2012 North Queensland Cowboys season

Rugby league team season

2012 North Queensland Cowboys season

NRL Rank| 5th
Play-off result| Lost Semi Final
(v Manly Sea Eagles, 12-22)
2012 record| Wins: 15; draws: 0; losses: 9
Points scored| For: 597; against: 445
Team information
CEO| Peter Jourdain
Coach| Neil Henry
Captain|

* Johnathan Thurston
Matthew Scott

Stadium| Dairy Farmers Stadium
Avg. attendance| 14,637
High attendance| 21,307 (vs. Brisbane Broncos, Finals Week 1)
Top scorers
Tries| Ashley Graham (21)
Goals| Johnathan Thurston (90)
Points| Johnathan Thurston (192)
| ← 2011 |  | 2013 →

|
|

The 2012 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 18th in the club's history. Coached by Neil Henry and co-captained by Johnathan Thurston and Matthew Scott, they competed in the National Rugby League's 2012 Telstra Premiership. They finished the regular season in 5th place and were knocked out in the second week of the finals by the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, for the second year in a row.

## Season summary

[edit]

The Cowboys were aiming to build on its 7th place finish in 2011, after a near-wooden spoon 2010 season only prevented by the Melbourne Storm salary cap breach, with a strong 2012 season.

The season did not start well, with the Cowboys producing one of their worst performances in almost ten years as they lost 18-0 to the Gold Coast Titans at home, with a completion rate of only 35%, the worst on record.[1][2][3] In Round 2, the Cowboys defeated the Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium, with Matthew Bowen scoring the match-winning try on his 30th birthday.

Despite the opening loss, the Cowboys went on to produce a consistent, never once dropping out of the top eight from Round 3 onwards. They records big victories over the Parramatta Eels in Round 3 (42-6), the Sydney Roosters in Round 7 (50-12), the St George Illawarra Dragons in Round 9 (30-6), the Canberra Raiders in Round 16 (40-18) and the Warriors in Round 23 (52-12). They ended the regular season on four game winning streak, finishing in 5th place, their highest finish since 2007.

In Week 1 of the finals, the Cowboys defeated the Brisbane Broncos 33-16, with Michael Morgan scoring a hat-trick, the first halfback to do so in a finals game. It was their third win over Brisbane in 2012. A week later they were eliminated by Manly in controversial circumstances.

Club legend Aaron Payne announced his retirement at the end of the 2012 season, he became a life member at the club after playing his 200th game for the Cowboys. Earlier in the season, Matthew Bowen became the first player to play 250 NRL games for North Queensland.

### Milestones

[edit]

* Round 1: Kane Linnett and Robert Lui made their debuts for the club.
* Round 1: Mosese Pangai made his NRL debut.
* Round 6: Aaron Payne played his 200th game for the club.
* Round 6: Johnathan Thurston played his 150th game for the club.
* Round 6: Johnathan Thurston scored his 1000th point for the club.
* Round 8: Gavin Cooper played his 50th game for the club.
* Round 17: Anthony Mitchell made his debut for the club.
* Round 21: Dallas Johnson played his 200th NRL game.
* Round 25: Blake Leary made his NRL debut.
* Finals Week 1: Matthew Bowen played his 250th for the club, the first player to do so.
* Finals Week 2: Dallas Johnson played his 50th game for the club.

## Squad List

[edit]

