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

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

Squad List

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

2006 Gains

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

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

Ladder

Pos Team Pld W D L B PF PA PD Pts
1 Melbourne Storm 2420042605404+201441
2 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 2416082608468+14036
3 Brisbane Broncos (P) 24140102497392+10532
4 Newcastle Knights 24140102608538+7032
5 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 24140102534493+4132
6 St George Illawarra Dragons 24140102519481+3832
7 Canberra Raiders 24130112525573-4830
8 Parramatta Eels 24120122506483+2328
9 North Queensland Cowboys 24110132450463-1326
10 New Zealand Warriors 24120122552463+89242
11 Wests Tigers 24100142490565-7524
12 Penrith Panthers 24100142510587-7724
13 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 2490152515544-2922
14 Sydney Roosters 2480162528650-12220
15 South Sydney Rabbitohs 2430212429772-34310

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

Regular season

Date Round Opponent Venue Score Tries Goals Attendance
12 MarchRound 1 Brisbane BroncosSuncorp Stadium36 – 4Thurston (3), Bowen, Sing, SweeneyThurston (6/7)46,229
18 MarchRound 2 Manly Sea EaglesDairy Farmers Stadium20 – 16Sing (3), FirmanThurston (2/6)23,936
25 MarchRound 3 Melbourne StormDairy Farmers Stadium40 – 8Thurston (2), Bowman, O'Donnell, Sweeney, WilliamsThurston (8/8)21,346
31 MarchRound 4 Parramatta EelsParramatta Stadium26 – 18Sing (2), Faiumu, ScottThurston (5/6)15,131
7 AprilRound 5 Wests TigersDairy Farmers Stadium32 – 12Jensen (2), Cooper, Sing, ThurstonThurston (6/7)20,262
16 AprilRound 6 Newcastle KnightsEnergyAustralia Stadium18 – 16Bowen, Sargent, ThurstonThurston (3/3)26,048
22 AprilRound 7 Cronulla SharksToyota Park22 – 24O'Donnell (2), Jensen, SingThurston (3/4)9,025
29 AprilRound 8 Sydney RoostersDairy Farmers Stadium18 – 22Payne, Sweeney, ThurstonThurston (3/3)21,175
6 MayRound 9 Penrith PanthersDairy Farmers Stadium22 – 6B. Bowen, Payne, Thurston, TroncThurston (3/4)16,808
13 MayRound 10 Melbourne StormOlympic Park6 – 18B. BowenThurston (1/1)10,830
Round 11Bye
27 MayRound 12 Canberra RaidersDairy Farmers Stadium14 – 15Cooper, ThurstonThurston (3/3)16,971
4 JuneRound 13 Wests TigersTelstra Stadium14 – 24Bowman, Cooper, ThurstonThurston (1/3)16,736
10 JuneRound 14 Cronulla SharksDairy Farmers Stadium4 – 26B. BowenHannay (0/1)16,778
18 JuneRound 15 Canterbury BulldogsCarrara Stadium12 – 20B. Bowen, BowmanThurston (2/2)16,231
24 JuneRound 16 St George Illawarra DragonsWIN Stadium14 – 34Hannay, Sing, SweeneyThurston (1/4)13,289
1 JulyRound 17 South Sydney RabbitohsDairy Farmers Stadium16 – 14Payne (2), McConnellMcConnell (1/1), Smith (1/2)17,506
Round 18Bye
15 JulyRound 19 Penrith PanthersCUA Stadium8 – 17SouthernThurston (2/2)8,212
22 JulyRound 20 Brisbane BroncosDairy Farmers Stadium26 – 10Sing (3), Graham, HannayHannay (3/6)24,658
30 JulyRound 21 Sydney RoostersAussie Stadium20 – 40Henry, Graham, SingHannay (2/4)7,617
5 AugustRound 22 Canterbury BulldogsDairy Farmers Stadium14 – 54Graham, Henry, ScottGraham (1/2), Smith (0/1)20,486
12 AugustRound 23 WarriorsMt Smart Stadium0 – 265,425
19 AugustRound 24 Newcastle KnightsDairy Farmers Stadium12 – 19Smith, SweeneyMcConnell (1/1), Sweeney (1/1)17,898
27 AugustRound 25 South Sydney RabbitohsTelstra Stadium34 – 12Smith (2), Bowen, Faiumu, O'Donnell, PayneGraham (5/7)8,914
1 SeptemberRound 26 Parramatta EelsDairy Farmers Stadium22 – 8Bowen (2), Payne, SweeneyHannay (3/4)18,351
Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw   Bye

Statistics

NameAppTGFGPts
Clint Amos6----
Brenton Bowen74--16
Matthew Bowen245--20
Paul Bowman163--12
Ray Cashmere6----
Gavin Cooper183--12
David Faiumu182--8
Brett Firman71--4
Ashley Graham1436-24
Josh Hannay928-24
Mark Henry83--12
Rod Jensen123--12
Jacob Lillyman15----
Brent McConnell312-8
Shane Muspratt2----
Travis Norton20----
Luke O'Donnell164--16
Aaron Payne216--24
Mitchell Sargent201--4
Matthew Scott222--8
Matt Sing2413--52
Justin Smith2231-14
Steve Southern181--4
Daniel Strickland1----
Neil Sweeney1361-26
Robert Tanielu3----
Johnathan Thurston171149-142
Shane Tronc211--4
Carl Webb20----
Ty Williams51--4
Totals79670450

Source:[1]

Representatives

The following players played a representative match in 2006.

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

Honours

League

Club

Feeder Clubs

Queensland Cup

References

19°18′58″S 146°42′43″E

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