# 1996 North Queensland Cowboys season

The 1996 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 2nd in the club's history. Coached by Graham Lowe and captained by Adrian Vowles, they competed in the Optus Cup.

## Season summary

After finishing their debut season in last place, there was nowhere to go but up for the Cowboys in 1996. Under new head coach, former New Zealand, Queensland, Manly and Wigan boss Graham Lowe, the club recruited fairly strongly bringing in first grade regulars Jason Death (from Canberra) and Andrew Dunemann (from Gold Coast), former All Black Shane Howarth and New Zealand representatives Se'e Solomona and Whetu Taewa. Dunemann's signing would see him reunite with his brother Ian, the pair becoming the first siblings to play for the club.
Due to the ongoing Super League war, the clubs affiliated with the breakaway competition refused to participate in their Round 1 games, with the Cowboys' opening fixture, against fellow Super League-aligned club the Canterbury Bulldogs, cancelled. After losing their first game of the year against the Sydney City Roosters, the Cowboys picked up their first win of the season a week later against the Sydney Tigers. Seven straight losses followed until a Round 11 victory over the Newcastle Knights was followed by a win over the Cronulla Sharks, the club's first ever back-to-back wins. After four straight losses, the Cowboys ended the season in their strongest form to date, with three wins from their final six games. That included a win over the St George Dragons at Kogarah Oval in Round 21, the club's first win in Sydney. The club would end their second season in 17th place, with six wins from 21 games, tripling their win total from the year before. Steve Edmed, a long time Balmain Tiger who joined the Cowboys for the 1996 season, was named Player of the Year after playing in all 21 games in his lone season with the club.
The club made headlines during the season when Moranbah junior Josh Hannay was named to make his first grade debut at just 16-years old. The selection was later vetoed by the Australian Rugby League as Hannay was not 16 when the year began. Had he played, he would have been the second youngest player to make his senior debut in Australian rugby league history. Hannay would make his debut two years later and go onto play 150 games for the club over nine seasons.

### Milestones

* Round 2: Jason Death, Steve Edmed, Martin Locke, Whetu Taewa and Kris Tassell made their debuts for the club.
* Round 2: Shane Howarth made his first grade debut.
* Round 3: Willie Poching made his debut for the club.
* Round 3: Scott Brown made his debut for the club.
* Round 6: Se'e Solomona made his debut for the club.
* Round 7: Andrew Dunemann made his debut for the club.
* Round 9: Andrew Bulmer made his first grade debut.
* Round 11: Michael Coorey made his first grade debut.
* Round 12: The club won back-to-back games for the first time.
* Round 13: John Buttigieg made his first grade debut.
* Round 15: Marshall Miller and Graham White made their first grade debuts.
* Round 17: Liam Johnson made his first grade debut.

## Squad movement
### 1996 Gains

| Player | Signed From |
| Scott Brown | Cronulla Sharks |
| Jason Death | Canberra Raiders |
| Andrew Dunemann | Gold Coast Chargers |
| Steve Edmed | Sydney Tigers |
| Shane Howarth | Auckland RU |
| Martin Locke | South Queensland Crushers |
| Willie Poching | Auckland Warriors |
| Se'e Solomona | Auckland Warriors |
| Whetu Taewa | Auckland Warriors |
| Kris Tassell | Canterbury Bulldogs |

### 1996 Losses

| Player | Signed To |
| Martin Bella | Gold Coast Chargers |
| Jonathan Davies | Cardiff RFC |
| Kevin Ellis | Gold Coast Chargers |
| Jason Erba | Sheffield Eagles |
| Michael Hogue | Paris Saint-Germain |
| David Maiden | Cairns Cyclones |
| Andrew Meads | Sydney Tigers |
| Craig Menkins | Paris Saint-Germain |
| Ian Russell | Paris Saint-Germain (mid-season) |
| Laurie Spina | Retired |

