The 2012 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 18th in the club's history. The team is based in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. Coached by Neil Henry and co-captained by Johnathan Thurston and Matthew Scott, they competed in the National Rugby League's 2012 Telstra Premiership. They finished the regular season in 5th place and were knocked out in the second week of the finals by the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, for the second year in a row.
Season summary The Cowboys were aiming to build on its 7th-place finish in 2011, after a near-wooden spoon 2010 season only prevented by the Melbourne Storm salary cap breach, with a strong 2012 season.
The season did not start well, with the Cowboys producing one of their worst performances in almost ten years as they lost 18–0 to the Gold Coast Titans at home, with a completion rate of only 35%, the worst on record.Titans punish sloppy Cowboys - ABC Grandstand Sport (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)Woeful Cowboys thrashed by Titans | NRL, Rugby League, NRL Scores, NRL Ladder | Fox SportsCowboys on lowest rung after horror handling performance against Titans | The Courier-Mail In Round 2, the Cowboys defeated the Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium, with Matthew Bowen scoring the match-winning try on his 30th birthday.
Despite the opening loss, the Cowboys went on to produce a consistent, never once dropping out of the top eight from Round 3 onwards. They records big victories over the Parramatta Eels in Round 3 (42–6), the Sydney Roosters in Round 7 (50–12), the St George Illawarra Dragons in Round 9 (30–6), the Canberra Raiders in Round 16 (40–18) and the Warriors in Round 23 (52–12). They ended the regular season on four game winning streak, finishing in 5th place, their highest finish since 2007.
In Week 1 of the finals, the Cowboys defeated the Brisbane Broncos 33–16, with Michael Morgan scoring a hat-trick, the first halfback to do so in a finals game. It was their third win over Brisbane in 2012. A week later they were eliminated by Manly in controversial circumstances.
Club legend Aaron Payne announced his retirement at the end of the 2012 season, he became a life member at the club after playing his 200th game for the Cowboys. Earlier in the season, Matthew Bowen became the first player to play 250 NRL games for North Queensland.
Milestones Round 1: Kane Linnett and Robert Lui made their debuts for the club. Round 1: Mosese Pangai made his NRL debut. Round 6: Aaron Payne played his 200th game for the club. Round 6: Johnathan Thurston played his 150th game for the club. Round 6: Johnathan Thurston scored his 1000th point for the club. Round 8: Gavin Cooper played his 50th game for the club. Round 17: Anthony Mitchell made his debut for the club. Round 21: Dallas Johnson played his 200th NRL game. Round 25: Blake Leary made his NRL debut. Finals Week 1: Matthew Bowen played his 250th for the club, the first player to do so. Finals Week 2: Dallas Johnson played his 50th game for the club.
Squad List
Squad Movement
2012 Gains Player Signed from Until end of Luke Harlen Northern Pride Kane Linnett Sydney Roosters Robert Lui Wests Tigers Anthony Mitchell Sydney Roosters (mid-season)
2012 Losses Player Signed To Until end of Isaak Ah Mau Redcliffe Dolphins Leeson Ah Mau St George Illawarra Dragons Clint Amos Retired Michael Bani Canberra Raiders Jack Cooper Cairns District Rugby League Shannon Gallant Berkeley Eagles Dylan Smith Mackay Cutters Willie Tonga Parramatta Eels Will Tupou Western Force
Ladder
Fixtures
Pre-season Date Round Opponent Venue Score Tries Goals Attendance4 FebruaryTrial 1 Brisbane BroncosDolphin Oval22 – 28 Bolton, Segeyaro, Thompson, Ulugia Foster (2/2), Faifai Loa (1/2) 4,50011 FebruaryTrial 2 St George Illawarra DragonsNIB Stadium18 – 12 Cooper, Graham, Linnett, Winterstein Graham (1) 8,58818 FebruaryTrial 3 Gold Coast TitansVirgin Australia Stadium28 – 36 Faifai Loa (2), Pangai (2), Thurston Thurston (3/4), Cooper (1/1) - Legend:
Regular season
