# 2018 North Queensland Cowboys season

The 2018 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 24th in the club's history. Coached by Paul Green and co-captained by Johnathan Thurston and Matthew Scott, they competed in the NRL's 2018 Telstra Premiership. The team finished the regular season in 13th position and did not qualify for the finals.

## Season summary
### Milestones

* Round 1: Johnathan Thurston played his 300th NRL game.
* Round 1: Johnathan Thurston played his 271st game for the club, becoming the Cowboys' most capped player.
* Round 1: Jordan McLean made his debut for the club.
* Round 2: Antonio Winterstein played his 200th NRL game.
* Round 2: Jordan McLean scored his first try for the club.
* Round 7: Ethan Lowe played his 100th NRL game for the club.
* Round 11: Jason Taumalolo played his 150th NRL game for the club.
* Round 11: Francis Molo made his debut for the club.
* Round 13: Mitchell Dunn made his NRL debut.
* Round 13: Jake Granville played his 100th NRL game.
* Round 13: Enari Tuala scored his first NRL try.
* Round 16: Gavin Cooper played his 200th NRL game for the club.
* Round 19: Jake Clifford made his NRL debut.
* Round 20: The club won their 250th game.
* Round 24: Jake Granville played his 100th NRL game for the club.
* Round 24: Matthew Scott played his 250th game for the club.
* Round 25: Gavin Cooper scored in his 9th consecutive game, breaking the record set by Frank Burge in 1918 for most consecutive try scoring games by a forward.

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

| Player | Signed From | Until End of |
| Carlin Anderson | Townsville Blackhawks | 2019 |
| Jordan McLean | Melbourne Storm | 2020 |
| Francis Molo | Townsville Blackhawks | 2018 |

### Losses

| Player | Signed To | Until End of |
| Corey Horsburgh | Canberra Raiders | 2019 |
| Marcus Jensen | Townsville Brothers | 2018 |
| Patrick Kaufusi | Melbourne Storm | 2019 |
| Blake Leary | Burleigh Bears | 2018 |
| Patrick Mago | Brisbane Broncos | 2018 |
| Kalyn Ponga | Newcastle Knights | 2022 |
| Ben Spina | Herbert River Crushers | 2018 |
| Ray Thompson | Retired | - |
| Braden Uele | Cronulla Sharks | 2019 |

### Re-signings

| Player | Club | Until End of |
| Jake Clifford | North Queensland Cowboys | 2021 |
| Jake Granville | North Queensland Cowboys | 2020 |
| Coen Hess | North Queensland Cowboys | 2022 |
| Francis Molo | North Queensland Cowboys | 2020 |
| Michael Morgan | North Queensland Cowboys | 2023 |
| Justin O'Neill | North Queensland Cowboys | 2021 |
| Emry Pere | North Queensland Cowboys | 2020 |
| Shane Wright | North Queensland Cowboys | 2020 |

## Ladder

2018 NRL seasonvte :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Sydney Roosters | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 542 | 361 | +181 | 34 |
| 2 | Melbourne Storm | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 536 | 363 | +173 | 34 |
| 3 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 582 | 437 | +145 | 34 |
| 4 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 519 | 423 | +96 | 34 |
| 5 | Penrith Panthers | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 517 | 461 | +56 | 32 |
| 6 | Brisbane Broncos | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 556 | 500 | +56 | 32 |
| 7 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 519 | 472 | +47 | 32 |
| 8 | New Zealand Warriors | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 472 | 447 | +25 | 32 |
| 9 | Wests Tigers | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 377 | 460 | −83 | 26 |
| 10 | Canberra Raiders | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 563 | 540 | +23 | 22 |
| 11 | Newcastle Knights | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 414 | 607 | −193 | 20 |
| 12 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 428 | 474 | −46 | 18 |
| 13 | North Queensland Cowboys | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 449 | 521 | −72 | 18 |
| 14 | Gold Coast Titans | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 472 | 582 | −110 | 18 |
| 15 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 1 | 500 | 622 | −122 | 16 |
| 16 | Parramatta Eels | 24 | 6 | 0 | 18 | 1 | 374 | 550 | −176 | 14 |