North Queensland Cowboys NRL Squad 2012  First team squad  |  | Coaching staff

|
|

* Scott Bolton – SR

* Matthew Bowen – FB

* Gavin Cooper – SR

* Kalifa Faifai Loa – WG

* Ashley Graham – WG

* Glenn Hall – SR

* Luke Harlen – PR

* Sam Hoare – PR

* Dane Hogan – LK

* Dallas Johnson – LK

* Ben Jones – FE

|  |

* Blake Leary – SR

* Kane Linnett – CE

* Robert Lui – HB

* Tyson Martin – SR

* Anthony Mitchell – HK

* Michael Morgan – FE

* Mosese Pangai – CE

* Cory Paterson – SR

* Aaron Payne – HK

* Joel Riethmuller – LK

* Matthew Scott (c) – PR

|  |

* James Segeyaro – HK

* Ashton Sims – PR

* Tariq Sims – SR

* James Tamou – PR

* Brent Tate – CE

* Jason Taumalolo – LK

* Ray Thompson – FE

* Ricky Thorby – PR

* Johnathan Thurston (c) – HB

* Antonio Winterstein – WG

|  |  |  |

Head coach

* Neil Henry

Assistant coaches

* Terry Matterson (assistant coach)

* Peter Ryan (assistant coach)

* Paul Bowman (High Performance Manager)

* Glen Murphy (head conditioner)

* * *

Legend:

* (c) Captain(s)
* (vc) Vice-captain(s)

* * *

Updated: 29 July 2012
Source(s): Player Profiles, NRL Team,

## Squad Movement

[edit]

### 2012 Gains

[edit]

Player  | Signed From  | Until End of

|
|

Luke Harlen |  Northern Pride |

2012

Kane Linnett |  Sydney Roosters |

2013

Robert Lui |  Wests Tigers |

2013

Anthony Mitchell |  Sydney Roosters (mid-season) |

2013

### 2012 Losses

[edit]

Player  | Signed To  | Until End of

|
|

Isaak Ah Mau |  Redcliffe Dolphins |

2013

Leeson Ah Mau |  St George Illawarra Dragons |

2013

Clint Amos | Retired |

Michael Bani |  Canberra Raiders |

2012

Jack Cooper |  Cairns District Rugby League |

2012

Shannon Gallant |  Berkeley Eagles |

2012

Dylan Smith |  Mackay Cutters |

2012

Willie Tonga |  Parramatta Eels |

2013

Will Tupou |  Western Force |

2013

## Ladder

[edit]

2012 NRL season

* v
* t
* e

Pos | Team  | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts
1 |  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 24 | 18 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 568 | 369 | +199 | 40
2 |  Melbourne Storm (P) | 24 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 579 | 361 | +218 | 38
3 |  South Sydney Rabbitohs | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 559 | 438 | +121 | 36
4 |  Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 497 | 403 | +94 | 36
5 |  North Queensland Cowboys | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 597 | 445 | +152 | 34
6 |  Canberra Raiders | 24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 545 | 536 | +9 | 30
7 |  Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 24 | 12 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 445 | 441 | +4 | 29
8 |  Brisbane Broncos | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 481 | 447 | +34 | 28
9 |  St. George Illawarra Dragons | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 405 | 438 | -33 | 26
10 |  Wests Tigers | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 506 | 551 | -45 | 26
11 |  Gold Coast Titans | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 449 | 477 | -28 | 24
12 |  Newcastle Knights | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 448 | 488 | -40 | 24
13 |  Sydney Roosters | 24 | 8 | 1 | 15 | 2 | 462 | 626 | -164 | 21
14 |  New Zealand Warriors | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 497 | 609 | -112 | 20
15 |  Penrith Panthers | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 409 | 575 | -166 | 20
16 |  Parramatta Eels | 24 | 6 | 0 | 18 | 2 | 431 | 674 | -243 | 16

## Fixtures

[edit]

### Pre-season

[edit]

Date  | Round  | Opponent  | Venue  | Score  | Tries  | Goals  | Attendance

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

4 February | Trial 1 |  Brisbane Broncos | Dolphin Oval | 22 - 28 | Bolton, Segeyaro, Thompson, Ulugia | Foster (2/2), Faifai Loa (1/2) | 4,500
11 February | Trial 2 |  St George Illawarra Dragons | NIB Stadium | 18 - 12 | Cooper, Graham, Linnett, Winterstein | Graham (1) | 8,588
18 February | Trial 3 |  Gold Coast Titans | Virgin Australia Stadium | 28 - 36 | Faifai Loa (2), Pangai (2), Thurston | Thurston (3/4), Cooper (1/1) | \-
Legend:  Win Loss Draw