Date Round Opponent Venue Score Tries Goals Attendance3 MarchRound 1 Gold Coast TitansDairy Farmers Stadium0 – 18 - - 16,3119 MarchRound 2 Brisbane BroncosSuncorp Stadium26 – 28 Bowen (2), Johnson, Segeyaro, Tate Thurston (4/5) 43,17117 MarchRound 3 Parramatta EelsDairy Farmers Stadium42 – 6 Graham (3), Bowen, Cooper, Linnett, Scott, Taumalolo Thurston (5/8) 8,23924 MarchRound 4 Cronulla SharksDairy Farmers Stadium14 – 20 Bowen, Cooper, Graham Thurston (1/4) 11,3642 AprilRound 5 Canberra RaidersCanberra Stadium22 – 6 Graham (2), Tate, Thompson Thurston (3/4) 12,1358 AprilRound 6 Melbourne StormDairy Farmers Stadium18 – 42 Bowen, Cooper, Tamou Thurston (3/3) 20,20614 AprilRound 7 Sydney RoostersTIO Stadium50 – 12 Bowen (2), Taumalolo (2), Winterstein (2), Faifai Loa, Graham, Thompson Thurston (6/8), Bowen (1/1) 10,00828 AprilRound 8 South Sydney RabbitohsANZ Stadium16 – 20 Graham (2), Segeyaro Thurston (2/3) 12,2134 MayRound 9 St George Illawarra DragonsDairy Farmers Stadium30 – 6 Bowen, Linnett, T Sims, Tate, Thompson Thurston (3/6), Bowen (2/2) 15,00612 MayRound 10 Newcastle KnightsHunter Stadium32 – 12 Graham (2), Cooper, Morgan, Thompson Thurston (6/6) 18,19119 MayRound 11 Penrith PanthersDairy Farmers Stadium30 – 28 Bowen, Cooper, Ashley Graham, A Sims, Winterstein Bowen (5/7) 11,64827 MayRound 12 Wests TigersCampbelltown Stadium18 – 26 Ashley Graham, Glenn Hall, Winterstein Thurston (3/3) 13,0591 JuneRound 13 Gold Coast TitansSkilled Park12 – 28 Paterson, Taumalolo Thurston (2/2) 12,092Round 14Bye15 JuneRound 15 Brisbane BroncosDairy Farmers Stadium12 – 0 Cooper, Linnett Thurston (2/2) 20,36723 JuneRound 16 Canberra RaidersDairy Farmers Stadium40 – 18 Hall (2), Bolton, Graham, Linnett, Thompson, Winterstein Thurston (5/6), Bowen (1/1) 14,3441 JulyRound 17 WarriorsMt Smart Stadium18 – 35 Cooper, Graham, Linnett Bowen (3/3) 15,374Round 18Bye14 JulyRound 19 Melbourne StormAAMI Park20 – 16 Linnett (2), Tate Thurston (4/4) 10,68823 JulyRound 20 Wests TigersDairy Farmers Stadium29 – 16 Cooper, Faifai Loa, Hall, Mitchell, Tate Thurston (4/5), Bowen (1 FG) 12,35728 JulyRound 21 Canterbury BulldogsANZ Stadium18 – 32 Linnett, Thurston, Winterstein Thurston (3/3) 18,6524 AugustRound 22 Manly Sea EaglesDairy Farmers Stadium6 – 8 Linnett Thurston (1/1) 14,40111 AugustRound 23 WarriorsDairy Farmers Stadium52 – 12 Graham (3), Bowen, Cooper, Linnett, Payne, Tate, Winterstein Thurston (8/9) 13,61620 AugustRound 24 St George Illawarra DragonsWIN Stadium32 – 22 Linnett (2), Bowen, Graham, Thurston Thurston (6/6) 9,24525 AugustRound 25 Newcastle KnightsDairy Farmers Stadium22 – 14 Bowen, Tate, Thurston Thurston (5/5) 15,1192 SeptemberRound 26 Cronulla SharksToyota Stadium36 – 22 Graham (2), Cooper, Segeyaro, Tate, Taumalolo Thurston (6/7) 16,829 Legend:
Finals
Date Round Opponent Venue Score Tries Goals Attendance8 SeptemberQualifying Final Brisbane BroncosDairy Farmers Stadium33 – 16 Morgan (3), Bowen, Tate Thurston (6/7), Bowen (1 FG) 21,30714 SeptemberSemi Final Manly Sea EaglesAllianz Stadium22 – 12 Tamou, Winterstein Thurston (2/2) 16,678 Legend:
Statistics NameAppTGFGPts141--42613122782610--4062--82421--84234--16261--41----2412--481----81--4134--161----31--4251--410----181--4143--12251--471--4242--8239--36175--20185--2015----24390-192268--32 Totals 109 102 2 642 Source:
Representatives The following players have played a representative match in 2012
All Stars match City vs Country ANZAC Test State of Origin 1 State of Origin 2 State of Origin 3 Matthew Bowen Cory Paterson Aaron Payne Matthew Scott Tariq Sims James Tamou Brent Tate Johnathan Thurston
Honours
League Dally M Five-Eighth of the Year: Johnathan Thurston RLIF Five-Eighth of the Year: Johnathan Thurston NRL Top Tryscorer: Ashley Graham NYC Team of the Year: Chris Grevsmuhl
Club Paul Bowman Medal: Johnathan Thurston Player's Player: James Tamou Club Person of the Year: Johnathan Thurston Rookie of the Year: Jason Taumalolo Most Improved: Kane Linnett NYC Player of the Year: Zac Santo
Feeder Clubs
National Youth Competition North Queensland Cowboys - 13th, missed finals
Queensland Cup Mackay Cutters - 8th, missed finals Northern Pride - 7th, missed finals
References