| 2015 North Queensland Cowboys season | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NRL Rank | 3rd | |||
| Play-off result | Premiers | |||
| 2015 record | Wins: 17; draws: 0; losses: 7 | |||
| Points scored | For: 587; against: 454 | |||
| Team information | ||||
| CEO | Greg Tonner | |||
| Coach | Paul Green | |||
| Captain | ||||
| Stadium | 1300SMILES Stadium | |||
| Avg. attendance | 16,230 | |||
| High attendance | 24,531 (vs. Brisbane Broncos, Round 10) | |||
| Top scorers | ||||
| Tries | Antonio Winterstein (16) | |||
| Goals | Johnathan Thurston (93) | |||
| Points | Johnathan Thurston (208) | |||
| ||||
The 2015 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 21st in the club's history. Coached by Paul Green and co-captained by Johnathan Thurston and Matthew Scott, they competed in the NRL's 2015 Telstra Premiership. The Cowboys celebrated 20 years as a club in 2015 and played in the first all-Queensland grand final, defeating the Brisbane Broncos 17–16 in golden point to win their first premiership.
After going through their pre-season trials undefeated, the Cowboys started their 2015 season with three straight losses. The side hit back with three consecutive wins on Monday Night Football over the Melbourne Storm, Penrith Panthers and South Sydney Rabbitohs, on their way to a club record 11 game winning streak. The Cowboys finished in 3rd place, winning 17 games, giving the club their most successful regular season in its history.
| First team squad | Coaching staff | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
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| Head coach Assistant coaches
Updated: 16 February 2015 | ||||||
| Player | Signed from | Until end of | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jake Granville | | 2016 | |
| Ben Hannant | | 2015 | |
| Justin O'Neill | | 2016 | |
| Kelepi Tanginoa | | 2016 |
| Player | Signed to | Until end of | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anthony Mitchell | | 2016 | |
| Curtis Rona | | 2016 | |
| Ashton Sims | | 2016 | |
| Tariq Sims | | 2016 | |
| Brent Tate | Retired | - | |
| Ricky Thorby | | 2016 | |
| Joel Riethmuller | Released | - |
| Player | Club | Until end of | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| John Asiata | | 2017 | |
| Scott Bolton | | 2017 | |
| Josh Chudleigh | | 2016 | |
| Ben Hannant | | 2016 | |
| Coen Hess | | 2018 | |
| Kyle Laybutt | | 2017 | |
| Ethan Lowe | | 2016 | |
| Michael Morgan | | 2018 | |
| Gideon Gela-Mosby | | 2017 | |
| Ben Spina | | 2017 | |
| Jason Taumalolo | | 2017 | |
| Ray Thompson | | 2017 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | | 24 | 18 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 591 | 300 | +291 | 40 |
| 2 | | 24 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 574 | 379 | +195 | 38 |
| 3 | | 24 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 587 | 454 | +133 | 38 |
| 4 | | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 467 | 348 | +119 | 32 |
| 5 | | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 522 | 480 | +42 | 32 |
| 6 | | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 469 | 476 | −7 | 32 |
| 7 | | 24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 465 | 467 | −2 | 30 |
| 8 | | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 435 | 408 | +27 | 28 |
| 9 | | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 458 | 492 | −34 | 26 |
| 10 | | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 577 | 569 | +8 | 24 |
| 11 | | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 399 | 477 | −78 | 22 |
| 12 | | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 448 | 573 | −125 | 22 |
| 13 | | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 445 | 588 | −143 | 22 |
| 14 | | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 439 | 636 | −197 | 22 |
| 15 | | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 487 | 562 | −75 | 20 |
| 16 | | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 458 | 612 | −154 | 20 |
The NRL Auckland Nines is a pre-season rugby league nines competition featuring all 16 NRL clubs. The 2015 competition was played over two days on January 31 and February 1 at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand. The Cowboys featured in the Waiheke pool and played Melbourne, Penrith and South Sydney. The top two teams of each pool qualified for the quarter-finals. The Cowboys, who were the defending champions, were knocked out in the quarter-finals.
