# 2000 North Queensland Cowboys season

The 2000 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 6th in the club's history. Coached by Tim Sheens and captained by new signing Tim Brasher, they competed in the National Rugby League's 2000 Telstra Premiership, finishing in last place.

## Season summary

The Cowboys entered the new millennium with a renewed sense of hope, adding veterans Tim Brasher and Julian O'Neill from the South Sydney Rabbitohs, with Brasher becoming the club's fifth captain.
The competition started a month earlier due to the Sydney Olympics being held later that year. Because of this, the side played their first month away from home. It was a disastrous away trip, with the club losing their first three games. They managed a win on their final away game against Parramatta but were later stripped of the two competition points after fielding a fourteenth player for three minutes.
After two straight losses, back-to-back wins followed, which included the club's biggest ever victory at the time, a 50-10 win over the Northern Eagles. It was the first time the club had scored 50 points in a game. Five rounds later they recorded 50 points again, breaking their biggest winning margin record with a 50-4 victory over St George Illawarra. It would be one of the last bright spots of the season, as the club managed just two wins from the final 13 rounds and ended the season in last place.
Paul Green represented Queensland in State of Origin once again, and was joined by O'Neill and Paul Bowman, who made his first appearance for the Maroons. Brasher was selected for New South Wales, becoming the club's first Blues' representative.
Despite playing State of Origin, Green was sacked halfway through the season for allegedly negotiating with other clubs while still under contract. He would subsequently win an out-of-court settlement against the club. In a further blow to the club, homegrown halfback Scott Prince, who made his debut at 18 and played 53 games for the side, departed at the end of the season for rivals, the Brisbane Broncos.

### Milestones

* Round 1: Tim Brasher, Glenn Morrison, Jason Nicol, Julian O'Neill and Robert Relf made their debuts for the club.
* Round 1: Nathan Fien made his NRL debut.
* Round 3: Graham Appo made his debut for the club.
* Round 4: Jeremy Schloss made his debut for the club.
* Round 5: Paul Bowman played his 50th game for the club.
* Round 6: Martin Locke played his 50th game for the club.
* Round 7: Des Clark made his debut for the club.
* Round 11: John Buttigieg played his 50th game for the club.
* Round 12: Grant Reibel made his NRL debut.
* Round 16: Shane Kenward made his debut for the club.
* Round 16: Naipolioni Kuricibi made his NRL debut.
* Round 18: Jamie McDonald made his debut for the club.
* Round 18: Daniel Strickland made his NRL debut.
* Round 23: Scott Prince played his 50th game for the club.
* Round 25: Bruce Mamando made his debut for the club.

## Squad Movement
### 2000 Gains

| Player | Signed From |
| Graham Appo | Sydney Roosters |
| Tim Brasher | South Sydney Rabbitohs |
| Des Clark | St. Helens |
| Shane Kenward | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats |
| Jamie McDonald | Adelaide Rams |
| Bruce Mamando | Adelaide Rams |
| Glenn Morrison | North Sydney Bears |
| Jason Nicol | South Sydney Rabbitohs |
| Julian O'Neill | South Sydney Rabbitohs |
| Robert Relf | Canterbury Bulldogs |
| Jeremy Schloss | South Sydney Rabbitohs |

### 2000 Losses

| Player | Signed To |
| Scott Asimus | Northern Eagles |
| Jody Gall | Penrith Panthers |
| John Lomax | Melbourne Storm |
| Glen Murphy | Retired |
| Noa Nadruku | Retired |
| Craig Smith | Wests Panthers |
| Kris Tassell | Salford City Reds |
| Scott Whiting | Wests Panthers |
| George Wilson | Redcliffe Dolphins |