### Regular season

[edit]

Date  | Round  | Opponent  | Venue  | Score  | Tries  | Goals  | Attendance

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

3 March | Round 1 |  Gold Coast Titans | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 0 - 18 | - | - | 16,311
9 March | Round 2 |  Brisbane Broncos | Suncorp Stadium | 26 - 28 | Bowen (2), Johnson, Segeyaro, Tate | Thurston (4/5) | 43,171
17 March | Round 3 |  Parramatta Eels | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 42 - 6 | Graham (3), Bowen, Cooper, Linnett, Scott, Taumalolo | Thurston (5/8) | 8,239
24 March | Round 4 |  Cronulla Sharks | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 14 - 20 | Bowen, Cooper, Graham | Thurston (1/4) | 11,364
2 April | Round 5 |  Canberra Raiders | Canberra Stadium | 22 - 6 | Graham (2), Tate, Thompson | Thurston (3/4) | 12,135
8 April | Round 6 |  Melbourne Storm | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 18 - 42 | Bowen, Cooper, Tamou | Thurston (3/3) | 20,206
14 April | Round 7 |  Sydney Roosters | TIO Stadium | 50 - 12 | Bowen (2), Taumalolo (2), Winterstein (2), Faifai Loa, Graham, Thompson | Thurston (6/8), Bowen (1/1) | 10,008
28 April | Round 8 |  South Sydney Rabbitohs | ANZ Stadium | 16 - 20 | Graham (2), Segeyaro | Thurston (2/3) | 12,213
4 May | Round 9 |  St George Illawarra Dragons | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 30 - 6 | Bowen, Linnett, T Sims, Tate, Thompson | Thurston (3/6), Bowen (2/2) | 15,006
12 May | Round 10 |  Newcastle Knights | Hunter Stadium | 32 - 12 | Graham (2), Cooper, Morgan, Thompson | Thurston (6/6) | 18,191
19 May | Round 11 |  Penrith Panthers | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 30 - 28 | Bowen, Cooper, Ashley Graham, A Sims, Winterstein | Bowen (5/7) | 11,648
27 May | Round 12 |  Wests Tigers | Campbelltown Stadium | 18 - 26 | Ashley Graham, Glenn Hall, Winterstein | Thurston (3/3) | 13,059
1 June | Round 13 |  Gold Coast Titans | Skilled Park | 12 - 28 | Paterson, Taumalolo | Thurston (2/2) | 12,092
| Round 14 | Bye |  |  |  |  |
15 June | Round 15 |  Brisbane Broncos | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 12 - 0 | Cooper, Linnett | Thurston (2/2) | 20,367
23 June | Round 16 |  Canberra Raiders | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 40 - 18 | Hall (2), Bolton, Graham, Linnett, Thompson, Winterstein | Thurston (5/6), Bowen (1/1) | 14,344
1 July | Round 17 |  Warriors | Mt Smart Stadium | 18 - 35 | Cooper, Graham, Linnett | Bowen (3/3) | 15,374
| Round 18 | Bye |  |  |  |  |
14 July | Round 19 |  Melbourne Storm | AAMI Park | 20 - 16 | Linnett (2), Tate | Thurston (4/4) | 10,688
23 July | Round 20 |  Wests Tigers | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 29 - 16 | Cooper, Faifai Loa, Hall, Mitchell, Tate | Thurston (4/5), Bowen (1 FG) | 12,357
28 July | Round 21 |  Canterbury Bulldogs | ANZ Stadium | 18 - 32 | Linnett, Thurston, Winterstein | Thurston (3/3) | 18,652
4 August | Round 22 |  Manly Sea Eagles | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 6 - 8 | Linnett | Thurston (1/1) | 14,401
11 August | Round 23 |  Warriors | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 52 - 12 | Graham (3), Bowen, Cooper, Linnett, Payne, Tate, Winterstein | Thurston (8/9) | 13,616
20 August | Round 24 |  St George Illawarra Dragons | WIN Stadium | 32 - 22 | Linnett (2), Bowen, Graham, Thurston | Thurston (6/6) | 9,245
25 August | Round 25 |  Newcastle Knights | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 22 - 14 | Bowen, Tate, Thurston | Thurston (5/5) | 15,119
2 September | Round 26 |  Cronulla Sharks | Toyota Stadium | 36 - 22 | Graham (2), Cooper, Segeyaro, Tate, Taumalolo | Thurston (6/7) | 16,829
Legend:  Win Loss Draw Bye

