# 1999 North Queensland Cowboys season

The 1999 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 5th in the club's history. Coached by Tim Sheens and captained by Noel Goldthorpe, they competed in the National Rugby League.

## Season summary

Despite undergoing another roster clean-out in the off-season, the Cowboys endured a rough season. After starting the year with a bye, the club went on a five-game losing streak. One of the few positive periods of their season then followed, with a 24-0 win over the Auckland Warriors followed by a 20-20 draw with the Brisbane Broncos and a 20-14 win over the Balmain Tigers. The victory over the Warriors was the first time in club history that they had held a side scoreless. Following the win over Balmain in Round 9, the club won just two of their next 16 games.
The Round 25 victory over the Western Suburbs Magpies turned out to be the club's most important game of the season. Heading into the match, the Cowboys sat in 16th place, one point ahead of the bottom-placed Magpies. A loss would have more than likely seen them finish the year in last place. In Round 26, the Cowboys played the North Sydney Bears in their final ever premiership appearance. The club finished the season in 16th with just four wins, their lowest win total since 1995.
One of the players brought to the club in 1999 was former-Cronulla Sharks halfback Paul Green. In June, Green became the first Cowboys' player to represent Queensland in State of Origin. In 2014, Green returned to the club as head coach, leading them to their maiden premiership victory in 2015.

### Milestones

* Round 2: Geoff Bell, Greg Bourke, Brett Boyd, Darrien Doherty, Jody Gall, Noel Goldthorpe, Paul Green, Brett Hetherington and Matthew Ryan made their debuts for the club.
* Round 3: Chad Halliday and Ben Rauter made their debuts for the club.
* Round 4: Peter Jones played his 50th game for the club.
* Round 4: Paul Dezolt made his NRL debut.
* Round 5: Damien Smith made his debut for the club.
* Round 7: The club held a team scoreless for the first time (def. Auckland, 24-0).
* Round 7: Brian Jellick made his NRL debut.
* Round 9: Adam Connelly made his NRL debut.
* Round 10: George Wilson made his debut for the club.
* Round 14: Scott Asimus and Shaun Valentine made their NRL debuts.
* Round 19: Kyle Warren played his 50th game for the club.
* Round 21: Glen Murphy played his 50th game for the club.
* Round 22: Leigh McWilliams made his NRL debut.
* Round 23: Mark Shipway played his 50th game for the club.
* Round 23: John Manning made his NRL debut.
* Round 24: Shane Muspratt made his NRL debut.
* Round 25: Nick Paterson made his NRL debut.
* Round 26: Craig Smith made his NRL debut.

## Squad movement
### 1999 Gains

| Player | Signed From |
| Scott Asimus | Newcastle Knights |
| Geoff Bell | Cronulla Sharks |
| Greg Bourke | Sydney City Roosters |
| Brett Boyd | Penrith Panthers |
| Darrien Doherty | Adelaide Rams |
| Jody Gall | Penrith Panthers |
| Noel Goldthorpe | Adelaide Rams |
| Paul Green | Cronulla Sharks |
| Chad Halliday | Sydney City Roosters |
| Brett Hetherington | Canberra Raiders |
| Brian Jellick | Glenora Bears |
| Ben Rauter | Canberra Raiders |
| Matthew Ryan | Canterbury Bulldogs |
| Craig Smith | Wests Panthers |
| Damien Smith | St. Helens |
| Shaun Valentine | Wests Panthers |
| George Wilson | Redcliffe Dolphins |

### 1999 Losses

| Player | Signed To |
| Michael Coorey | Cairns Cyclones |
| Owen Cunningham | Manly Sea Eagles |
| Jason Death | Auckland Warriors |
| Andrew Dunemann | Halifax Blue Sox |
| Jason Ferris | Cronulla Sharks |
| Dale Fritz | Castleford Tigers |
| Ian Roberts | Retired |
| Dale Shearer | Retired |
| Steve Walters | Newcastle Knights |
| Adam Warwick | Brisbane Broncos |
| Scott Wilson | Warrington Wolves |