## Fixtures
### Pre-season

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance |
| Saturday, 17 February | Trial 1 | Wests Tigers | Barlow Park | 30 – 16 | Asiata, Clifford, Hess | Clifford (2/2), Lowe (0/1) | - |
| Friday, 23 February | Trial 2 | Melbourne Storm | Suncorp Stadium | 16 – 14 | Feldt (3), Thurston | Lowe (0/2), Cooper (0/1), Feldt (0/1) | 25,000 |
| Legend: Win Loss Draw ||||||||

### Regular season

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance |
| Friday, 9 March | Round 1 | Cronulla Sharks | 1300SMILES Stadium | 20 – 14 | Cooper, Feldt, Hess, O'Neill | Thurston (2/5) | 15,900 |
| Friday, 16 March | Round 2 | Brisbane Broncos | Suncorp Stadium | 20 – 24 | Cooper, Granville, McLean | Thurston (4/4) | 46,080 |
| Thursday, 22 March | Round 3 | Melbourne Storm | AAMI Park | 14 – 30 | Hess (2) | Thurston (3/3) | 12,866 |
| Thursday, 29 March | Round 4 | Penrith Panthers | 1300SMILES Stadium | 14 – 33 | Feldt (2), Winterstein | Thurston (1/3) | 11,907 |
| Saturday, 7 April | Round 5 | Warriors | Mt Smart Stadium | 12 – 22 | Feldt, Hampton | Thurston (2/2) | 25,600 |
| Saturday, 14 April | Round 6 | Canterbury Bulldogs | 1300SMILES Stadium | 10 – 27 | Feldt, Hampton | Thurston (1/2) | 14,434 |
| Saturday, 21 April | Round 7 | Gold Coast Titans | 1300SMILES Stadium | 26 – 14 | Feldt, Hampton, Hess, Taumalolo | Thurston (5/7) | 12,885 |
| Saturday, 28 April | Round 8 | Canberra Raiders | 1300SMILES Stadium | 8 – 18 | Cooper | Thurston (2/2) | 14,004 |
| Friday, 4 May | Round 9 | Penrith Panthers | Carrington Park | 26 – 20 | Cooper, Hampton, Morgan, Thurston | Thurston (5/6) | 10,289 |
| Thursday, 10 May | Round 10 | Wests Tigers | Leichhardt Oval | 12 – 20 | Martin, Winterstein | Thurston 2/2) | 13,127 |
| Saturday, 19 May | Round 11 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 1300SMILES Stadium | 19 – 20 | Winterstein (2) | Thurston (5/5); Morgan (1 FG) | 14,270 |
| Friday, 25 May | Round 12 | Melbourne Storm | 1300SMILES Stadium | 6 – 7 | Feldt | Thurston (1/1) | 16,003 |
| Thursday, 31 May | Round 13 | Manly Sea Eagles | Lottoland | 26 – 12 | Winterstein (2), Taumalolo, Tuala | Thurston (5/6) | 6,172 |
| Saturday, 9 June | Round 14 | Parramatta Eels | TIO Stadium | 20 – 14 | Feldt, Scott, Tuala | Thurston (1/3) | 8,393 |
| Friday, 15 June | Round 15 | Warriors | 1300SMILES Stadium | 16 – 23 | Feldt (2), Bowen | Thurston (2/4) | 11,062 |
| Sunday, 1 July | Round 16 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Barlow Park | 21 – 20 | Cooper, Coote, Winterstein | Thurston (4/4) | 7,651 |
| | Round 17 | Bye | | | | | |
| Saturday, 14 July | Round 18 | Canberra Raiders | GIO Stadium | 12 – 38 | Coote, Cooper | Thurston (2/2) | 11,471 |
| Saturday, 21 July | Round 19 | St George Illawarra Dragons | 1300SMILES Stadium | 10 – 24 | Cooper | Thurston (3/4) | 18,068 |
| Friday, 27 July | Round 20 | Newcastle Knights | 1300SMILES Stadium | 20 – 18 | Cooper, Hess, O'Neill, Thurston | Thurston (2/4) | 11,709 |
| Saturday, 4 August | Round 21 | Sydney Roosters | Allianz Stadium | 20 – 26 | Cooper, Taumalolo, Thurston | Thurston (4/5) | 9,721 |
| Thursday, 9 August | Round 22 | Brisbane Broncos | 1300SMILES Stadium | 34 – 30 | Cooper, Feldt, Gela-Mosby, Hess, Taumalolo | Thurston (7/8), Feldt (1/1) | 19,663 |
| Saturday, 18 August | Round 23 | Cronulla Sharks | Southern Cross Group Stadium | 16 – 28 | Cooper, Hess, McLean | Thurston (2/4) | 12,270 |
| Friday, 24 August | Round 24 | Parramatta Eels | 1300SMILES Stadium | 44 – 6 | Feldt (3), Hampton (2), Cooper Gela-Mosby | Thurston (6/6) | 25,095 |
| Saturday, 1 September | Round 25 | Gold Coast Titans | Cbus Super Stadium | 30 –26 | Hampton (2), Cooper, Fensom, Gela-Mosby | Thurston (5/5) | 26,681 |
| Legend: Win Loss Draw Bye ||||||||

