# 2001 North Queensland Cowboys season

The 2001 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 7th in the club's history. Coached by Tim Sheens and captained by Paul Bowman, they competed in the NRL's 2001 Telstra Premiership.
Following a mid-season club taker over by News Limited, Sheens resigned as head coach on 25 May and was replaced by his assistant, Murray Hurst.

## Season summary

2001 was another season that started with high hopes but ended in disaster for the club. It got off to an awful start before a ball was even kicked, when club captain Tim Brasher injured his knee in the pre-season, resulting in a complete reconstruction and ruling him out for the year. The club struggled to replace the outgoing Scott Prince in the halves and Brasher at fullback, winning just two games after 11 games to sit in last place on the ladder.
Their Round 6 win over the Wests Tigers was shrouded in controversy when Tigers' winger John Hopoate, in an attempt to unsettle several of his opponents, inserted his finger in three players' anuses, the first occurring during the seventh minute of play. Hopoate was subsequently suspended for 12 games.
Following the Round 11 loss to the Canterbury Bulldogs, Tim Sheens took a period of stress-leave and later resigned from the club on 25 May after News Limited took full control of the club. He was replaced by his assistant, former Tongan national team coach Murray Hurst.
The change did little to alter the fortunes of the side, winning just four of their last 15 games. A win in Round 26 over the Warriors in Auckland spared the side of a second straight wooden spoon, finishing ahead of the Penrith Panthers on points differential.
Despite the issues on and off the field, there were a number of bright spots throughout the season, including the emergence of Matthew Bowen. Bowen, who made his debut in Round 2, would go onto play 270 games, scoring 130 tries, and representing Australia and Queensland during his 13-year career at the club. Another positive was the selection of four players in the victorious Queensland squad for the 2001 State of Origin series, the most for the club at the time. All four players selected (Paul Bowman, John Buttigieg, John Doyle and Nathan Fien) were local products who came through the junior ranks of the club.

### Milestones

* Round 1: Tim Maddison and Lee Oudenryn made their debuts for the club.
* Round 1: Matthew Bowen and Trent Leis made their NRL debuts.
* Round 4: Adam Nable made his debut for the club.
* Round 4: Tarin Bradford and Chris Sheppard made their NRL debuts.
* Round 7: Chris Muckert made his NRL debut.
* Round 10: Micheal Luck made his NRL debut.
* Round 11: Peter Jones became the first player to play 100 games for the club.
* Round 13: John Doyle played his 50th game for the club.
* Round 19: George Gatis made his NRL debut.
* Round 13: Josh Hannay played his 50th game for the club.
* Round 25: Danny Moore made his debut for the club.

## Squad Movement
### 2001 Gains

| Player | Signed From |
| Trent Leis | Redcliffe Dolphins |
| Tim Maddison | Cronulla Sharks |
| Danny Moore | London Broncos |
| Adam Nable | Wests Tigers |
| Lee Oudenryn | Auckland Warriors |
| Scott Whiting | Wests Panthers |

### 2001 Losses

| Player | Signed To |
| Graham Appo | Huddersfield Giants |
| Greg Bourke | Burleigh Bears |
| Scott Donald | Parramatta Eels |
| Noel Goldthorpe | Released |
| Paul Green | Sydney Roosters |
| Chad Halliday | Parramatta Eels |
| Jason Nicol | Salford City Reds |
| Scott Prince | Brisbane Broncos |
| Ben Rauter | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats |

## Ladder

2001 NRL seasonvte :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Parramatta Eels | 26 | 20 | 2 | 4 | 839 | 406 | +433 | 42 |
| 2 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 26 | 17 | 3 | 6 | 617 | 568 | +49 | 37 |
| 3 | Newcastle Knights (P) | 26 | 16 | 1 | 9 | 782 | 639 | +143 | 33 |
| 4 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 26 | 15 | 2 | 9 | 594 | 513 | +81 | 32 |
| 5 | Brisbane Broncos | 26 | 14 | 1 | 11 | 696 | 511 | +185 | 29 |
| 6 | Sydney Roosters | 26 | 13 | 1 | 12 | 647 | 589 | +58 | 27 |
| 7 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 26 | 12 | 2 | 12 | 661 | 573 | +88 | 26 |
| 8 | New Zealand Warriors | 26 | 12 | 2 | 12 | 638 | 629 | +9 | 26 |
| 9 | Melbourne Storm | 26 | 11 | 1 | 14 | 704 | 725 | -21 | 23 |
| 10 | Northern Eagles | 26 | 11 | 1 | 14 | 603 | 750 | -147 | 23 |
| 11 | Canberra Raiders | 26 | 9 | 1 | 16 | 600 | 623 | -23 | 19 |
| 12 | Wests Tigers | 26 | 9 | 1 | 16 | 474 | 746 | -272 | 19 |
| 13 | North Queensland Cowboys | 26 | 6 | 2 | 18 | 514 | 771 | -257 | 14 |
| 14 | Penrith Panthers | 26 | 7 | 0 | 19 | 521 | 847 | -326 | 14 |

## Fixtures
### Regular season

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance |
| 17 February | Round 1 | Brisbane Broncos | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 17 – 18 | Morrison, O'Neill | O'Neill (4/5), Fien (1 FG) | 21,729 |
| 24 February | Round 2 | Melbourne Storm | Colonial Stadium | 32 – 28 | Strickland (2), Buttigieg, Fien, O'Neill, Relf | O'Neill (4/7) | 12,321 |
| 3 March | Round 3 | Sydney Roosters | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 8 – 32 | Buttigieg, Morrison | O'Neill (0/2) | 19,263 |
| 10 March | Round 4 | Penrith Panthers | Cazaly's Stadium | 18 – 32 | Hannay, Morrison, Relf | O'Neill (3/3) | 13,500 |
| 17 March | Round 5 | Cronulla Sharks | Toyota Park | 16 – 24 | Bowman, Morrison, Relf | O'Neill (2/3) | 10,250 |
| 24 March | Round 6 | Wests Tigers | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 24 – 10 | Bowman, Buttigieg, O'Neill, Shipway | O'Neill (4/6) | 12,357 |
| 1 April | Round 7 | St George Illawarra Dragons | WIN Stadium | 12 – 48 | Fien, Warren | O'Neill (2/2) | 9,583 |
| 7 April | Round 8 | Parramatta Eels | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 14 – 14 | Bowman, Buttigieg, Warren | O'Neill (1/4) | 12,949 |
| 15 April | Round 9 | Canberra Raiders | Bruce Stadium | 26 – 34 | Bowen, Doyle, Leis, Morrison, Warren | Leis (3/4), O'Neill (0/1) | 7,191 |
| 22 April | Round 10 | Northern Eagles | Cazaly's Stadium | 22 – 24 | Bowen, Fien, O'Neill | O'Neill (5/5) | 6,113 |
| 28 April | Round 11 | Canterbury Bulldogs | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 14 – 26 | Jellick, Morrison | O'Neill (3/3) | 9,820 |
| 13 May | Round 12 | Newcastle Knights | Marathon Stadium | 34 – 42 | Bowman (2), Jellick, Morrison, Paterson, Warren | Leis (4/4), O'Neill (1/2) | 18,039 |
| 20 May | Round 13 | Warriors | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 35 – 18 | Leis (2), Bowman, Fien, Luck, Morrison | Leis (3/6), O'Neill (2/3), Fien (1 FG) | 10,819 |
| 27 May | Round 14 | Brisbane Broncos | ANZ Stadium | 6 – 50 | Fien | Leis (1/1) | 14,714 |
| 2 June | Round 15 | Melbourne Storm | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 24 – 38 | O'Neill (3), Bowen | Leis (4/5) | 10,987 |
| 16 June | Round 16 | Sydney Roosters | SFS | 24 – 50 | Bowman, Morrison, O'Neill, Shipway, Warren | Leis (1/2), O'Neill (1/3) | 6,432 |
| 23 June | Round 17 | Penrith Panthers | Penrith Stadium | 26 – 20 | Doyle, Hannay, Luck, O'Neill | O'Neill (5/5) | 7,326 |
| 7 July | Round 18 | Cronulla Sharks | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 6 – 36 | Maddison | O'Neill (1/1) | 13,494 |
| 14 July | Round 19 | Wests Tigers | Leichhardt Oval | 18 – 20 | Jellick, Leis, Morrison, O'Neill | O'Neill (1/4) | 4,724 |
| 21 July | Round 20 | St George Illawarra Dragons | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 34 – 10 | Bowman, Hannay, Jellick, Jones, Leis, Morrison | Leis (5/7) | 14,293 |
| 29 July | Round 21 | Parramatta Eels | Parramatta Stadium | 0 – 62 | | | 13,192 |
| 4 August | Round 22 | Canberra Raiders | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 10 – 29 | Bowman, Jones | O'Neill (1/2) | 11,261 |
| 12 August | Round 23 | Northern Eagles | Brookvale Oval | 24 – 24 | Bowman (2), Bowen, Jellick, Morrison | O'Neill (2/5), Bowen (0/1) | 8,009 |
| 18 August | Round 24 | Canterbury Bulldogs | Sydney Showground | 22 – 30 | Bowen, Bowman, Jones | O'Neill (4/5), Bowen (1/1) | 6,715 |
| 25 August | Round 25 | Newcastle Knights | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 18 – 34 | Morrison, O'Neill, Relf | O'Neill (3/3) | 14,147 |
| 2 September | Round 26 | Warriors | Ericsson Stadium | 30 – 18 | Gatis (2), Bowen, Relf | O'Neill (7/8) | 24,568 |
| Legend: Win Loss Draw Bye ||||||||