### Finals

[edit]

Date  | Round  | Opponent  | Venue  | Score  | Tries  | Goals  | Attendance

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

8 September | Qualifying Final |  Brisbane Broncos | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 33 - 16 | Morgan (3), Bowen, Tate | Thurston (6/7), Bowen (1 FG) | 21,307
14 September | Semi Final |  Manly Sea Eagles | Allianz Stadium | 22 - 12 | Tamou, Winterstein | Thurston (2/2) | 16,678
Legend:  Win Loss Draw Bye

## Statistics

[edit]

Name | App | T | G | FG | Pts

|
|
|
|
|

Scott Bolton | 14 | 1 | - | - | 4
Matthew Bowen | 26 | 13 | 12 | 2 | 78
Gavin Cooper | 26 | 10 | - | - | 40
Kalifa Faifai Loa | 6 | 2 | - | - | 8
Ashley Graham | 24 | 21 | - | - | 84
Glenn Hall | 23 | 4 | - | - | 16
Dallas Johnson | 26 | 1 | - | - | 4
Blake Leary | 1 | - | - | - | \-
Kane Linnett | 24 | 12 | - | - | 48
Robert Lui | 1 | - | - | - | \-
Anthony Mitchell | 8 | 1 | - | - | 4
Michael Morgan | 13 | 4 | - | - | 16
Mosese Pangai | 1 | - | - | - | \-
Cory Paterson | 3 | 1 | - | - | 4
Aaron Payne | 25 | 1 | - | - | 4
Joel Riethmuller | 10 | - | - | - | \-
Matthew Scott | 18 | 1 | - | - | 4
James Segeyaro | 14 | 3 | - | - | 12
Ashton Sims | 25 | 1 | - | - | 4
Tariq Sims | 7 | 1 | - | - | 4
James Tamou | 24 | 2 | - | - | 8
Brent Tate | 23 | 9 | - | - | 36
Jason Taumalolo | 17 | 5 | - | - | 20
Ray Thompson | 18 | 5 | - | - | 20
Ricky Thorby | 15 | - | - | - | \-
Johnathan Thurston | 24 | 3 | 90 | - | 192
Antonio Winterstein | 26 | 8 | - | - | 32
Totals |  | 109 | 102 | 2 | 642

Source:[4]

## Representatives

[edit]

The following players have played a representative match in 2012

| All Stars match | City vs Country | ANZAC Test | State of Origin 1 | State of Origin 2 | State of Origin 3

|
|
|
|
|
|

Matthew Bowen |

Indigenous All Stars

Cory Paterson |

Indigenous All Stars

Aaron Payne |

NRL All Stars

Matthew Scott |

Queensland

Queensland

Queensland

Tariq Sims |

Country

James Tamou |

Australia

New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales

Brent Tate |

NRL All Stars

Queensland

Queensland

Queensland

Johnathan Thurston |

Indigenous All Stars

Australia

Queensland

Queensland

Queensland

## Honours

[edit]

### League

[edit]

* Dally M Five-Eighth of the Year: Johnathan Thurston
* RLIF Five-Eighth of the Year: Johnathan Thurston
* NRL Top Tryscorer: Ashley Graham
* NYC Team of the Year: Chris Grevsmuhl

### Club

[edit]

