# 2020 North Queensland Cowboys season

The 2020 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 26th in the club's history. Coached by Paul Green and captained by Michael Morgan, they competed in the NRL's 2020 Telstra Premiership. The 2020 season was the club's first at their new home ground, Queensland Country Bank Stadium, after 25 seasons at Willows Sports Complex.
On 20 July, Green resigned as head coach after just three wins from the opening 10 games. He was replaced by assistant coach Josh Hannay, who took over as interim head coach until the end of the season.

## Season summary
### Milestones

* Round 1: Valentine Holmes, Esan Marsters and Reece Robson made their debuts for the club.
* Round 1: Valentine Holmes scored his first try for the club.
* Round 2: The club played the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the first match without fans in Australian first grade history.
* Round 3: Reece Robson scored his first try in the NRL.
* Round 4: Tom Gilbert made his NRL debut.
* Round 5: Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow made his NRL debut.
* Round 6: Connelly Lemuelu made his NRL debut.
* Round 6: Esan Marsters scored his first try for the club.
* Round 10: Daejarn Asi made his NRL debut.
* Round 10: Daejarn Asi scored his first NRL try.
* Round 11: Ben Hampton played his 100th NRL game.
* Round 13: Emry Pere made his NRL debut.
* Round 13: Francis Molo played his 50th NRL game.
* Round 14: Mitchell Dunn and Connelly Lemuelu scored their first NRL tries.
* Round 15: The club were held scoreless for the first time since Round 1, 2012.
* Round 19: Ben Condon made his NRL debut.

### Squad
## Squad movement
### Gains

| Player | Signed From | Until End of |
| Valentine Holmes | New York Jets | 2025 |
| Connelly Lemuelu | Canterbury Bulldogs | 2021 |
| Esan Marsters | Wests Tigers | 2022 |
| Reece Robson | St George Illawarra Dragons | 2023 |

### Losses

| Player | Signed To | Until End of |
| Carlin Anderson | Townsville Blackhawks | 2020 |
| Kurt Baptiste | Easts Tigers | 2020 |
| Logan Bayliss-Brow | Easts Tigers | 2020 |
| Scott Bolton | Retired | – |
| Javid Bowen | Northern Pride | 2020 |
| Gideon Gela-Mosby | Northern Pride | 2020 |
| Jordan Kahu | Brisbane Broncos | 2020 |
| Te Maire Martin | Retired | – |
| Matthew Scott | Retired | – |
| Enari Tuala | Newcastle Knights | 2020 |
| Kurt Wiltshire | Wests Tigers Mackay | 2020 |

### Re-signings

| Player | Club | Until End of |
| Reuben Cotter | North Queensland Cowboys | 2022 |
| Mitchell Dunn | North Queensland Cowboys | 2022 |
| Kyle Feldt | North Queensland Cowboys | 2024 |
| Francis Molo | North Queensland Cowboys | 2021 |
| Emry Pere | North Queensland Cowboys | 2022 |
| Shane Wright | North Queensland Cowboys | 2021 |

## Ladder

2020 NRL seasonvte :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Penrith Panthers | 20 | 18 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 537 | 238 | +299 | 37 |
| 2 | Melbourne Storm (P) | 20 | 16 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 534 | 276 | +258 | 32 |
| 3 | Parramatta Eels | 20 | 15 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 392 | 288 | +104 | 30 |
| 4 | Sydney Roosters | 20 | 14 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 552 | 322 | +230 | 28 |
| 5 | Canberra Raiders | 20 | 14 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 445 | 317 | +128 | 28 |
| 6 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 20 | 12 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 521 | 352 | +169 | 24 |
| 7 | Newcastle Knights | 20 | 11 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 421 | 374 | +47 | 23 |
| 8 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 20 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 480 | 480 | 0 | 20 |
| 9 | Gold Coast Titans | 20 | 9 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 346 | 463 | −117 | 18 |
| 10 | New Zealand Warriors | 20 | 8 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 343 | 458 | −115 | 16 |
| 11 | Wests Tigers | 20 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 440 | 505 | −65 | 14 |
| 12 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 20 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 378 | 452 | −74 | 14 |
| 13 | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | 20 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 375 | 509 | −134 | 14 |
| 14 | North Queensland Cowboys | 20 | 5 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 368 | 520 | −152 | 10 |
| 15 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 20 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 282 | 504 | −222 | 6 |
| 16 | Brisbane Broncos | 20 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 268 | 624 | −356 | 6 |

## Fixtures
### NRL Nines

The NRL Nines is a pre-season rugby league nines competition featuring all 16 NRL clubs. The 2020 competition was played over two days on February 14 and 15 at HBF Park in Perth. The Cowboys finished first in Pool 4 and defeated the South Sydney Rabbitohs, Gold Coast Titans and St George Illawarra Dragons on their way to winning the competition.

