# 2014 North Queensland Cowboys season

The 2014 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 20th in the club's history. 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 Movement
### 2014 Gains

| Player | Signed From | Until End of |
| John Asiata | Sydney Roosters | 2015 |
| Lachlan Coote | Penrith Panthers | 2016 |
| Cameron King | St George Illawarra Dragons | 2015 |
| Tautau Moga | Sydney Roosters (mid-season) | 2016 |
| Hezron Murgha | Northern Pride | 2015 |
| Ben Spina | Northern Pride (mid-season) | 2014 |
| Matthew Wright | Cronulla Sharks | 2014 |

### 2014 Losses

| Player | Signed To | Until End of |
| Matt Bowen | Wigan Warriors | 2014 |
| Kalifa Faifai Loa | Gold Coast Titans | 2015 |
| Ashley Graham | Retirement | - |
| Clint Greenshields | Retirement | - |
| Chris Grevsmuhl | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 2015 |
| Jayden Hodges | Manly Sea Eagles | 2016 |
| Dallas Johnson | Retirement | - |
| Felise Kaufusi | Melbourne Storm | 2014 |
| Blake Leary | Northern Pride | 2014 |
| Tyson Martin | Mackay Cutters | 2014 |
| Scott Moore | London Broncos | 2014 |
| Wayne Ulugia | Hull Kingston Rovers | 2015 |

### Re-signings

| Player | Club | Until End of |
| Gavin Cooper | North Queensland Cowboys | 2017 |
| Kyle Feldt | North Queensland Cowboys | 2017 |
| Glenn Hall | North Queensland Cowboys | 2015 |
| Sam Hoare | North Queensland Cowboys | 2016 |
| Rory Kostjasyn | North Queensland Cowboys | 2016 |
| Robert Lui | North Queensland Cowboys | 2015 |
| Brent Tate | North Queensland Cowboys | 2015 |
| Matthew Wright | North Queensland Cowboys | 2016 |

## Ladder

2014 NRL seasonvte :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Sydney Roosters | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 615 | 385 | +230 | 36 |
| 2 | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 502 | 399 | +103 | 36 |
| 3 | South Sydney Rabbitohs (P) | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 585 | 361 | +224 | 34 |
| 4 | Penrith Panthers | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 506 | 426 | +80 | 34 |
| 5 | North Queensland Cowboys | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 596 | 406 | +190 | 32 |
| 6 | Melbourne Storm | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 536 | 460 | +76 | 32 |
| 7 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 446 | 439 | +7 | 30 |
| 8 | Brisbane Broncos | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 549 | 456 | +93 | 28 |
| 9 | New Zealand Warriors | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 571 | 491 | +80 | 28 |
| 10 | Parramatta Eels | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 477 | 580 | −103 | 28 |
| 11 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 469 | 528 | −59 | 26 |
| 12 | Newcastle Knights | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 463 | 571 | −108 | 24 |
| 13 | Wests Tigers | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 420 | 631 | −211 | 24 |
| 14 | Gold Coast Titans | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 372 | 538 | −166 | 22 |
| 15 | Canberra Raiders | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 466 | 623 | −157 | 20 |
| 16 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 24 | 5 | 0 | 19 | 2 | 334 | 613 | −279 | 14 |

## Fixtures
### Pre-season

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance |
| Saturday, 8 February | Trial 1 | Brisbane Broncos | Dolphin Oval | 32 – 8 | Sims (2), Kaufusi, King, Santo, Taumalolo | Feldt (3), Coote (1) | 12,000 |
| Saturday, 22 February | Trial 2 | Gold Coast Titans | Clive Berghofer Stadium | 28 – 12 | Hall, Morgan, Sims, Taumalolo, Winterstein | Thurston (4) | 8,532 |
| Legend: Win Loss Draw ||||||||

#### 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 navy :
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| New Zealand Warriors | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 80 | 41 | +39 | 6 |
| North Qld Cowboys | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 55 | 45 | +10 | 2 |
| Canberra Raiders | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 32 | 53 | -21 | 2 |
| Manly Sea Eagles | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 25 | 53 | -28 | 2 |
| Date | Time (Local) | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals |
| Saturday, 15 February | 2:50pm | Round 1 | Manly Sea Eagles | Eden Park | 8 – 17 | Feldt, Rona | |
| Saturday, 15 Saturday | 6:35pm | Round 2 | Canberra Raiders | Eden Park | 24 – 4 | Bowen (bonus try), Cooper (bonus try), Linnett, Thompson | Feldt (3) |
| Sunday, 16 February | 1:45pm | Round 3 | New Zealand Warriors | Eden Park | 23 – 28 | Winterstein (2), Santo (bonus try), Feldt, Linnett | Feldt (1) |
| Legend: Win Loss ||||||||

