The 2014 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 20th in the club's history. The team is based in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. Coached by Paul Green and co-captained by Johnathan Thurston and Matthew Scott, they competed in the NRL's 2014 Telstra Premiership.

Season summary On February 16, the Cowboys won the first trophy in their club's history when they won the inaugural NRL Auckland Nines tournament held at Eden Park in Auckland defeating the Brisbane Broncos, 16-7, in the final. They won the trophy and a prize money cheque of $370,000. Winger Kyle Feldt was awarded the Breakout Player of the Tournament award, while Gavin Cooper, Kane Linnett, James Tamou and Antonio Winterstein were named in the Team of the Tournament. The Cowboys finished the NRL season in 5th place, defeating the Brisbane Broncos in the first week of the finals. They were eliminated a week later by the Sydney Roosters.

Milestones Round 1: Paul Green recorded his first win as an NRL coach. Round 1: Kane Linnett played his 50th game for the club. Round 5: Matthew Wright made his debut for the club. Round 6: Brent Tate scored the club's 2000th NRL try. Round 7: Curtis Rona made his NRL debut. Round 7: Curtis Rona scored his first NRL try. Round 9: Cameron King made his debut for the club. Round 10: Johnathan Thurston played his 200th game for the club. Round 11: Ashton Sims captained the club for the first time. Round 12: John Asiata made his NRL debut. Round 17: Tautau Moga made his debut for the club. Round 17: Sam Hoare made his NRL debut. Round 17: Zac Santo made his NRL debut. Round 17: Ben Spina made his NRL debut. Round 17: Laurie and Ben Spina became the first father-son duo to play for the Cowboys. Round 17: Jason Taumalolo played his 50th game for the club. Round 17: Antonio Winterstein scored his 50th career try. Round 21: Gavin Cooper played his 100th game for the club. Round 22: Michael Morgan played his 50th game for the club. Round 22: The Cowboys recorded their biggest ever win (def. Wests Tigers 64-6). Round 22: The Cowboys recorded their highest ever score (64 points). Round 26: Johnathan Thurston became the NRL's top point scorer for the 2014 season with 208 points. Finals Week 2: Johnathan Thurston scored the most points in a season by a Cowboys' player with 234 points.

Squad List

Squad Movement

2014 Gains Player Signed from Until end of NotesJohn Asiata Sydney RoostersLachlan Coote Penrith PanthersCameron King St George Illawarra DragonsTautau Moga Sydney Roosters (mid-season)Hezron Murgha Northern PrideBen Spina Northern Pride (mid-season) Matthew Wright Cronulla Sharks

2014 Losses Player Signed To Until end of Notes Matt Bowen Wigan WarriorsKalifa Faifai Loa Gold Coast TitansAshley GrahamRetirement Clint GreenshieldsRetirement Chris Grevsmuhl South Sydney Rabbitohs Jayden Hodges Manly Sea Eagles Dallas JohnsonRetirement Felise Kaufusi Melbourne Storm Blake Leary Northern Pride Tyson Martin Mackay Cutters Scott Moore London Broncos Wayne Ulugia Hull Kingston Rovers

Re-signings Player Club Until end of Notes Gavin Cooper North Queensland Cowboys Kyle Feldt North Queensland Cowboys Glenn Hall North Queensland Cowboys Sam Hoare North Queensland Cowboys Rory Kostjasyn North Queensland Cowboys Robert Lui North Queensland Cowboys Brent Tate North Queensland CowboysMatthew Wright North Queensland Cowboys

Ladder

Fixtures

Pre-season Date Round Opponent Venue Score Tries Goals AttendanceSaturday, 8 FebruaryTrial 1 Brisbane BroncosDolphin Oval32 – 8Sims (2), Kaufusi, King, Santo, TaumaloloFeldt (3), Coote (1)12,000Saturday, 22 FebruaryTrial 2 Gold Coast TitansClive Berghofer Stadium28 – 12Hall, Morgan, Sims, Taumalolo, WintersteinThurston (4)8,532 Legend:

NRL Auckland Nines

The NRL Auckland Nines is a pre-season rugby league nines competition featuring all 16 NRL clubs. The 2014 competition was played over two days on February 15 and 16 at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand. The Cowbous featured in Pool navy and played Canberra, Manly and the Warriors. The top two teams of each pool qualified for the quarter-finals.