## Ladder

1999 NRL seasonvte :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 24 | 18 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 586 | 332 | +254 | 40 |
| 2 | Parramatta Eels | 24 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 500 | 294 | +206 | 38 |
| 3 | Melbourne Storm (P) | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 639 | 392 | +247 | 36 |
| 4 | Sydney City Roosters | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 592 | 377 | +215 | 36 |
| 5 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 24 | 15 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 520 | 462 | +58 | 35 |
| 6 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 588 | 416 | +172 | 34 |
| 7 | Newcastle Knights | 24 | 14 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 575 | 484 | +91 | 33 |
| 8 | Brisbane Broncos | 24 | 13 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 510 | 368 | +142 | 32 |
| 9 | Canberra Raiders | 24 | 13 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 618 | 439 | +179 | 31 |
| 10 | Penrith Panthers | 24 | 11 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 492 | 428 | +64 | 27 |
| 11 | Auckland Warriors | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 538 | 498 | +40 | 24 |
| 12 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 349 | 556 | -207 | 24 |
| 13 | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | 24 | 9 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 454 | 623 | -169 | 23 |
| 14 | North Sydney Bears | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 490 | 642 | -152 | 20 |
| 15 | Balmain Tigers | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 345 | 636 | -291 | 20 |
| 16 | North Queensland Cowboys | 24 | 4 | 1 | 19 | 2 | 398 | 588 | -190 | 13 |
| 17 | Western Suburbs Magpies | 24 | 3 | 0 | 21 | 2 | 285 | 944 | -659 | 10 |

## Fixtures
### Regular season

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance |
| | Round 1 | Bye | | | | | |
| 13 March | Round 2 | Penrith Panthers | Penrith Stadium | 2 – 30 | | Bourke (1/1) | 8,109 |
| 20 March | Round 3 | Balmain Tigers | Leichhardt Oval | 18 – 26 | Nadruku (2), Halliday | Bourke (3/4) | 5,969 |
| 28 March | Round 4 | North Sydney Bears | Suncorp Stadium | 18 – 26 | Bell (3), Green | Hannay (1/3), Doyle (0/1) | 3,382 |
| 3 April | Round 5 | Sydney City Roosters | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 10 – 34 | Hannay, Nadruku | Hannay (1/3) | 17,359 |
| 10 April | Round 6 | Penrith Panthers | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 10 – 32 | Tassell | Bourke (2/2), Hannay (1/1) | 8,866 |
| 18 April | Round 7 | Auckland Warriors | Ericsson Stadium | 24 – 0 | Ryan (2), Jellick, Nadruku | Bourke (4/5) | 8,954 |
| 25 April | Round 8 | Brisbane Broncos | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 20 – 20 | Bowman, Tassell, Warren | Bourke (4/8) | 30,302 |
| 1 May | Round 9 | Balmain Tigers | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 20 – 14 | Connelly, Jellick, Shipway, Warren | Goldthorpe (2/4), Connelly (0/2) | 14,752 |
| 8 May | Round 10 | Manly Sea Eagles | Brookvale Oval | 22 – 26 | Green (2), Bowman, Doyle | Goldthorpe (2/3), Bourke (1/1), Doyle (0/1) | 7,973 |
| 15 May | Round 11 | Parramatta Eels | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 12 – 16 | Buttigieg, Connelly, Jellick | Connelly (0/1), Doyle (0/2), Goldthorpe (0/1) | 17,256 |
| | Round 12 | Bye | | | | | |
| 29 May | Round 13 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 12 – 14 | Boyd, Jones | Goldthorpe (2/2) | 8,751 |
| 5 June | Round 14 | Cronulla Sharks | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 8 – 22 | Jellick, Tassell | Connelly (0/1), Goldthorpe (0/1) | 16,372 |
| 13 June | Round 15 | St George Illawarra Dragons | Kogarah Oval | 18 – 22 | Connelly, Green, Warren | Bourke (1/3), Goldthorpe (1/1), Prince (1/1) | 8,156 |
| 20 June | Round 16 | Newcastle Knights | Marathon Stadium | 8 – 24 | Ryan | Goldthorpe (2/2) | 16,508 |
| 26 June | Round 17 | Sydney City Roosters | SFS | 32 – 18 | Doyle, Jellick, Prince, D. Smith, Valentine | Goldthorpe (6/7) | 4,029 |
| 3 July | Round 18 | Manly Sea Eagles | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 26 – 28 | D. Smith, Doyle, Hetherington, Nadruku | Prince (3/5) | 15,389 |
| 10 July | Round 19 | Parramatta Eels | Parramatta Stadium | 12 – 24 | Jellick, Warren | Goldthorpe (2/3) | 11,082 |
| 17 July | Round 20 | Canterbury Bulldogs | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 18 – 30 | D. Smith (2), Nadruku | Goldthorpe (3/4) | 15,080 |
| 24 July | Round 21 | Canberra Raiders | Bruce Stadium | 8 – 30 | Warren | Goldthorpe (0/3) | 9,532 |
| 31 July | Round 22 | Cronulla Sharks | Shark Park | 8 – 40 | D. Smith | Goldthorpe (2/2) | 8,921 |
| 7 August | Round 23 | Melbourne Storm | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 24 – 30 | Jellick (2), Doyle, Halliday | Goldthorpe (4/5) | 20,131 |
| 14 August | Round 24 | Auckland Warriors | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 14 – 40 | D. Smith (2), Bell | Goldthorpe (1/3) | 13,832 |
| 22 August | Round 25 | Western Suburbs Magpies | Campbelltown Stadium | 36 – 14 | Boyd, Goldthorpe, Jones, Murphy, Prince, Shipway | Bourke (5/5), Goldthorpe (1/1) | 5,588 |
| 28 August | Round 26 | North Sydney Bears | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 18 – 28 | Jellick, Pensini, D. Smith | Bourke (3/4) | 15,206 |
| Legend: Win Loss Draw Bye ||||||||