## Ladder

2000 NRL seasonvte :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Brisbane Broncos (P) | 26 | 18 | 2 | 6 | 696 | 388 | +308 | 38 |
| 2 | Sydney Roosters | 26 | 16 | 0 | 10 | 601 | 520 | +81 | 32 |
| 3 | Newcastle Knights | 26 | 15 | 1 | 10 | 686 | 532 | +154 | 31 |
| 4 | Canberra Raiders | 26 | 15 | 0 | 11 | 506 | 479 | +27 | 30 |
| 5 | Penrith Panthers | 26 | 15 | 0 | 11 | 573 | 562 | +11 | 30 |
| 6 | Melbourne Storm | 26 | 14 | 1 | 11 | 672 | 529 | +143 | 29 |
| 7 | Parramatta Eels | 26 | 14 | 1 | 11 | 476 | 456 | +20 | 29 |
| 8 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 26 | 13 | 0 | 13 | 570 | 463 | +107 | 26 |
| 9 | St George Illawarra Dragons | 26 | 12 | 0 | 14 | 576 | 656 | -80 | 24 |
| 10 | Wests Tigers | 26 | 11 | 2 | 13 | 519 | 642 | -123 | 24 |
| 11 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 26 | 10 | 1 | 15 | 469 | 553 | -84 | 21 |
| 12 | Northern Eagles | 26 | 9 | 0 | 17 | 476 | 628 | -152 | 18 |
| 13 | Auckland Warriors | 26 | 8 | 2 | 16 | 426 | 662 | -236 | 18 |
| 14 | North Queensland Cowboys | 26 | 7 | 0 | 19 | 436 | 612 | -176 | 12$^1$ |
$^1$ North Queensland were stripped of 2 competition points due to a breach of the interchange rule in Round 4.

## Fixtures
### Regular season

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance |
| 7 February | Round 1 | Penrith Panthers | Penrith Stadium | 6 – 19 | Brasher | O'Neill (1/3) | 10,623 |
| 12 February | Round 2 | St George Illawarra Dragons | WIN Stadium | 6 – 12 | Bowman | O'Neill (1/1) | 6,024 |
| 19 February | Round 3 | Sydney Roosters | SFS | 12 – 32 | Bowman, Relf | O'Neill (2/2) | 5,820 |
| 28 February | Round 4 | Parramatta Eels | Parramatta Stadium | 26 – 18 | Warren (2), Bell, Smith | O'Neill (5/6) | 10,110 |
| 4 March | Round 5 | Cronulla Sharks | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 12 – 26 | Appo, Valentine | O'Neill (2/2) | 15,890 |
| 11 March | Round 6 | Brisbane Broncos | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 8 – 50 | Warren | Appo (1/1), O'Neill (1/1) | 27,643 |
| 19 March | Round 7 | Canterbury Bulldogs | Stadium Australia | 18 – 8 | Brasher (2), Bowman | O'Neill (3/3) | 6,572 |
| 25 March | Round 8 | Northern Eagles | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 50 – 10 | Bell (2), Appo, Bowman, Boyd, Green, O'Neill, Smith | O'Neill (9/10) | 13,164 |
| 1 April | Round 9 | Melbourne Storm | Olympic Park | 6 – 28 | Doyle | O'Neill (1/2) | 13,697 |
| 9 April | Round 10 | Newcastle Knights | Marathon Stadium | 6 – 28 | Appo | Appo (1/1) | 19,210 |
| 15 April | Round 11 | Auckland Warriors | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 12 – 18 | Smith | O'Neill (4/4) | 13,557 |
| 22 April | Round 12 | Wests Tigers | Leichhardt Oval | 18 – 8 | Bell, Green, O'Neill | O'Neill (3/5) | 7,517 |
| 29 April | Round 13 | St George Illawarra Dragons | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 50 – 4 | Connelly (2), Bowman, Brasher, Green, McWilliams, Relf, Schloss | O'Neill (9/10) | 13,768 |
| 6 May | Round 14 | Canterbury Bulldogs | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 12 – 32 | Connelly, Donald | O'Neill (2/4) | 15,597 |
| 13 May | Round 15 | Canberra Raiders | Bruce Stadium | 10 – 17 | Prince | O'Neill (3/4) | 7,110 |
| 21 May | Round 16 | Newcastle Knights | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 10 – 18 | Appo, Prince | Appo (1/3) | 15,738 |
| 27 May | Round 17 | Parramatta Eels | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 6 – 20 | Bowman | O'Neill (1/2) | 12,657 |
| 3 June | Round 18 | Cronulla Sharks | Toyota Park | 6 – 42 | Relf | Prince (1/1) | 11,101 |
| 10 June | Round 19 | Brisbane Broncos | ANZ Stadium | 16 – 26 | Bell, Manning | Prince (4/4) | 10,455 |
| 17 June | Round 20 | Penrith Panthers | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 28 – 12 | Connelly, Morrison, O'Neill, Prince | O'Neill (6/8) | 10,851 |
| 25 June | Round 21 | Northern Eagles | NorthPower Stadium | 12 – 24 | Jellick | O'Neill (1/1), Prince (1/1) | 8,206 |
| 1 July | Round 22 | Melbourne Storm | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 22 – 26 | Prince (2), Jones, Schloss | O'Neill (3/5) | 17,192 |
| 9 July | Round 23 | Wests Tigers | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 38 – 26 | Bowman (2), Jones, Manning, Schloss, Warren | Prince (7/8) | 14,134 |
| 15 July | Round 24 | Auckland Warriors | Ericsson Stadium | 12 – 44 | Warren (2) | O'Neill (2/2) | 8,105 |
| 22 July | Round 25 | Sydney Roosters | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 20 – 36 | Fien, Kuricibi, Prince | O'Neill (4/5) | 14,894 |
| 29 July | Round 26 | Canberra Raiders | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 14 – 28 | Fien, Manning | O'Neill (3/3) | 16,553 |
| Legend: Win Loss Draw Bye ||||||||