Pool Play Pool navyTeam New Zealand Warriors33008041+396 North Qld Cowboys31025545+102 Canberra Raiders31023253-212 Manly Sea Eagles31022553-282

Date Time (Local) Round Opponent Venue Score Tries Goals Saturday, 15 February2:50pmRound 1 Manly Sea EaglesEden Park8 – 17Feldt, RonaSaturday, 15 Saturday 6:35pmRound 2 Canberra RaidersEden Park24 – 4Bowen (bonus try), Cooper (bonus try), Linnett, ThompsonFeldt (3)Sunday, 16 February1:45pmRound 3 New Zealand WarriorsEden Park23 – 28Winterstein (2), Santo (bonus try), Feldt, LinnettFeldt (1) Legend:

Finals

Date Time (Local) Round Opponent Venue Score Tries Goals Sunday, 16 February4:45pmQuarter Penrith PanthersEden Park22 – 12Feldt (2), Morgan, Rona, SimsFeldt (1)Sunday, 16 February6:10pmSemi New Zealand WarriorsEden Park8 – 0Bowen, FeldtSunday, 16 February7:30pmFinal Brisbane BroncosEden Park16 – 7Rona (2), WintersteinLui (1), Morgan (1) Legend:

Regular season

Date Round Opponent Venue Score Tries Goals AttendanceSaturday, 8 MarchRound 1 Canberra Raiders1300SMILES Stadium28 – 22Cooper, Feldt, Kostjasyn, Thurston, WintersteinThurston (4/5)12,121Friday, 14 MarchRound 2 Brisbane BroncosSuncorp Stadium12 – 16Cooper, ThurstonThurston (2/3) 42,303Sunday, 22 MarchRound 3 New Zealand Warriors1300SMILES Stadium16 – 20Feldt, Morgan, WintersteinThurston (2/3)12,738Monday, 31 MarchRound 4 Gold Coast TitansCbus Super Stadium12 – 13Scott, ThurstonThurston (2/2)9,482Monday, 7 AprilRound 5 Newcastle Knights1300SMILES Stadium28 – 2Morgan (2), Tate, Thompson, WrightThurston (4/5)11,189Saturday, 12 AprilRound 6 Wests TigersCampbelltown Stadium4 – 16 TateThurston (0/1) 6,456Friday, 18 AprilRound 7 Manly Sea EaglesCentral Coast Stadium21 – 26 Tate (2), Feldt, RonaThurston (2/3, FG), Feldt (0/2)10,013Saturday, 26 AprilRound 8 Parramatta Eels1300SMILES Stadium42 – 14 Linnett (2), Rona (2), Morgan, Scott, Thurston Thurston (7/7) 13,285Friday, 9 MayRound 9 Brisbane Broncos1300SMILES Stadium27 – 14 Kostjasyn, Linnett, Lowe, Scott Thurston (5/6, FG) 21,340Saturday, 17 MayRound 10 Sydney Roosters1300SMILES Stadium42 – 10 Linnett (3), T. Sims, Tate, Thurston, Wright Thurston (7/9) 15,361Sunday, 25 MayRound 11 Canberra RaidersGIO Stadium42 – 12 Lowe, Rona Lowe (2/2) 8,412Saturday, 31 MayRound 12 Melbourne Storm1300SMILES Stadium22 – 0 Linnett, Morgan, Thurston, Winterstein Thurston (3/4) 12,392Friday, 6 JuneRound 13 Parramatta EelsPirtek Stadium16 – 18 Morgan, Tamou, Winterstein Thurston (2/3) 10,142Round 14ByeMonday, 23 JuneRound 15 Newcastle KnightsHunter Stadium28 – 36 Lui (2), Rona, T. Sims, Winterstein Thurston (4/5) 11,925Saturday, 28 JuneRound 16 South Sydney Rabbitohs1300SMILES Stadium20 – 18 Wright (2), T. Sims, Winterstein Thurston (2/5) 15,897Saturday, 5 JulyRound 17 St George Illawarra DragonsKogarah Oval24 – 27 Winterstein (2), Rona, T. Sims, Taumalolo Lowe (2/4), Wright (0/1) 12,082Round 18ByeFriday, 18 JulyRound 19 Cronulla SharksRemondis Stadium36 – 18 Thurston (2), Hall, Morgan, T. Sims, Winterstein Thurston (6/7) 9,366Saturday, 26 JulyRound 20 Canterbury BulldogsANZ Stadium20 – 12 Wright (2), Winterstein Thurston (4/5) 9,873Saturday, 2 AugustRound 21 Gold Coast Titans1300SMILES Stadium28 – 8Cooper, Linnett, Moga, Morgan, Thurston Thurston (4/6) 14,487Saturday, 9 AugustRound 22 Wests Tigers1300SMILES Stadium64 – 6 Wright (3), Moga (2), Taumalolo (2), Winterstein (2), Linnett, Morgan, T. Sims Thurston (8/12) 12,317Monday, 18 AugustRound 23 Penrith PanthersSportingbet Stadium23 – 22 Hall, Linnett, Lui, Winterstein Thurston (3/4) 7,276Saturday, 23 AugustRound 24 South Sydney RabbitohsANZ Stadium22 –10Feldt (2), Taumalolo, Winterstein Thurston (3/5) 17,171Monday, 1 SeptemberRound 25 Cronulla Sharks1300SMILES Stadium20 – 19Taumalolo (2), Thurston Thurston (3/3, 2 FG)11,712Saturday, 6 SeptemberRound 26 Manly Sea Eagles1300SMILES Stadium30 – 16 Feldt (2), Linnett, Lui, Winterstein Thurston (5/6) 22,521 Legend:

