2009 North Queensland Cowboys season
The 2009 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 15th season in the club's history. Coached by Neill Henry and captained by Johnathan Thurston, they competed in the National Rugby League's 2009 Telstra Premiership and finished the regular season 12th place, failing to reach the finals for the second consecutive year.
| 2009 North Queensland Cowboys season | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NRL Rank | 12th | |||
| Play-off result | Missed finals | |||
| 2009 record | Wins: 11; Draws: 0; Losses: 13 | |||
| Points scored | For: 558; Against: 474 | |||
| Team information | ||||
| CEO | Peter Parr | |||
| Coach | Neil Henry | |||
| Captain | ||||
| Stadium | Dairy Farmers Stadium | |||
| Avg. Attend. | 17,309 | |||
| High. Attend. | 24,332 (vs. Brisbane Broncos, Round 25) | |||
| Top scorers | ||||
| Tries | Matthew Bowen (12) Willie Tonga (12) | |||
| Goals | Johnathan Thurston (79) | |||
| Points | Johnathan Thurston (202) | |||
| ||||
Season summary
The 2009 season was an improvement on 2008 for the Cowboys, with 11 wins from 24 games. The closeness of the 2009 season meant the Cowboys finished 12th, just three points behind eventual Grand Finalists Parramatta, who finished 8th.
Neil Henry re-joined the club as head coach in 2009, taking over from interim head coach Ian Millward. Henry was an assistant coach at the club from 2002 to 2006, before moving to the Canberra Raiders in 2007 and winning the Dally M Coach of the Year award in 2008. Renowned strength and conditioning coach Billy Johnstone also returned to the club after a stint at the Gold Coast Titans. The club's key off-season recruits included Australian and Queensland representatives Willie Tonga, Antonio Kaufusi and Shannon Hegarty.
After a slow start to the season, the Cowboys enjoyed a strong run of form that included a four-game winning streak. With five rounds to play, they were sitting inside the top eight in 6th position. The club then endured four-game losing streak to end the season, dropping to 12th place.
2009 saw the debut of James Tamou, who joined the club from the Sydney Roosters under-20's side. Tamou would become an Australian and New South Wales representative at the Cowboys and play integral role in the club's maiden premiership victory in 2015.
Milestones
- Round 1: Shannon Hegarty, Antonio Kaufusi, Manase Manuokafoa and Willie Tonga made their debuts for the club.
- Round 2: Grant Rovelli made his debut for the club.
- Round 5: Steve Southern played his 100th game for the club.
- Round 5: Steve Rapira made his NRL debut.
- Round 8: James Tamou made his NRL debut.
- Round 15: Michael Bani made his debut for the club.
- Round 17: Luke O'Donnell played his 100th game for the club.
- Round 17: Johnathan Thurston played his 100th game for the club.
- Round 17: Aaron Payne played his 150th game for the club.
- Round 22: Donald Malone made his NRL debut.
- Round 26: Ray Thompson made his NRL debut.