* Paul Bowman Medal: Johnathan Thurston
* Player's Player: James Tamou
* Club Person of the Year: Johnathan Thurston
* Rookie of the Year: Jason Taumalolo
* Most Improved: Kane Linnett
* NYC Player of the Year: Zac Santo

## Feeder Clubs

[edit]

### National Youth Competition

[edit]

* North Queensland Cowboys \- 13th, missed finals

### Queensland Cup

[edit]

* Mackay Cutters \- 8th, missed finals
* Northern Pride \- 7th, missed finals

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Titans punish sloppy Cowboys - ABC Grandstand Sport (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
2. ^ Woeful Cowboys thrashed by Titans | NRL, Rugby League, NRL Scores, NRL Ladder | Fox Sports
3. ^ Cowboys on lowest rung after horror handling performance against Titans | The Courier-Mail
4. ^ "NRL 2012 - North Queensland Cowboys - Rugby League Project".

* v
* t
* e

2012 in rugby league

« 2011

2013 »

International Rugby League|

* World Club Challenge
* Anzac Test
* Asian Cup
* European Cup
* International Series

British Rugby League|

| Competitions|

* International Origin
* Super League
* Results
* Grand Final
* RFL Championship
* Results
* Championship 1
* Results
* Challenge Cup
* Final
* Championship Cup
* Women's Challenge Cup

|

Teams|

* Bradford Bulls
* Castleford Tigers
* Catalans Dragons
* Huddersfield Giants
* Hull FC
* Hull KR
* Leeds Rhinos
* London Broncos
* Salford City Reds
* St Helens
* Wakefield Wildcats
* Warrington Wolves
* Widnes Vikings
* Wigan Warriors

Other clubs|

* North Wales Crusaders

Australian Rugby League Commission|

| Competitions|

* State of Origin
* 2012 NRL season
* Results
* Grand Final
* Toyota Cup
* Results
* Queensland Cup
* New South Wales Cup

|

By club|

* Brisbane Broncos
* Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
* Canberra Raiders
* Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
* Gold Coast Titans
* Manly Warringah Sea Eagles
* Melbourne Storm
* Newcastle Knights
* New Zealand Warriors
* North Queensland Cowboys
* Parramatta Eels
* Penrith Panthers
* South Sydney Rabbitohs
* Sydney Roosters
* St. George Illawarra Dragons
* Wests Tigers

Related articles|

* Dally M Awards
* All Stars match
* Northern Pride

Other domestic competitions|

* France
* 2011–2012
* New Zealand
* United States
* AMNRL
* USARL

* v
* t
* e

North Queensland Cowboys

Est. 1995 in Townsville, Queensland

The club|

* History
* Records
* Honours
* Players
* Coaches
* Representatives

Home ground|

* 1300SMILES Stadium (1995–2019)
* North Queensland Stadium (2020–)

Culture|

* Queensland derby

League|

* ARL
* SL
* NRL

* NRLW

Important Figures|

* Johnathan Thurston
* Matt Scott
* Matt Bowen

Titles|

Premierships (1)
2015

NRL Nines (2)
2014
2020

Seasons (30)|

* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999
* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024

Other competitions|

Current
NRL Nines
Past
NRL Under-20s
New South Wales Cup

Affiliations|

NRL Women's
North Queensland Cowboys Women

Queensland Cup (Current)
Mackay Cutters
Northern Pride
Past
Cairns Cyclones
North Queensland Young Guns
Townsville Blackhawks
Townsville Stingers

19°18′58″S 146°42′43″E﻿ / ﻿19.31611°S 146.71194°E﻿ / -19.31611; 146.71194﻿ (Willow Sports Complex)
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[Pos]: Position
*[Pld]: Games played
*[W]: Won
*[D]: Drawn
*[L]: Lost
*[B]: Bye
*[PF]: Points for (total points scored)
*[PA]: Points against (total points conceded)
*[PD]: Points difference (points scored minus points conceded)
*[Pts]: Competition points