## Statistics

| Name | App | T | G | FG | Pts |
| Graham Appo | 15 | 4 | 3 | - | 2 |
| Geoff Bell | 12 | 5 | - | - | 20 |
| Greg Bourke | 3 | - | - | - | - |
| Paul Bowman | 20 | 8 | - | - | 32 |
| Brett Boyd | 10 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Tim Brasher | 16 | 4 | - | - | 16 |
| John Buttigieg | 22 | - | - | - | - |
| Des Clark | 2 | - | - | - | - |
| Adam Connelly | 11 | 4 | - | - | 16 |
| Paul Dezolt | 4 | - | - | - | - |
| Darrien Doherty | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Scott Donald | 2 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| John Doyle | 3 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Nathan Fien | 16 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Noel Goldthorpe | 12 | - | - | - | - |
| Paul Green | 15 | 3 | - | - | 12 |
| Chad Halliday | 4 | - | - | - | - |
| Josh Hannay | 5 | - | - | - | - |
| Brett Hetherington | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Brian Jellick | 13 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Peter Jones | 20 | 3 | - | - | 12 |
| Shane Kenward | 2 | - | - | - | - |
| Naipolioni Kuricibi | 4 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Martin Locke | 9 | - | - | - | - |
| Jamie McDonald | 2 | - | - | - | - |
| Leigh McWilliams | 12 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Bruce Mamando | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| John Manning | 10 | 3 | - | - | 12 |
| Glenn Morrison | 20 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Shane Muspratt | 2 | - | - | - | - |
| Jason Nicol | 3 | - | - | - | - |
| Julian O'Neill | 24 | 3 | 66 | - | 144 |
| Nick Paterson | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Paul Pensini | 4 | - | - | - | - |
| Scott Prince | 19 | 6 | 13 | - | 50 |
| Ben Rauter | 6 | - | - | - | - |
| Grant Reibel | 2 | - | - | - | - |
| Robert Relf | 24 | 3 | - | - | 12 |
| Jeremy Schloss | 18 | 3 | - | - | 12 |
| Mark Shipway | 23 | - | - | - | - |
| Damien Smith | 15 | 3 | - | - | 12 |
| Daniel Strickland | 6 | - | - | - | - |
| Shaun Valentine | 18 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Kyle Warren | 18 | 6 | - | - | 24 |
| Totals | | 68 | 82 | - | 436 |
Source:

## Representatives

The following players played a representative match in 2000.
| | State of Origin 1 | State of Origin 2 | State of Origin 3 | World Cup |
| Geoff Bell | - | - | - | Scotland |
| Paul Bowman | Queensland | Queensland | Queensland | - |
| Tim Brasher | - | New South Wales | New South Wales | - |
| Paul Green | Queensland | Queensland | - | - |
| Brian Jellick | - | - | - | New Zealand |
| Bruce Mamando | - | - | - | Papua New Guinea |
| Julian O'Neill | - | Queensland | Queensland | - |

## Honours
### Club

* Player(s) of the Year: Paul Bowman and Julian O'Neill
* Players' Player: Tim Brasher
* Club Person of the Year: Cowboys' Supporters Team

## Feeder Clubs
### NSWRL First Division

* North Queensland Cowboys - Unknown