## Statistics

| Name | App | T | G | FG | Pts |
| John Asiata | 15 | - | - | - | - |
| Scott Bolton | 22 | - | - | - | - |
| Javid Bowen | 6 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Jake Clifford | 6 | - | - | - | - |
| Gavin Cooper | 23 | 13 | - | - | 52 |
| Lachlan Coote | 9 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Mitchell Dunn | 2 | - | - | - | - |
| Kyle Feldt | 24 | 14 | 1 | - | 58 |
| Shaun Fensom | 14 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Gideon Gela-Mosby | 4 | 3 | - | - | 12 |
| Jake Granville | 24 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Ben Hampton | 22 | 8 | - | - | 32 |
| Coen Hess | 23 | 7 | - | - | 28 |
| Sam Hoare | 3 | - | - | - | - |
| Corey Jensen | 18 | - | - | - | - |
| Kane Linnett | 12 | - | - | - | - |
| Ethan Lowe | 15 | - | - | - | - |
| Te Maire Martin | 23 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Jordan McLean | 10 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Francis Molo | 7 | - | - | - | - |
| Michael Morgan | 11 | 1 | - | 1 | 5 |
| Justin O'Neill | 21 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Matthew Scott | 18 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Jason Taumalolo | 23 | 4 | - | - | 16 |
| Johnathan Thurston | 24 | 3 | 77 | - | 166 |
| Enari Tuala | 10 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Antonio Winterstein | 16 | 7 | - | - | 28 |
| Shane Wright | 2 | - | - | - | - |
| Totals | | 73 | 78 | 1 | 449 |

## Representatives

The following players have played a representative match in 2018.
| | Pacific Test | Denver Test | State of Origin 1 | State of Origin 2 | State of Origin 3 | Prime Minister's XIII | October Tests |
| Jake Clifford | – | – | – | – | – | Prime Minister's XIII | – |
| Gavin Cooper | – | – | Queensland | Queensland | Queensland | – | – |
| Coen Hess | – | – | Queensland | Queensland | Queensland | – | – |
| Kyle Laybutt | – | – | – | – | – | Papua New Guinea | – |
| Te Maire Martin | – | New Zealand | – | – | – | – | – |
| Jordan McLean | – | – | – | – | – | Prime Minister's XIII | Australia |
| Michael Morgan | – | – | Queensland | – | – | – | – |
| Jason Taumalolo | Tonga | – | – | – | – | – | Tonga |
| Enari Tuala | – | – | – | – | – | Prime Minister's XIII | – |

## Honours
### League

* Dally M Lock of the Year: Jason Taumalolo
* Rugby League Players Association Halfback of the Year: Johnathan Thurston
* Rugby League Players Association Lock of the Year: Jason Taumalolo

### Club

* Paul Bowman Medal: Jason Taumalolo
* Players' Player: Jason Taumalolo
* Coach's Award: Kyle Feldt
* Member's Player of the Year: Kyle Feldt
* Club Person of the Year: Johnathan Thurston
* Rookie of the Year: Jake Clifford
* Townsville Bulletins' Fan Choice Award: Johnathan Thurston

## Feeder Clubs
### Queensland Cup

* Mackay Cutters - 14th, missed finals
* Northern Pride - 4th, lost elimination final
* Townsville Blackhawks - 3rd, lost elimination final