##### Finals

| Quarter-Finals | Quarter-Finals | Quarter-Finals | Semi-Finals | Semi-Finals | Semi-Finals | Final | Final | Final |
| Newcastle Knights | Newcastle Knights | 11 | | | | | | |
| Brisbane Broncos | Brisbane Broncos | 16 | | | | | | |
| Brisbane Broncos | Brisbane Broncos | 16 | Brisbane Broncos | Brisbane Broncos | 18 | | | |
| | | | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 14 | | | |
| Parramatta Eels | Parramatta Eels | 6 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 14 | | | |
| Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 17 | | | | | | |
| Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 17 | | | | Brisbane Broncos | Brisbane Broncos | 7 |
| | | | | | | North Queensland Cowboys | North Queensland Cowboys | 16 |
| New Zealand Warriors | New Zealand Warriors | 17 | | | | | | | North Queensland Cowboys | North Queensland Cowboys | 16 |
| South Sydney Rabbitohs | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 16 | | | | | | |
| South Sydney Rabbitohs | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 16 | New Zealand Warriors | New Zealand Warriors | 0 | | | |
| | | | North Queensland Cowboys | North Queensland Cowboys | 8 | | | |
| Penrith Panthers | Penrith Panthers | 12 | North Queensland Cowboys | North Queensland Cowboys | 8 | | | |
| North Queensland Cowboys | North Queensland Cowboys | 22 | | | | | | |
| Date | Time (Local) | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals |
| Sunday, 16 February | 4:45pm | Quarter | Penrith Panthers | Eden Park | 22 – 12 | Feldt (2), Morgan, Rona, Sims | Feldt (1) |
| Sunday, 16 February | 6:10pm | Semi | New Zealand Warriors | Eden Park | 8 – 0 | Bowen, Feldt | |
| Sunday, 16 February | 7:30pm | Final | Brisbane Broncos | Eden Park | 16 – 7 | Rona (2), Winterstein | Lui (1), Morgan (1) |
| Legend: Win Loss ||||||||

### Regular season

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance |
| Saturday, 8 March | Round 1 | Canberra Raiders | 1300SMILES Stadium | 28 – 22 | Cooper, Feldt, Kostjasyn, Thurston, Winterstein | Thurston (4/5) | 12,121 |
| Friday, 14 March | Round 2 | Brisbane Broncos | Suncorp Stadium | 12 – 16 | Cooper, Thurston | Thurston (2/3) | 42,303 |
| Sunday, 22 March | Round 3 | New Zealand Warriors | 1300SMILES Stadium | 16 – 20 | Feldt, Morgan, Winterstein | Thurston (2/3) | 12,738 |
| Monday, 31 March | Round 4 | Gold Coast Titans | Cbus Super Stadium | 12 – 13 | Scott, Thurston | Thurston (2/2) | 9,482 |
| Monday, 7 April | Round 5 | Newcastle Knights | 1300SMILES Stadium | 28 – 2 | Morgan (2), Tate, Thompson, Wright | Thurston (4/5) | 11,189 |
| Saturday, 12 April | Round 6 | Wests Tigers | Campbelltown Stadium | 4 – 16 | Tate | Thurston (0/1) | 6,456 |
| Friday, 18 April | Round 7 | Manly Sea Eagles | Central Coast Stadium | 21 – 26 | Tate (2), Feldt, Rona | Thurston (2/3, FG), Feldt (0/2) | 10,013 |
| Saturday, 26 April | Round 8 | Parramatta Eels | 1300SMILES Stadium | 42 – 14 | Linnett (2), Rona (2), Morgan, Scott, Thurston | Thurston (7/7) | 13,285 |
| Friday, 9 May | Round 9 | Brisbane Broncos | 1300SMILES Stadium | 27 – 14 | Kostjasyn, Linnett, Lowe, Scott | Thurston (5/6, FG) | 21,340 |
| Saturday, 17 May | Round 10 | Sydney Roosters | 1300SMILES Stadium | 42 – 10 | Linnett (3), T. Sims, Tate, Thurston, Wright | Thurston (7/9) | 15,361 |
| Sunday, 25 May | Round 11 | Canberra Raiders | GIO Stadium | 42 – 12 | Lowe, Rona | Lowe (2/2) | 8,412 |
| Saturday, 31 May | Round 12 | Melbourne Storm | 1300SMILES Stadium | 22 – 0 | Linnett, Morgan, Thurston, Winterstein | Thurston (3/4) | 12,392 |
| Friday, 6 June | Round 13 | Parramatta Eels | Pirtek Stadium | 16 – 18 | Morgan, Tamou, Winterstein | Thurston (2/3) | 10,142 |
| | Round 14 | Bye | | | | | |
| Monday, 23 June | Round 15 | Newcastle Knights | Hunter Stadium | 28 – 36 | Lui (2), Rona, T. Sims, Winterstein | Thurston (4/5) | 11,925 |
| Saturday, 28 June | Round 16 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 1300SMILES Stadium | 20 – 18 | Wright (2), T. Sims, Winterstein | Thurston (2/5) | 15,897 |
| Saturday, 5 July | Round 17 | St George Illawarra Dragons | Kogarah Oval | 24 – 27 | Winterstein (2), Rona, T. Sims, Taumalolo | Lowe (2/4), Wright (0/1) | 12,082 |
| | Round 18 | Bye | | | | | |
| Friday, 18 July | Round 19 | Cronulla Sharks | Remondis Stadium | 36 – 18 | Thurston (2), Hall, Morgan, T. Sims, Winterstein | Thurston (6/7) | 9,366 |
| Saturday, 26 July | Round 20 | Canterbury Bulldogs | ANZ Stadium | 20 – 12 | Wright (2), Winterstein | Thurston (4/5) | 9,873 |
| Saturday, 2 August | Round 21 | Gold Coast Titans | 1300SMILES Stadium | 28 – 8 | Cooper, Linnett, Moga, Morgan, Thurston | Thurston (4/6) | 14,487 |
| Saturday, 9 August | Round 22 | Wests Tigers | 1300SMILES Stadium | 64 – 6 | Wright (3), Moga (2), Taumalolo (2), Winterstein (2), Linnett, Morgan, T. Sims | Thurston (8/12) | 12,317 |
| Monday, 18 August | Round 23 | Penrith Panthers | Sportingbet Stadium | 23 – 22 | Hall, Linnett, Lui, Winterstein | Thurston (3/4) | 7,276 |
| Saturday, 23 August | Round 24 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | ANZ Stadium | 22 –10 | Feldt (2), Taumalolo, Winterstein | Thurston (3/5) | 17,171 |
| Monday, 1 September | Round 25 | Cronulla Sharks | 1300SMILES Stadium | 20 – 19 | Taumalolo (2), Thurston | Thurston (3/3, 2 FG) | 11,712 |
| Saturday, 6 September | Round 26 | Manly Sea Eagles | 1300SMILES Stadium | 30 – 16 | Feldt (2), Linnett, Lui, Winterstein | Thurston (5/6) | 22,521 |
| Legend: Win Loss Draw Bye ||||||||