#### Pool Play

Pool 4 :
| Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| North Queensland Cowboys | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 18 | +9 | 4 |
| Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 14 | +11 | 2 |
| Brisbane Broncos | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 23 | 25 | −2 | 2 |
| Melbourne Storm | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 30 | −18 | 0 |
| Date | Time (Local) | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals |
| Saturday, 14 February | 7:05 pm | Round 1 | Brisbane Broncos | HBF Park | 17 – 11 | Drinkwater (bonus try), Hess, Tabuai-Fidow | Clifford (2) |
| Sunday, 15 Saturday | 1:45 pm | Round 2 | Manly Sea Eagles | HBF Park | 10 – 7 | Opacic, Taulagi | Drinkwater (1) |
| Legend: Win Loss ||||||||

#### Finals

| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final |
| Newcastle Knights | Newcastle Knights | 7 | | | | | | |
| Parramatta Eels | Parramatta Eels | 14 | | | | | | |
| Parramatta Eels | Parramatta Eels | 14 | Parramatta Eels | Parramatta Eels | 6 | | | |
| | | | St. George Illawarra Dragons | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 8 | | | |
| St. George Illawarra Dragons | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 17 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 8 | | | |
| Penrith Panthers | Penrith Panthers | 14 | | | | | | |
| Penrith Panthers | Penrith Panthers | 14 | | | | St. George Illawarra Dragons | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 14 |
| | | | | | | North Queensland Cowboys | North Queensland Cowboys | 23 |
| Gold Coast Titans | Gold Coast Titans | 24 | | | | | | | North Queensland Cowboys | North Queensland Cowboys | 23 |
| Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | 0 | | | | | | |
| Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | 0 | Gold Coast Titans | Gold Coast Titans | 10 | | | |
| | | | North Queensland Cowboys | North Queensland Cowboys | 19 | | | |
| North Queensland Cowboys | North Queensland Cowboys | 20 | North Queensland Cowboys | North Queensland Cowboys | 19 | | | |
| South Sydney Rabbitohs | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 6 | | | | | | |
| Date | Time (Local) | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals |
| Sunday, 15 Saturday | 3:55 pm | Quarter | South Sydney Rabbitohs | HBF Park | 20 – 6 | Drinkwater (bonus try), Hess (bonus try), Tabuai-Fidow | Clifford (2), Feldt (1) |
| Sunday, 15 Saturday | 5:45 pm | Semi | Gold Coast Titans | HBF Park | 19 – 8 | Feldt (bonus try), Drinkwater, Tabuai-Fidow, Wright | Feldt (1) |
| Sunday, 15 Saturday | 7:00 pm | Final | St George Illawarra Dragons | HBF Park | 23 – 14 | Robson (bonus try), Clifford, Hess, Tabuai-Fidow | Clifford (2), Drinkwater (1) |
| Legend: Win Loss ||||||||

### Pre-season

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance |
| Saturday, 22 February | Trial 1 | Brisbane Broncos | Barlow Park | 18 – 16 | Cotter (2), Gilbert, Lemuelu | Clifford (1/4) | – |
| Saturday, 29 February | Trial 2 | Melbourne Storm | Casey Fields | 14 – 22 | Feldt, Holmes, O'Neill | Holmes (1/3) | – |
| Legend: Win Loss Draw Bye ||||||||

