The history of the North Queensland Cowboys goes back to 1995 when they were admitted to the Australian Rugby League Premiership.
History Foley Shield Days
In North Queensland fierce rivalry between clubs and towns quickly became a feature of the game. To play for your town, North Queensland, Queensland Country, Queensland and ultimately Australia quickly became the dream of every northern player. In south Queensland the "Bulimba cup" competition between Toowoomba, Brisbane and Ipswich teams was the major competition in Queensland rugby league well into the 1970s. When the opportunity arose, other regions in the state, including North Queensland, relished the chance to prove themselves against one of these sides. The first indication of the strength of North Queensland rugby league came in 1921 when the Townsville representative team, captained by Arch Foley, defeated Bulimba Cup champions Toowoomba. The celebrations after this victory were long and hard.
Such a victory caused the rest of the rugby league world to begin to take notice of North Queensland's rugby league ability. The flagship of North Queensland rugby league quickly became the "A" grade inter town competition, which until 1948 was called the "Carlton Cup". This was revamped and renamed the 'Foley Shield' in 1948, in recognition of Arch Foley's dedication and contribution to the sport. Few northern rugby league identities are remembered as well as Arch Foley. Apart from representing Queensland in 1915 and captaining the Townsville representative sides until the 1920s, he was instrumental, along with Queensland Rugby League Secretary Harry Sunderland, securing a match between North Queensland and the 1928 touring Great Britain team. This was to be the first ever clash between the region and Great Britain, as the previous tour in 1924 only went as far north as Rockhampton. This match, played at the Townsville Sports Reserve, was a huge boost to rugby league in North Queensland. The Foley Shield competition involved two zones - "Northern" - involving Cairns, Babinda, Tully and Eacham - and "Southern" with Mackay, Ayr, and Townsville. In 1949 the "Central" zone was included involving Herbert River, Charters Towers and Home Hill. With the region's prosperity derived predominantly from sugar cane, mining and cattle, rugby league prospered. Most towns had club competitions involving three or more clubs, and gaining selection in a Foley Shield side to represent these towns was a great honour. The Foley Shield final played in Townsville became a highlight of the rugby league calendar, with many southern talent scouts and coaches attending to see the North's players in action. Despite the game's success in North Queensland, it was still generally harder for a North or Central Queensland player to be selected for higher honours simply because of the "out of Sight, out of mind" scenario. This was especially the case prior to the 1950s. Apart from 1915 when seven North Queensland based players (all from Townsville) made the Queensland side, most Queensland sides up until the 1948 involved players from Toowoomba, Brisbane or Ipswich.
Players like Harry "Mucka" Fewin (Australia 1920) and Cec Aynsley (Australia 1924–28), both North Queenslanders, made their Queensland and Australian appearances from Brisbane, while Jim Bennett (Australia 1924) had played in Cairns in 1920, but again wasn't selected for his state or country until he returned to the Bulimba Cup competition. Often the only chance a northern based player had of impressing Queensland or Australian selectors was if he made the Queensland Country side, (featuring Central, and North Queensland plus Wide Bay players) to play a South Queensland team made up of Bulimba Cup players. It was a huge boost when Townsville's Bill Glasheen became the first North Queensland player to be selected for Australia when named in the 1933 Kangaroo touring squad to England. Townsville's "Frosty" Benton became the second Northern based International when selected for the 1948 Kangaroo touring squad.
State League to the formation of a national team By the 1980s the Foley Shield competition was still fiercely contested, however, North Queensland sides were also selected for the Queensland State League competition. North Queensland in 1984 became the first regional side to reach the State League finals, losing to a powerful Wynnum Manly side which included Wally Lewis and three former North Queenslanders who were by now Australian representatives in Gene Miles, Colin Scott (both Townsville) and Greg Dowling (Ingham). One of the 1984 North Queensland players was 17-year-old Dale Shearer from Sarina. During the 1980s and early 1990s, North Queensland teams continued to compete in the State League competition, becoming the first regional side to win in 1991 under Coach Kerry Boustead. North Queensland's captain Laurie Spina was a veteran of eight years of Sydney football before returning home to Ingham.
During 1989 Townsville rugby league administrators successfully hosted a televised National Panasonic Cup match between the Brisbane Broncos and Parramatta, attracting 16,000 spectators to the Townsville Sports reserve. This match was such a resounding success, reflecting the passion North Queenslanders had for rugby league, that journalist Doug Kingston was inspired to write a newspaper column suggesting the time was ripe for a North Queensland side to bid for inclusion in the major Rugby League competition, the NSWRL, just like Brisbane and the Gold Coast had done the year before. Some of the region's former rugby league Internationals had also suggested for some time that the North be recognised nationally in this way.