## Statistics

| Name | App | T | G | FG | Pts |
| Geoff Bell | 10 | - | - | - | - |
| Matthew Bowen | 15 | 6 | 1 | - | 26 |
| Paul Bowman | 25 | 12 | - | - | 48 |
| Tarin Bradford | 2 | - | - | - | - |
| John Buttigieg | 15 | 4 | - | - | 16 |
| Adam Connelly | 7 | - | - | - | - |
| Paul Dezolt | 5 | - | - | - | - |
| John Doyle | 11 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Nathan Fien | 26 | 5 | - | 2 | 22 |
| George Gatis | 8 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Josh Hannay | 12 | 3 | - | - | 12 |
| Brett Hetherington | 7 | - | - | - | - |
| Brian Jellick | 17 | 5 | - | - | 20 |
| Peter Jones | 24 | 3 | - | - | 12 |
| Naipolioni Kuricibi | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Trent Leis | 17 | 5 | 21 | - | 62 |
| Micheal Luck | 16 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Tim Maddison | 19 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Bruce Mamando | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| John Manning | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Jamie McDonald | 13 | - | - | - | - |
| Leigh McWilliams | 3 | - | - | - | - |
| Danny Moore | 2 | - | - | - | - |
| Glenn Morrison | 23 | 13 | - | - | 52 |
| Chris Muckert | 10 | - | - | - | - |
| Shane Muspratt | 12 | - | - | - | - |
| Adam Nable | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Julian O'Neill | 23 | 11 | 56 | - | 156 |
| Lee Oudenryn | 3 | - | - | - | - |
| Nick Paterson | 12 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Paul Pensini | 2 | - | - | - | - |
| Robert Relf | 21 | 5 | - | - | 20 |
| Chris Sheppard | 17 | - | - | - | - |
| Mark Shipway | 17 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Damien Smith | 3 | - | - | - | - |
| Daniel Strickland | 17 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Shaun Valentine | 7 | - | - | - | - |
| Kyle Warren | 17 | 5 | - | - | 20 |
| Totals | | 89 | 78 | 2 | 514 |
Source:

## Representatives

The following players played a representative match in 2001.
| | City vs Country | State of Origin 1 | State of Origin 2 | State of Origin 3 |
| Paul Bowman | - | Queensland | Queensland | Queensland |
| John Buttigieg | - | Queensland | - | Queensland |
| John Doyle | - | Queensland | - | Queensland |
| Nathan Fien | - | - | Queensland | - |
| Glenn Morrison | Country | - | - | - |

## Honours
### Club

* Player of the Year: Glenn Morrison
* Players' Player: Glenn Morrison
* Club Person of the Year: Peter Jones

## Feeder Clubs
### NSWRL First Division

* North Queensland Cowboys - 4th, lost semi final