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Mastermind season review: North Queensland Cowboys

Roar Guru
30th September, 2014
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The Cowboys will need to play out of their skins to break Wayne Bennett's grand final record. (Photo by Colin Whelan copyright © nrlphotos.com)
Roar Guru
30th September, 2014
0

After last year’s sacking of Neil Henry, the North Queensland Cowboys entered season 2014 with a new coach and new expectations.

Paul Green, an assistant under Trent Robinson at the Roosters last year, was appointed to become the eighth head coach of the club – the first former player to do so.

After a slow start where the Cowboys dropped five of their first seven games, though the club would find their best form at the right time following State of Origin, losing just one more regular season match en route to a fifth place finish.

And although they would fall agonisingly short of the preliminary final, the season overall was considered a success and it will spur them on to reach higher heights in 2015.

But before that, let’s take a look back at the Cowboys’ 2014 season.

North Queensland Cowboys
Final ladder position: fifth (14 wins, 10 losses, +190 differential)
After finals: sixth

What went right?
The Cowboys won eleven of their twelve games at home, the only blot being an early season loss to the New Zealand Warriors for whom it was their first win in Townsville since 2002.

But before that, the club finally won some silverware of sorts when they defeated the Brisbane Broncos to win the inaugural Auckland Nines tournament, after defeating pre-tournament favourites the Warriors in the semi-finals.

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They also recorded impressive victories over three of the four teams that finished above them on the ladder, only failing to defeat the Penrith Panthers. They also finished the season strongly after State of Origin, rising from as low as 13th after Round 17 to fifth by the end of the regular season.

Individually, Johnathan Thurston enjoyed his best NRL season for years, notching up his 200th club game against the Roosters in Round 10. He shared the Dally M Medal with Parramatta’s Jarryd Hayne and was the top pointscorer for the season.

What went wrong?
For much of the first half of the season the Cowboys were unable to crack it for a win away from home, also suffering their heaviest defeat of the season against the Canberra Raiders during this stretch.

Before the season had even begun the club also lost its highest-profile recruit, Lachlan Coote, due to an ACL injury he suffered during the Auckland Nines. He had arrived at the club as the long-term replacement for the departed Matthew Bowen.

Perhaps he could have been the difference between the Cowboys finishing with the double-chance or facing sudden-death football – but that is something that we will never know.

Once again, the Cowboys’ premiership dream was also shattered by a refereeing decision which denied Johnathan Thurston the match-winning try against the Roosters in the second week of the finals – but unlike the howlers that ended their 2012 and 2013 seasons, this proved to be the correct call.

Best win: defeated the Bulldogs 20-12 at ANZ Stadium in Round 20
After breaking their duck on the road against the Sharks the previous week, the Cowboys recorded their best win for season 2014 when they defeated the third-placed Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium, in the process entering the eight for the first time since Round 10.

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It was the Cowboys’ first win at the Olympic Stadium since 2006 and first over the Bulldogs outside of Queensland since that memorable finals victory in 2004. It saw them gain momentum as they would eventually lose just once more until Round 26, falling short of the double chance and its privileges.

The win, however, was soured by a serious neck injury suffered by prop James Tamou and he subsequently missed three weeks before returning in time for the club’s finals campaign.

Worst loss: lost to the Canberra Raiders 42-12 at GIO Stadium in Round 11
Just how important Johnathan Thurston, Matt Scott and co. were to the team was exposed when the club suffered its heaviest defeat for the season at the hands of the Canberra Raiders in the nation’s capital in Round 11.

Just a week after posting 42 points on the Sydney Roosters at home, the Cowboys coughed up as many points against the team that eventually finished second-last on the ladder, with stand-in captain Ashton Sims saying: “It was just errors at the wrong time, that’s not Cowboys 2014 football”.

The loss also knocked the Cowboys out of the top eight after they had entered it following wins at home over the Eels, Broncos and Roosters in the previous month.

The future
On the back of the club’s impressive finish to the season post-Origin, in which they finished fifth and just failed to secure the double chance, expectations will once again be very high in Townsville in 2015.

Johnathan Thurston will turn 32 on Anzac Day next year and he knows that time is running out for him and the Cowboys to secure their maiden premiership, because there is no doubt the club would love for him to be part of it before he retires.

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On the recruitment front, the club has signed Jake Granville from the Brisbane Broncos, while they have lost the Sims brothers (Ashton and Tariq) to the Warrington Wolves and Newcastle Knights, respectively, and the injury-prone Brent Tate to retirement.

There is also Lachlan Coote to return. While it remains to be seen whether he will recapture his best football, the Cowboys will be expected by many to challenge for a top-four berth in 2015 which would put the club on track for its maiden premiership.

The lure to go one better next year will also be spurred by the Cowboys’ narrow finals loss for the third year running. And thus, there will be no excuses for the club not to take that further step forward.

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