Finals

Date Round Opponent Venue Score Tries Goals AttendanceSaturday, 13 SeptemberQual. Final Brisbane Broncos1300SMILES Stadium 32 – 20 Cooper (2), Linnett, Lui, Morgan Thurston (6/6) 25,120Saturday, 13 SeptemberSemi-final Sydney RoostersAllianz Stadium 30 – 31 Cooper, Lowe, Lui, Scott, Thurston Thurston (5/5) 18,355 Legend:

Statistics NameAppTGFGPts6----26----176--24107--28242--86----2----252--82512--481034-20256--244----113--122610--406----76--241----204--1625----216--241----211--4125--20256--24221--424119342342315--60179--32 Totals 115 97 4 658 Source:

Representatives The following players have played a representative match in 2014

City vs Country ANZAC Test Four Nations Qualifier State of Origin 1 State of Origin 2 State of Origin 3 Prime Minister's XIII Four NationsMichael Morgan Tautau Moga Matthew Scott Ashton Sims Tariq Sims James Tamou Brent Tate Jason Taumalolo Johnathan Thurston Antonio Winterstein

Honours

League Dally M Medal: Johnathan Thurston Dally M Five-Eighth of the Year: Johnathan Thurston

Club Paul Bowman Medal: Johnathan Thurston Player's Player: Johnathan Thurston Club Person of the Year: Ashton Sims Rookie of the Year: John Asiata Most Improved: Michael Morgan Member's Player of the Year: Michael Morgan NYC Player of the Year: Josh Chudleigh

Feeder Clubs

National Youth Competition North Queensland Cowboys - 12th, missed finals

Queensland Cup Mackay Cutters - 9th, missed finals Northern Pride - 1st, won Grand Final

References