| Waiheke pool | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 54 | 20 | +34 | 6 |
| | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 43 | 35 | +8 | 4 |
| | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 32 | 45 | -13 | 2 |
| | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 45 | -29 | 0 |
| Date | Time (Local) | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 31 January | 1:20pm | Round 1 | | Eden Park | 17 – 8 | Lowe (bonus try), O'Neill, Wright | Wright (2) | ||||
| Saturday, 31 January | 5:40pm | Round 2 | | Eden Park | 12 – 19 | O'Neill (2), Cooper | - | ||||
| Sunday, 1 February | 12:25pm | Round 3 | | Eden Park | 14 – 8 | Feldt, Moga, Taumalolo | Lui (1) | ||||
| Sunday, 1 February | 2:30pm | Quarter-final | | Eden Park | 11 – 17 | Granville (bonus try), O'Neill | Morgan (1) | ||||
| Legend: Win Loss | |||||||||||
| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 7 February | Trial 1 | | Stadium Mackay | 18 – 6 | Feldt, Granville, Lui | Feldt (3) | - | |||
| Saturday, 14 February | Trial 2 | | Jack Manski Oval | 24 – 12 | Bowen, Feldt, Kikau, King, Niemoeller | Bambling (1), Feldt (1) | - | |||
| Saturday, 21 February | Trial 3 | | Barlow Park | 30 – 10 | Moga (2), Cooper, Granville, Tanginoa, Wright | Thurston (3) | - | |||
| Legend: Win Loss Draw | ||||||||||
| Qualifying and elimination finals | Semi-finals | Preliminary finals | Grand final | ||||||||||||||||
| 11 Sept, Sydney Football Stadium | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | | 18 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | | 20 | 18 Sept, Sydney Football Stadium | ||||||||||||||||
| | 38 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 12 Sept, Stadium Australia | | 12 | 26 Sept, Melbourne Rectangular Stadium | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | | 11 | | 12 | |||||||||||||||
| 8 | | 10 | | 32 | 4 Oct, Stadium Australia | ||||||||||||||
| | 16 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 13 Sept, Sydney Football Stadium | 25 Sept, Lang Park | | 17 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | | 28 | | 31 | |||||||||||||||
| 7 | | 12 | 19 Sept, Willows Sports Complex | | 12 | ||||||||||||||
| | 39 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 12 Sept, Lang Park | | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | | 16 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | | 12 | |||||||||||||||||
| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 12 September | Qualifying Final | | Suncorp Stadium | 16 – 12 | Thurston, Winterstein | Thurston (2/3) | 50,388 |
| Saturday, 19 September | Semi-final | | 1300SMILES Stadium | 39 – 0 | Michael Morgan (2), Bolton, Feldt, Lowe, O'Neill, Winterstein | Thurston (5/8, 1 FG) | 21,683 |
| Saturday, 26 September | Preliminary Final | | AAMI Park | 32 –12 | Cooper (2), Michael Morgan (2), O'Neill (2) | Thurston (4/6) | 29,315 |
| Sunday, 4 October | Grand Final | | ANZ Stadium | 17 – 16 | Feldt, O'Neill, Tamou | Thurston (2/3, 1 FG) | 82,758 |
| Legend: Win Loss Draw | |||||||
| Name | App | T | G | FG | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Asiata | 25 | - | - | - | - |
| Scott Bolton | 20 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Gavin Cooper | 27 | 11 | - | - | 44 |
| Lachlan Coote | 26 | 6 | - | 1 | 25 |
| Kyle Feldt | 9 | 8 | 1 | - | 34 |
| Jake Granville | 28 | 10 | - | - | 40 |
| Glenn Hall | 3 | - | - | - | - |
| Ben Hannant | 28 | - | - | - | - |
| Coen Hess | 1 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Sam Hoare | 9 | - | - | - | - |
| Patrick Kaufusi | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Cameron King | 2 | - | - | - | - |
| Rory Kostjasyn | 23 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Kane Linnett | 28 | 10 | - | - | 40 |
| Ethan Lowe | 28 | 4 | 8 | - | 32 |
| Robert Lui | 4 | - | - | - | - |
| Tautau Moga | 6 | - | - | - | - |
| Michael Morgan | 23 | 15 | - | - | 60 |
| Justin O'Neill | 26 | 13 | - | - | 52 |
| Matthew Scott | 25 | 3 | - | - | 12 |
| Ben Spina | 5 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| James Tamou | 24 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Kelepi Tanginoa | 3 | - | - | - | - |
| Jason Taumalolo | 26 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Ray Thompson | 9 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Johnathan Thurston | 25 | 4 | 93 | 6 | 208 |
| Antonio Winterstein | 26 | 16 | - | - | 64 |
| Matthew Wright | 17 | 9 | - | - | 36 |
| Totals | 119 | 102 | 7 | 687 |
The following players have played a representative match in 2015
| All Stars match | ANZAC Test | Melanesian Cup | Polynesian Cup | State of Origin 1 | State Of Origin 2 | State of Origin 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Viliame Kikau | - | - | Fiji | - | - | - | - |
| Tautau Moga | - | - | - | Samoa | - | - | - |
| Michael Morgan | - | - | - | - | Queensland | Queensland | Queensland |
| Matthew Scott | - | Australia | - | - | Queensland | Queensland | Queensland |
| James Tamou | - | Australia | - | - | New South Wales | New South Wales | New South Wales |
| Jason Taumalolo | NRL All Stars | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Ray Thompson | Indigenous All Stars | - | Papua New Guinea | - | - | - | - |
| Johnathan Thurston | Indigenous All Stars | Australia | - | - | Queensland | Queensland | Queensland |
| Antonio Winterstein | NRL All Stars | - | - | - | - | - | - |