Squad List
| First team squad | Coaching staff | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
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Head coach Assistant coaches
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Squad Movement
2009 Gains
| Player | Signed From | Until End of |
|---|---|---|
| Mitch Achurch |  | |
| Clint Amos |  | |
| Michael Bani |  | |
| Shannon Hegarty |  | |
| Antonio Kaufusi |  | |
| Donald Malone |  | |
| Manase Manuokafoa | | |
| David Pangai |  | |
| Steve Rapira |  | |
| Grant Rovelli | | |
| James Tamou | | |
| Willie Tonga |  |
2009 Losses
| Player | Signed To | Until End of |
|---|---|---|
| Daniel Abraham |  | |
| Daniel Backo | Released | |
| Greg Byrnes |  | |
| Ray Cashmere |  | |
| Ben Farrar | | |
| Sione Faumuina |  | |
| Sam Faust | | |
| John Frith | Released | |
| George Gatis | Retired | |
| Luke Harlen | | |
| Mark Henry | | |
| Keiron Lander | | |
| Jacob Lillyman | | |
| Jackson Nicolau | | |
| Chris Sheppard | | |
| Justin Smith | Retired | |
| Ben Vaeau |  |
Ladder
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
24 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 548 | 329 | +219 | 38 |
| 2 | |
24 | 18 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 575 | 428 | +147 | 38* |
| 3 | |
24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 514 | 467 | +47 | 36 |
| 4 | |
24 | 14 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 505 | 348 | +157 | 33 |
| 5 | |
24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 549 | 439 | +90 | 32 |
| 6 |  |
24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 511 | 566 | −55 | 32 |
| 7 |  |
24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 508 | 491 | +17 | 30 |
| 8 |  |
24 | 12 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 476 | 473 | +3 | 29 |
| 9 | |
24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 558 | 483 | +75 | 28 |
| 10 | |
24 | 11 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 566 | 549 | +17 | 27 |
| 11 |  |
24 | 11 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 515 | 589 | −74 | 27 |
| 12 |  |
24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 558 | 474 | +84 | 26 |
| 13 |  |
24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 489 | 510 | −31 | 22 |
| 14 | |
24 | 7 | 2 | 15 | 2 | 377 | 545 | −188 | 20 |
| 15 |  |
24 | 5 | 0 | 19 | 2 | 359 | 568 | −209 | 14 |
| 16 | |
24 | 5 | 0 | 19 | 2 | 382 | 681 | −299 | 14 |
* Bulldogs stripped of 2 competition points after an interchange breach in round 2
Fixtures
Pre-season
| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 February | Trial 1 | | North Harbour Stadium | 28 – 32 | - | - | - | |||
| 28 February | Trial 2 |  | Barlow Park | 18 – 18 | - | - | - | |||
| Legend: Win Loss Draw | ||||||||||
Regular season
| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 March | Round 1 | | Suncorp Stadium | 18 – 19 | Bowen, Tonga, Webb | Thurston (3/3) | 45,022 | |||
| 21 March | Round 2 | | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 42 – 14 | Bowen, Burns, Kaufusi, Payne, Webb, J Williams, T Williams | Thurston (7/7) | 19,879 | |||
| 28 March | Round 3 | | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 12 – 26 | Bolton, J Williams | Thurston (2/2) | 21,489 | |||
| 6 April | Round 4 | | Canberra Stadium | 18 – 23 | Burns, Farrar, J Williams | Thurston (3/3) | 12,198 | |||
| 11 April | Round 5 | | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 10 – 14 | Hegarty, Thurston | Thurston (1/2) | 18,123 | |||
| 19 April | Round 6 | | Hindmarsh Stadium | 34 – 10 | Bowen, Farrar, Hegarty, O'Donnell, Tonga, Tronc | Thurston (5/6) | 8,547 | |||
| 25 April | Round 7 | | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 26 – 12 | Bowen (2), Bolton, Farrar | Thurston (5/5) | 16,153 | |||
| 1 May | Round 8 | | Parramatta Stadium | 18 – 28 | Farrar, Southern, Tamou | Thurston (3/3) | 8,104 | |||
| 9 May | Round 9 | | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 24 – 20 | Thurston (3), Tamou | Thurston (4/5( | 16,031 | |||
| 17 May | Round 10 | | Mt Smart Stadium | 34 – 12 | Bowen, Farrar, Graham, O'Donnell, Thurston, Tonga | Thurston (5/6) | 16,345 | |||