### Finals

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance |
| Saturday, 13 September | Qual. Final | Brisbane Broncos | 1300SMILES Stadium | 32 – 20 | Cooper (2), Linnett, Lui, Morgan | Thurston (6/6) | 25,120 |
| Saturday, 13 September | Semi-final | Sydney Roosters | Allianz Stadium | 30 – 31 | Cooper, Lowe, Lui, Scott, Thurston | Thurston (5/5) | 18,355 |
| Legend: Win Loss Draw Bye ||||||||

## Statistics

| Name | App | T | G | FG | Pts |
| John Asiata | 6 | - | - | - | - |
| Scott Bolton | 26 | - | - | - | - |
| Gavin Cooper | 17 | 6 | - | - | 24 |
| Kyle Feldt | 10 | 7 | - | - | 28 |
| Glenn Hall | 24 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Sam Hoare | 6 | - | - | - | - |
| Cameron King | 2 | - | - | - | - |
| Rory Kostjasyn | 25 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Kane Linnett | 25 | 12 | - | - | 48 |
| Ethan Lowe | 10 | 3 | 4 | - | 20 |
| Robert Lui | 25 | 6 | - | - | 24 |
| Anthony Mitchell | 4 | - | - | - | - |
| Tautau Moga | 11 | 3 | - | - | 12 |
| Michael Morgan | 26 | 10 | - | - | 40 |
| Joel Riethmuller | 6 | - | - | - | - |
| Curtis Rona | 7 | 6 | - | - | 24 |
| Zac Santo | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Matthew Scott | 20 | 4 | - | - | 16 |
| Ashton Sims | 25 | - | - | - | - |
| Tariq Sims | 21 | 6 | - | - | 24 |
| Ben Spina | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| James Tamou | 21 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Brent Tate | 12 | 5 | - | - | 20 |
| Jason Taumalolo | 25 | 6 | - | - | 24 |
| Ray Thompson | 22 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Johnathan Thurston | 24 | 11 | 93 | 4 | 234 |
| Antonio Winterstein | 23 | 15 | - | - | 60 |
| Matthew Wright | 17 | 9 | - | - | 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 Nations |
| Michael Morgan | - | - | - | - | - | - | Prime Minister's XIII | - |
| Tautau Moga | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Samoa |
| Matthew Scott | - | Australia | - | Queensland | Queensland | - | - | - |
| Ashton Sims | - | - | Fiji | - | - | - | - | - |
| Tariq Sims | Country | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| James Tamou | - | Australia | - | New South Wales | New South Wales | New South Wales | - | - |
| Brent Tate | - | - | - | Queensland | Queensland | - | - | - |
| Jason Taumalolo | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | New Zealand |
| Johnathan Thurston | - | Australia | - | Queensland | Queensland | Queensland | - | - |
| Antonio Winterstein | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Samoa |

## 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