# 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.

## 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

* Round 2: Clint Amos and Gavin Cooper made their NRL debuts.
* Round 4: Mitchell Sargent played his 50th game for the club.
* Round 5: Shane Tronc played his 50th game for the club.
* Round 5: Gavin Cooper scored his first NRL try.
* Round 7: Steve Southern played his 50th game for the club.
* Round 7: Ashley Graham made his debut for the club.
* Round 10: Robert Tanielu made his debut for the club.
* Round 14: Travis Norton played his 50th game for the club.
* Round 16: Rod Jensen played his 50th game for the club.
* Round 16: Ray Cashmere made his debut for the club.
* Round 17: Mark Henry and Brent McConnell made their NRL debuts.
* Round 17: Brent McConnell scored his first NRL try.
* Round 21: Mark Henry scored his first NRL try.
* Round 22: David Faiumu played his 50th game for the club.
* Round 22: Matt Sing played his 100th game for the club.
* Round 26: Josh Hannay played his 150th game for the club.

## 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 McWilliams | Retired |
| David Myles | Toulouse Olympique |
| Paul Rauhihi | Warrington Wolves |

## Ladder

2006 NRL seasonvte :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Melbourne Storm | 24 | 20 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 605 | 404 | +201 | 44$^1$ |
| 2 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 608 | 468 | +140 | 36 |
| 3 | Brisbane Broncos (P) | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 497 | 392 | +105 | 32 |
| 4 | Newcastle Knights | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 608 | 538 | +70 | 32 |
| 5 | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 534 | 493 | +41 | 32 |
| 6 | St George Illawarra Dragons | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 519 | 481 | +38 | 32 |
| 7 | Canberra Raiders | 24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 525 | 573 | -48 | 30 |
| 8 | Parramatta Eels | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 506 | 483 | +23 | 28 |
| 9 | North Queensland Cowboys | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 450 | 463 | -13 | 26 |
| 10 | New Zealand Warriors | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 552 | 463 | +89 | 24$^2$ |
| 11 | Wests Tigers | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 490 | 565 | -75 | 24 |
| 12 | Penrith Panthers | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 510 | 587 | -77 | 24 |
| 13 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 515 | 544 | -29 | 22 |
| 14 | Sydney Roosters | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 528 | 650 | -122 | 20 |
| 15 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 24 | 3 | 0 | 21 | 2 | 429 | 772 | -343 | 10 |
$^1$ 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 March | Round 1 | Brisbane Broncos | Suncorp Stadium | 36 – 4 | Thurston (3), Bowen, Sing, Sweeney | Thurston (6/7) | 46,229 |
| 18 March | Round 2 | Manly Sea Eagles | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 20 – 16 | Sing (3), Firman | Thurston (2/6) | 23,936 |
| 25 March | Round 3 | Melbourne Storm | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 40 – 8 | Thurston (2), Bowman, O'Donnell, Sweeney, Williams | Thurston (8/8) | 21,346 |
| 31 March | Round 4 | Parramatta Eels | Parramatta Stadium | 26 – 18 | Sing (2), Faiumu, Scott | Thurston (5/6) | 15,131 |
| 7 April | Round 5 | Wests Tigers | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 32 – 12 | Jensen (2), Cooper, Sing, Thurston | Thurston (6/7) | 20,262 |
| 16 April | Round 6 | Newcastle Knights | EnergyAustralia Stadium | 18 – 16 | Bowen, Sargent, Thurston | Thurston (3/3) | 26,048 |
| 22 April | Round 7 | Cronulla Sharks | Toyota Park | 22 – 24 | O'Donnell (2), Jensen, Sing | Thurston (3/4) | 9,025 |
| 29 April | Round 8 | Sydney Roosters | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 18 – 22 | Payne, Sweeney, Thurston | Thurston (3/3) | 21,175 |
| 6 May | Round 9 | Penrith Panthers | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 22 – 6 | B. Bowen, Payne, Thurston, Tronc | Thurston (3/4) | 16,808 |
| 13 May | Round 10 | Melbourne Storm | Olympic Park | 6 – 18 | B. Bowen | Thurston (1/1) | 10,830 |
| | Round 11 | Bye | | | | | |
| 27 May | Round 12 | Canberra Raiders | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 14 – 15 | Cooper, Thurston | Thurston (3/3) | 16,971 |
| 4 June | Round 13 | Wests Tigers | Telstra Stadium | 14 – 24 | Bowman, Cooper, Thurston | Thurston (1/3) | 16,736 |
| 10 June | Round 14 | Cronulla Sharks | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 4 – 26 | B. Bowen | Hannay (0/1) | 16,778 |
| 18 June | Round 15 | Canterbury Bulldogs | Carrara Stadium | 12 – 20 | B. Bowen, Bowman | Thurston (2/2) | 16,231 |
| 24 June | Round 16 | St George Illawarra Dragons | WIN Stadium | 14 – 34 | Hannay, Sing, Sweeney | Thurston (1/4) | 13,289 |
| 1 July | Round 17 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 16 – 14 | Payne (2), McConnell | McConnell (1/1), Smith (1/2) | 17,506 |
| | Round 18 | Bye | | | | | |
| 15 July | Round 19 | Penrith Panthers | CUA Stadium | 8 – 17 | Southern | Thurston (2/2) | 8,212 |
| 22 July | Round 20 | Brisbane Broncos | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 26 – 10 | Sing (3), Graham, Hannay | Hannay (3/6) | 24,658 |
| 30 July | Round 21 | Sydney Roosters | Sydney Football Stadium | 20 – 40 | Henry, Graham, Sing | Hannay (2/4) | 7,617 |
| 5 August | Round 22 | Canterbury Bulldogs | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 14 – 54 | Graham, Henry, Scott | Graham (1/2), Smith (0/1) | 20,486 |
| 12 August | Round 23 | Warriors | Mt Smart Stadium | 0 – 26 | | | 5,425 |
| 19 August | Round 24 | Newcastle Knights | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 12 – 19 | Smith, Sweeney | McConnell (1/1), Sweeney (1/1) | 17,898 |
| 27 August | Round 25 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Telstra Stadium | 34 – 12 | Smith (2), Bowen, Faiumu, O'Donnell, Payne | Graham (5/7) | 8,914 |
| 1 September | Round 26 | Parramatta Eels | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 22 – 8 | Bowen (2), Payne, Sweeney | Hannay (3/4) | 18,351 |
| Legend: Win Loss Draw Bye ||||||||