## Statistics

| Name | App | T | G | FG | Pts |
| Scott Asimus | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Geoff Bell | 11 | 4 | - | - | 16 |
| Greg Bourke | 10 | - | 24 | - | 48 |
| Paul Bowman | 16 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Brett Boyd | 17 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| John Buttigieg | 17 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Adam Connelly | 8 | 3 | - | - | 12 |
| Paul Dezolt | 4 | - | - | - | - |
| Darrien Doherty | 7 | - | - | - | - |
| Scott Donald | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| John Doyle | 19 | 4 | - | - | 16 |
| Jody Gall | 12 | - | - | - | - |
| Noel Goldthorpe | 23 | 1 | 28 | - | 60 |
| Paul Green | 20 | 4 | - | - | 16 |
| Chad Halliday | 12 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Josh Hannay | 13 | 1 | 3 | - | 10 |
| Brett Hetherington | 15 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Brian Jellick | 18 | 9 | - | - | 36 |
| Peter Jones | 22 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Martin Locke | 6 | - | - | - | - |
| John Lomax | 8 | - | - | - | - |
| Leigh McWilliams | 2 | - | - | - | - |
| John Manning | 4 | - | - | - | - |
| Glen Murphy | 16 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Shane Muspratt | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Noa Nadruku | 17 | 6 | - | - | 24 |
| Nick Paterson | 2 | - | - | - | - |
| Paul Pensini | 6 | - | - | - | - |
| Scott Prince | 18 | 2 | 4 | - | 16 |
| Ben Rauter | 3 | - | - | - | - |
| Matthew Ryan | 9 | 3 | - | - | 12 |
| Mark Shipway | 19 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Craig Smith | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Damien Smith | 12 | 9 | - | - | 36 |
| Kris Tassell | 12 | 3 | - | - | 12 |
| Shaun Valentine | 8 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Kyle Warren | 18 | 6 | - | - | 24 |
| George Wilson | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Totals | | 70 | 59 | - | 398 |
Source:

## Representatives

The following players played a representative match in 1999.
| | State of Origin 2 | State of Origin 3 | New Zealand vs Tonga | Mediterranean Cup |
| Paul Green | Queensland | Queensland | - | - |
| Brian Jellick | - | - | New Zealand | - |
| Paul Pensini | - | - | - | Italy |

## Honours
### Club

* Player of the Year: Paul Bowman
* Players' Player: John Buttigieg
* Club Person of the Year: Barry Buchanan