Will the Cowboys finally strike premiership gold in 2013? The North Queensland Cowboys will start this season as premiership dark horses after a strong 2012 campaign ended in a bitter defeat to the Manly Sea Eagles in the semi-finals.
Neil Henry’s men finished the regular season in fifth position last year and accounted for rivals the Brisbane Broncos before succumbing to Manly in a very controversial final at Allianz stadium.
The Sea Eagles were awarded two benefit of the doubt tries in the second half, one of which was awarded to Michael Oldfield despite replays showing that Kieran Foran had knocked the football on in the lead-up.
Referees boss Stuart Raper admitted after the match that the try should never have been awarded, putting an exclamation mark on a season full of controversial referring decisions.
Despite the controversial loss to the Sea Eagles, the Cowboys performed very well last year, particularly away from home, and should be in the mix come September this season.
Strengths
The Cowboys possess firepower across the park with Johnathan Thurston and Matthew Bowen leading a potent backline.
Thurston and Bowen are almost unplayable when on form and constantly produce some of the best attacking footy in the NRL, particularly at Dairy Farmers stadium.
Ashley Graham also took his game to another level last season, finishing the year with 21 tries, second only to Ben Barba.
North Queensland’s pack is tremendous as well with James Tamou, Matthew Scott, Dallas Johnson, Jason Taumalolo and Tariq Sims offering a terrific blend of toughness and skill upfront.
With such a talented roster at their disposal, the Cowboys really should be eyeing a top four finish this season.
Weaknesses
The Cowboys do enter this season without an established hooker with Aaron Payne and James Segeyaro having both moved on.
Payne retired last season while Segeyaro has signed with the Penrith Panthers, leaving North Queensland with very few options at dummy-half.
While Anthony Mitchell is a promising young player, it remains to be seen if he is the long term answer for the Cowboys at dummy-half, given that he has already struggled to secure starting spots at the Roosters and Parramatta Eels respectively.
Rory Kostjasyn however is a solid signing from Melbourne and may well prove to be the player that fills the hole left by Payne and Segeyaro at hooker.
The Cowboys must also deal with constant speculation surrounding Thurston’s future, and this may prove to be an unnecessary distraction should the topic continue to fester during the season.
Player to watch – Johnathon Thurston
Thurston is a terrific footballer and ranks as one of the finest halfbacks to ever play rugby league, but the constant speculation surrounding his future may threaten to derail the Cowboys campaign.
The Queensland and Australia representative needs to make a decision on his future very soon so he can concentrate on the season ahead for North Queensland.
The more he delays a decision on his future, the more distracted Thurston will become and this could very well affect his on-field performances in the worst manner.
The Cowboys will certainly hope that their captain can play out his career at a club whose premiership window remains well and truly open.
Prediction: Top four
Last year: 15-9, Fifth (semi-finalists)
Top tryscorer: Ashley Graham (21)
Player of the year: Johnathan Thurston
Key additions: Clint Greenshields (Catalan Dragons), Rory Kostjasyn (Storm), Anthony Mitchell (Roosters), 2013), Curtis Rona (Roosters), Scott Moore (Huddersfield)
Key losses: Dane Hogan (Easts Tigers), Moses Pangai (Panthers), Cory Paterson (Hull), Aaron Payne (retired), James Segeyaro (Panthers)
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