## Statistics

| Name | App | T | G | FG | Pts |
| Clint Amos | 6 | - | - | - | - |
| Brenton Bowen | 7 | 4 | - | - | 16 |
| Matthew Bowen | 24 | 5 | - | - | 20 |
| Paul Bowman | 16 | 3 | - | - | 12 |
| Ray Cashmere | 6 | - | - | - | - |
| Gavin Cooper | 18 | 3 | - | - | 12 |
| David Faiumu | 18 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Brett Firman | 7 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Ashley Graham | 14 | 3 | 6 | - | 24 |
| Josh Hannay | 9 | 2 | 8 | - | 24 |
| Mark Henry | 8 | 3 | - | - | 12 |
| Rod Jensen | 12 | 3 | - | - | 12 |
| Jacob Lillyman | 15 | - | - | - | - |
| Brent McConnell | 3 | 1 | 2 | - | 8 |
| Shane Muspratt | 2 | - | - | - | - |
| Travis Norton | 20 | - | - | - | - |
| Luke O'Donnell | 16 | 4 | - | - | 16 |
| Aaron Payne | 21 | 6 | - | - | 24 |
| Mitchell Sargent | 20 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Matthew Scott | 22 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Matt Sing | 24 | 13 | - | - | 52 |
| Justin Smith | 22 | 3 | 1 | - | 14 |
| Steve Southern | 18 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Daniel Strickland | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Neil Sweeney | 13 | 6 | 1 | - | 26 |
| Robert Tanielu | 3 | - | - | - | - |
| Johnathan Thurston | 17 | 11 | 49 | - | 142 |
| Shane Tronc | 21 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Carl Webb | 20 | - | - | - | - |
| Ty Williams | 5 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Totals | | 79 | 67 | 0 | 450 |
Source:

## Representatives

The following players played a representative match in 2006.
| | ANZAC Test | City vs Country | State of Origin 1 | State of Origin 2 | State of Origin 3 | Tri-Nations | World 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

* Wally Lewis Medal: Johnathan Thurston

### Club

* Player of the Year: Aaron Payne
* Player's Player: Luke O'Donnell
* Club Person of the Year: Glen Murphy

## Feeder Clubs
### Queensland Cup

* North Queensland Young Guns - 2nd, lost semi final