### Regular season

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, the regular season was suspended after Round 2. On 9 April, the NRL announced that competition would re-commence on 28 May with a shortened 20-round regular season. On 21 May, the full revised draw was released From Round 7 onward, the Cowboys were allowed to host fans at their home games, starting with a limit of 2,000, before eventually rising to 10,000 from Round 9.
| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance |
| Friday, 13 March | Round 1 | Brisbane Broncos | Queensland Country Bank Stadium | 21 – 28 | Cooper, Feldt, Hampton, Holmes | Feldt (2/2), Holmes (0/2), Morgan (1 FG) | 22,459 |
| Thursday, 19 March | Round 2 | Canterbury Bulldogs | ANZ Stadium | 24 – 16 | Drinkwater, Hampton, Hess, Taumalolo | Holmes (4/5) | 0 |
| Friday, 29 May | Round 3 | Gold Coast Titans | Queensland Country Bank Stadium | 36 – 6 | Hampton (2), Robson (2), Feldt, O'Neill | Holmes (6/7) | 0 |
| Saturday, 6 June | Round 4 | Cronulla Sharks | Queensland Country Bank Stadium | 16 – 26 | Feldt (2), O'Neill | Holmes (2/3) | 0 |
| Friday, 12 June | Round 5 | Warriors | Central Coast Stadium | 26 – 37 | Feldt (2), Holmes, Molo, O'Neill | Feldt (3/5) | 0 |
| Saturday, 20 June | Round 6 | Wests Tigers | Campbelltown Stadium | 36 – 20 | Feldt (2), Drinkwater, Marsters | Clifford (1/2), Feldt (1/3) | 0 |
| Saturday, 27 June | Round 7 | Newcastle Knights | Queensland Country Bank Stadium | 32 – 20 | Clifford, Feldt, Hess, O'Neill, Tabuai-Fidow | Feldt (6/6) | 1,853 |
| Friday, 3 July | Round 8 | Parramatta Eels | Bankwest Stadium | 4 – 42 | Opacic | Feldt (0/1) | 6,730 |
| Thursday, 9 July | Round 9 | Sydney Roosters | Queensland Country Bank Stadium | 16 – 42 | Robson (2), Hess | Feldt (2/4) | 6,478 |
| Sunday, 19 July | Round 10 | Penrith Panthers | Panthers Stadium | 10 – 22 | Asi, Tabuai-Fidow | Feldt (1/2) | 2,891 |
| Friday, 24 July | Round 11 | Manly Sea Eagles | Queensland Country Bank Stadium | 12 – 24 | Feldt, Molo | Feldt (2/2) | 7,127 |
| Saturday, 1 August | Round 12 | Canberra Raiders | Queensland Country Bank Stadium | 12 – 14 | Robson, Taumalolo | Feldt (2/2) | 7,586 |
| Sunday, 9 August | Round 13 | Gold Coast Titans | Cbus Super Stadium | 10 – 30 | Feldt, O'Neill | Feldt (1/2) | 5,646 |
| Saturday, 15 August | Round 14 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Queensland Country Bank Stadium | 30 – 31 | Morgan (2), Dunn, Lemuelu, Opacic, Tabuai-Fidow | Feldt (3/7) | 7,611 |
| Sunday, 23 August | Round 15 | Newcastle Knights | McDonald Jones Stadium | 0 – 14 | | | 5,304 |
| Saturday, 29 August | Round 16 | Cronulla Sharks | Netstrata Jubilee Stadium | 12 – 28 | Feldt (2) | Holmes (2/2) | 2,717 |
| Sunday, 6 September | Round 17 | St George Illawarra Dragons | Queensland Country Bank Stadium | 23 – 22 | Clifford, Feldt, Holmes, Molo | Holmes (3/4, 1 FG) | 6,755 |
| Sunday, 13 September | Round 18 | Melbourne Storm | Sunshine Coast Stadium | 20 – 36 | Feldt, Holmes, Marsters, Tabuai-Fidow | Holmes (2/4) | 4,056 |
| Friday, 18 September | Round 19 | Penrith Panthers | Queensland Country Bank Stadium | 12 – 32 | Feldt, Tabuai-Fidow | Holmes (2/2) | 7,247 |
| Thursday, 24 September | Round 20 | Brisbane Broncos | Suncorp Stadium | 32 – 16 | Feldt (3), Clifford, O'Neill, Tabuai-Fidow | Holmes (3/5), Cooper (1/1) | 17,174 |
| Legend: Win Loss Draw Bye ||||||||

## Statistics

| Name | App | T | G | FG | Pts |
| Daejarn Asi | 5 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| John Asiata | 11 | - | - | - | - |
| Jake Clifford | 14 | 3 | 1 | - | 20 |
| Ben Condon | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Gavin Cooper | 15 | 1 | 1 | - | 6 |
| Reuben Cotter | 10 | - | - | - | - |
| Scott Drinkwater | 16 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Mitchell Dunn | 17 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Kyle Feldt | 20 | 19 | 23 | - | 122 |
| Tom Gilbert | 12 | - | - | - | - |
| Jake Granville | 8 | - | - | - | - |
| Ben Hampton | 13 | 4 | - | - | 16 |
| Coen Hess | 15 | 3 | - | - | 12 |
| Peter Hola | 4 | - | - | - | - |
| Valentine Holmes | 12 | 4 | 24 | 1 | 65 |
| Corey Jensen | 8 | - | - | - | - |
| Connelly Lemuelu | 7 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Esan Marsters | 12 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Josh McGuire | 17 | - | - | - | - |
| Jordan McLean | 15 | - | - | - | - |
| Francis Molo | 20 | 3 | - | - | 12 |
| Michael Morgan | 6 | 2 | - | 1 | 9 |
| Justin O'Neill | 17 | 6 | - | - | 24 |
| Tom Opacic | 5 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Emry Pere | 2 | - | - | - | - |
| Reece Robson | 14 | 5 | - | - | 20 |
| Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow | 14 | 6 | - | - | 24 |
| Murray Taulagi | 4 | - | - | - | - |
| Jason Taumalolo | 16 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Shane Wright | 8 | - | - | - | - |
| Totals | | 67 | 49 | 2 | 368 |

## Representatives

The following players have played a representative match in 2020.
| | All Stars match | State of Origin 1 | State of Origin 2 | State of Origin 3 |
| Coen Hess | – | Queensland | – | – |
| Valentine Holmes | – | – | Queensland | Queensland |
| Esan Marsters | Māori All Stars | – | – | – |

## Honours
### Club

* Paul Bowman Medal: Jason Taumalolo
* Players' Player: Josh McGuire
* Coach's Award: Mitchell Dunn
* Member's Player of the Year: Kyle Feldt
* Club Person of the Year: John Asiata
* Rookie of the Year: Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow

## Feeder Clubs
### Queensland Cup

The Cowboys' three feeder clubs, the Mackay Cutters, Northern Pride and Townsville Blackhawks, each played just one game before the 2020 Queensland Cup season was postponed and later cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

## Women's team
### QRL Women's Premiership

The Cowboys' women's team, the North Queensland Gold Stars, played just one game in the QRL Women's Premiership before the season was postponed and later cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.