## Ladder

| | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles (P) | 22 | 18 | 0 | 4 | 549 | 191 | +358 | 36 |
| 2 | Brisbane Broncos | 21 | 17 | 0 | 4 | 607 | 263 | +344 | 34 |
| 3 | North Sydney Bears | 22 | 15 | 2 | 5 | 598 | 325 | +273 | 32 |
| 4 | Sydney City Roosters | 22 | 15 | 1 | 6 | 521 | 321 | +200 | 31 |
| 5 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 21 | 14 | 2 | 5 | 399 | 268 | +131 | 30 |
| 6 | Canberra Raiders | 21 | 13 | 1 | 7 | 538 | 384 | +154 | 27 |
| 7 | St. George Dragons | 21 | 12 | 1 | 8 | 443 | 360 | +83 | 27 |
| 8 | Western Suburbs Magpies | 22 | 12 | 1 | 9 | 394 | 434 | −40 | 25 |
| 9 | Newcastle Knights | 21 | 10 | 1 | 10 | 416 | 388 | +28 | 23 |
| 10 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 21 | 11 | 0 | 10 | 375 | 378 | −3 | 22 |
| 11 | Auckland Warriors | 21 | 10 | 0 | 11 | 412 | 427 | −15 | 22 |
| 12 | Sydney Tigers | 22 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 319 | 459 | −140 | 22 |
| 13 | Parramatta Eels | 21 | 9 | 1 | 11 | 404 | 415 | −11 | 21 |
| 14 | Illawarra Steelers | 22 | 8 | 0 | 14 | 403 | 444 | −41 | 16 |
| 15 | Penrith Panthers | 21 | 7 | 1 | 13 | 363 | 464 | −101 | 15 |
| 16 | Western Reds | 21 | 6 | 1 | 14 | 313 | 420 | −107 | 13 |
| 17 | North Queensland Cowboys | 21 | 6 | 0 | 15 | 288 | 643 | −355 | 12 |
| 18 | Gold Coast Chargers | 22 | 5 | 1 | 16 | 359 | 521 | −162 | 11 |
| 19 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 22 | 5 | 1 | 16 | 314 | 634 | −320 | 11 |
| 20 | South Queensland Crushers | 21 | 3 | 0 | 18 | 220 | 496 | −276 | 8 |