Wheels were set in motion towards realising this dream, with Executive Chairman of North Queensland Newspapers Ron McLean adding his valued support. After a survey was conducted to gauge public support returned an overwhelming positive response, a major step was taken with the appointment of a promotions manager for the North Queensland bid. Former International Kerry Boustead was appointed to this task in 1990. Having widespread community, business and political support, the initial North Queensland bid committee, chaired by McLean, worked tirelessly to produce a strong case for North Queensland's inclusion. The old Willows Paceway was offered by Queensland Sports Minister Bob Gibbs to the fledgling club, with local developers such as Joe Goicoechea and Laurence Lancini taking on the redevelopment of this site.
This became a major factor in the success of North Queensland's bid and widespread celebrations occurred in November 1992 with the announcement that three new clubs would join Auckland for inclusion into the "Australian Rugby League" competition, the North Queensland Cowboys being one of them. From the outset, newly appointed coach Grant Bell and his team set out to develop a club based on local talent, mixed with some experienced players from the south; a pattern that was so successful decades before in the north. The club included predominantly country bred footballers. Many of the experienced southern players signed were in fact North Queenslanders returning home.
1995, 1996: Origins The Cowboys name and team colours were decided by public competition in 1994. One of the major difficulties that faced the club in their early years was attracting followers from the more established Queensland-based Winfield Cup side, the Brisbane Broncos. This was exacerbated by an initial lack of onfield success and stability. In their first two seasons, the Cowboys had eight different captains.
1997: Super League
After much court action in 1995 and 1996, a ten team Super League competition was held in 1997. The Cowboys competed in this competition, and their squad was bolstered by a number of new signings including Ian Roberts and Steve Walters. However, they were unable to improve on the club's results in previous years, and for the second time in three seasons they were to finish the season in last place.
1998, 1999: National Rugby League
In 1998 the Super League and Australian Rugby League competitions merged to form the National Rugby League (NRL). The Cowboys began their first season in this competition strongly, and after six rounds they were in equal first place. Although they fell away later in the season, they were to record the largest come-back to date in an Australian first grade rugby league match, defeating the Penrith Panthers 36–28 after trailing 26–0 at half-time. 1998 also saw the Cowboys record their largest loss to date, being defeated 62–0 by the North Sydney Bears in the last round of the home and away season.
The Cowboys signed their eleventh captain in 1999, Noel Goldthorpe. Paul Bowman was also to serve in that role during the season. Although their on-field performances were not spectacular, continuing high attendance figures saw aggregate attendances exceed one million spectators. This season the Cowboys also provided their first State of Origin representative when Paul Green was selected as Queensland's halfback for game 2 of the 1999 State of Origin series.
2000–2003: Improved Results
In the years 2000 through to 2002 the Cowboys continued to struggle with off-field dramas and poor on-field performances. After finishing last in 2000 and second last the following year, four losses at the start of the 2002 season saw coach Tim Sheens sacked and replaced by his assistant Murray Hurst. Although they finished in their highest position to date, coach Hurst was also sacked at early in the 2003 season, and replaced by Graham Murray. The Cowboys spent much of the 2003 season in the top eight with much improved performances from a host of players, including local talents Matt Bowen and Josh Hannay. The 2003 season ended with the Cowboys four points adrift of a top eight play-off position.
2004: First time finalists
After the first three rounds of the 2004 season, Cowboy supporters had little reason to smile. A first round loss to Manly at home, followed by two more home losses and a bye until the first away game of the season against Cronulla in round five saw the first win of the season. By round seven, with just one win and five losses, the Cowboys held a disappointing 13th position on the premiership ladder. Then came another away win, this time over Parramatta, which history can record as a turning point in the club's most successful season to date. By the end of the 26 round season, the Cowboys had won 12, drawn one (the first ever draw in the NRL in the age of golden point) and lost 11, but more importantly, they held 7th position and a first ever top eight appearance.
It was a tough road to success in 2004 with injuries again taking key players out of action, including Matt Sing who suffered a broken jaw in the State of Origin series and Glenn Morrison who suffered a broken back mid season. A sure sign of the growing stature of the club was evident when new players were able to step up to the top squad from the Young Guns to cover such injuries. Players like Shane Tronc and Steve Southern were fine examples of first grade debutantes who replaced injured players and went on to play significant roles in the club's success of 2004. The finals series proved to be of immense importance to the Club and the North Queensland community.