober TestAshes Series
Matthew Bowen
-
-
Queensland
Queensland
-
-
-
Paul Bowman
-
Queensland
-
-
-
-
-
Josh Hannay
-
-
-
Queensland
-
-
-
Glenn Morrison
Country
-
-
-
-
-
-
Paul Rauhihi
-
-
-
-
New Zealand
-
-
Matt Sing
-
Queensland
Queensland
Queensland
Australia
Australia
Australia

Honours

Club

Feeder Clubs

Queensland Cup

References
  1. Honours Archived 2011-10-12 at the Wayback Machine at cowboys.com.au
  2. "NRL 2003 - North Queensland Cowboys - Rugby League Project".

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