## Fixtures
### Regular season

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance |
| 23 March | Round 1 | Canterbury Bulldogs | Stockland Stadium | | Cancelled due to Super League clubs refusing to play | | |
| 30 March | Round 2 | Sydney City Roosters | Stockland Stadium | 2 – 40 | | Howarth (1/1) | 16,186 |
| 6 April | Round 3 | Sydney Tigers | Stockland Stadium | 17 – 2 | Tassell (2), Peter Jones | Cressbrook (2/4), Howarth (1 FG) | 15,912 |
| 14 April | Round 4 | Canberra Raiders | Bruce Stadium | 10 – 66 | Bartlett, Taewa | Howarth (1/2) | 9,115 |
| 21 April | Round 5 | Brisbane Broncos | ANZ Stadium | 14 – 58 | Skardon, Tassell, Vowles | Howarth (1/3) | 18,609 |
| 27 April | Round 6 | North Sydney Bears | Stockland Stadium | 6 – 50 | Skardon | Howarth (1/2) | 20,864 |
| 5 May | Round 7 | Manly Sea Eagles | Brookvale Oval | 4 – 46 | Edmed | Cressbrook (0/1) | 5,227 |
| 11 May | Round 8 | Illawarra Steelers | Stockland Stadium | 8 – 24 | Tassell (2) | Cressbrook (0/2) | 15,289 |
| 25 May | Round 9 | Parramatta Eels | Stockland Stadium | 12 – 26 | Loomans, Tassell | Cressbrook (1/2), Poching (1/1) | 12,088 |
| 9 June | Round 10 | Sydney City Roosters | SFS | 14 – 38 | I. Dunemann, Tassell, Vowles | Poching (1/3) | 9,287 |
| 15 June | Round 11 | Newcastle Knights | Stockland Stadium | 26 – 10 | Loomans (2), Death, Murphy, Tassell | Cressbrook (3/3), I. Dunemann (0/1), Poching (0/2) | 14,153 |
| 22 June | Round 12 | Cronulla Sharks | Stockland Stadium | 16 – 10 | Bouveng, Cressbrook, Gibson | Cressbrook (2/3) | 22,014 |
| 29 June | Round 13 | Sydney Tigers | Parramatta Stadium | 16 – 18 | Coorey, A. Dunemann, Gibson | Cressbrook (2/2), Poching (0/1) | 4,257 |
| 6 July | Round 14 | Penrith Panthers | Stockland Stadium | 0 – 21 | | | 25,068 |
| 14 July | Round 15 | Western Suburbs Magpies | Campbelltown Stadium | 32 – 40 | Miller (2), Cressbrook, A. Dunemann, Loomans, Morganson | Cressbrook (2/3), Vowles (2/2), Poching (0/1) | 5,281 |
| 20 July | Round 16 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Stockland Stadium | 20 – 22 | Bowman, I. Dunemann, Loomans | Howarth (3/3), Vowles (1/1) | 27,096 |
| 26 July | Round 17 | Gold Coast Chargers | Carrara Stadium | 24 – 14 | Bowman, Howarth, Loomans | Howarth (6/6) | 5,777 |
| 3 August | Round 18 | Auckland Warriors | Ericsson Stadium | 6 – 52 | Death | Howarth (1/1) | 14,600 |
| 9 August | Round 19 | South Queensland Crushers | Stockland Stadium | 11 – 6 | Miller (2) | Howarth (1/3, 1 FG) | 24,989 |
| 17 August | Round 20 | Western Reds | WACA | 4 – 30 | Taewa | Howarth (0/1) | 5,889 |
| 25 August | Round 21 | St George Dragons | Kogarah Oval | 24 – 20 | Gibson (2), Johnson, Loomans | Howarth (3/4, 1 FG), A. Dunemann (1 FG) | 9,062 |
| 1 September | Round 22 | Canterbury Bulldogs | Belmore Oval | 22 – 50 | Death, Locke, Loomans, Morganson | Howarth (3/4) | 6,595 |
| Legend: Win Loss Draw Bye ||||||||

## Statistics

| Name | App | T | G | FG | Pts |
| Faron Anderson | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| George Bartlett | 6 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| David Bouveng | 5 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Paul Bowman | 6 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Scott Brown | 6 | - | - | - | - |
| Andrew Bulmer | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| John Buttigieg | 9 | - | - | - | - |
| Michael Coorey | 11 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Reggie Cressbrook | 15 | 2 | 12 | - | 32 |
| Jason Death | 20 | 3 | - | - | 12 |
| Andrew Dunemann | 16 | 2 | - | 1 | 9 |
| Ian Dunemann | 13 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Steve Edmed | 21 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Paul Galea | 5 | - | - | - | - |
| Damian Gibson | 11 | 4 | - | - | 16 |
| Leigh Groves | 2 | - | - | - | - |
| Shane Howarth | 12 | 1 | 21 | 3 | 49 |
| Liam Johnson | 6 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Peter Jones | 19 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Aaron Ketchell | 6 | - | - | - | - |
| Martin Locke | 11 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Justin Loomans | 21 | 8 | - | - | 32 |
| Jason Martin | 12 | - | - | - | - |
| Jamie Mathiou | 4 | - | - | - | - |
| Marshall Miller | 6 | 4 | - | - | 16 |
| Willie Morganson | 4 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Glen Murphy | 15 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Willie Poching | 16 | - | 2 | - | 4 |
| Ian Russell | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Dean Schifilliti | 10 | - | - | - | - |
| Wayne Sing | 15 | - | - | - | - |
| John Skardon | 3 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Se'e Solomona | 4 | - | - | - | - |
| Whetu Taewa | 12 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Kris Tassell | 9 | 8 | - | - | 32 |
| Adrian Vowles | 21 | 2 | 3 | - | 14 |
| Graham White | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Totals | | 52 | 38 | 4 | 288 |
Source:

## Honours
### Club

* Player of the Year: Steve Edmed
* Players' Player: Steve Edmed
* Club Person of the Year: Martin Locke