| 25 May | Round 11 | | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 36 – 10 | Burns, Kaufusi, O'Donnell, Southern, Thurston, J Williams | Thurston (6/7) | 11,892 | |||
| Round 12 | Bye | |||||||||
| 6 June | Round 13 | | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 46 – 12 | Graham (2), J Williams (2), Bolton, Bowen, Payne, Scott, T Williams | Thurston (5/9) | 16,568 | |||
| 14 June | Round 14 | | WIN Stadium | 18 – 32 | O'Donnell, Tonga, T Williams | Thurston (3/3) | 11,374 | |||
| 20 June | Round 15 | | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 24 – 22 | Burns, Payne, Southern, Webb | J Williams (4/4) | 13,486 | |||
| 26 June | Round 16 | | ANZ Stadium | 18 – 30 | Payne, Watts, J Williams | Thurston (3/3) | 13,461 | |||
| 4 July | Round 17 | | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 24 – 4 | Bowen (2), J Williams, T Williams | Thurston (4/5) | 17,283 | |||
| Round 18 | Bye | |||||||||
| 19 July | Round 19 | | Leichhardt Oval | 14 – 34 | Bowen, Webb | Thurston (3/3) | 18,804 | |||
| 25 July | Round 20 | | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 20 – 28 | Thurston, Tonga, Webb, J Williams | Thurston (2/4) | 14,274 | |||
| 31 July | Round 21 | | Skilled Park | 34 – 18 | Bowen (2), Bani, Rapira, Tonga, J Williams | Thurston (5/6) | 20,315 | |||
| 7 August | Round 22 | | Olympic Park | 8 – 20 | Tonga (2) | Thurston (0/2) | 10,510 | |||
| 14 August | Round 23 | | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 12 – 22 | Thurston, Tonga | Thurston (2/2) | 18,199 | |||
| 22 August | Round 24 | | EnergyAustralia Stadium | 26 – 32 | Thurston (2), Bani, Tonga, Watts | Thurston (3/5) | 15,408 | |||
| 28 August | Round 25 | | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 10 – 16 | O'Donnell, Tonga | Thurston (1/2) | 24,332 | |||
| 6 September | Round 26 | | SFS | 32 – 16 | Graham, Malone, Thurston, Tonga, Tronc, T Williams | Thurston (4/6) | 10,277 | |||
| Legend: Win Loss Draw Bye | ||||||||||
Statistics
| Name | App | T | G | FG | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clint Amos | 4 | - | - | - | - |
| Michael Bani | 9 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Scott Bolton | 24 | 3 | - | - | 12 |
| Matthew Bowen | 20 | 12 | - | - | 48 |
| Travis Burns | 20 | 4 | - | - | 16 |
| Ben Farrar | 10 | 5 | - | - | 20 |
| Ashley Graham | 16 | 4 | - | - | 16 |
| Ben Harris | 8 | - | - | - | - |
| Shannon Hegarty | 5 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Antonio Kaufusi | 22 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Donald Malone | 2 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Manase Manuokafoa | 12 | - | - | - | - |
| Luke O'Donnell | 17 | 5 | - | - | 20 |
| Aaron Payne | 16 | 4 | - | - | 16 |
| Steve Rapira | 16 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Grant Rovelli | 13 | - | - | - | - |
| Matthew Scott | 23 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Steve Southern | 20 | 3 | - | - | 12 |
| James Tamou | 12 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Ray Thompson | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Johnathan Thurston | 23 | 11 | 79 | - | 202 |
| Willie Tonga | 19 | 12 | - | - | 48 |
| Shane Tronc | 24 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Anthony Watts | 14 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Carl Webb | 22 | 5 | - | - | 20 |
| Dayne Weston | 2 | - | - | - | - |
| John Williams | 17 | 10 | 4 | - | 48 |
| Ty Williams | 17 | 5 | - | - | 20 |
| Totals | 98 | 83 | 0 | 558 |
Source:[1]
Representatives
The following players have played a representative match in 2009
| City vs Country | ANZAC Test | State of Origin 1 | State of Origin 2 | State of Origin 3 | Prime Minister's XIII | Four Nations | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luke O'Donnell | |||||||
| Matthew Scott | |||||||
| Johnathan Thurston | |||||||
| Willie Tonga |
Honours
League
- Dally M Halfback of the Year: Johnathan Thurston
- RLIF Halfback of the Year: Johnathan Thurston
Club
- Paul Bowman Medal: Luke O'Donnell
- Player's Player: Luke O'Donnell
- Club Person of the Year: Clint Amos
- Rookie of the Year: Steve Rapira
- Most Improved: Scott Bolton
- NYC Player of the Year: Dane Hogan
Feeder Clubs
National Youth Competition
Queensland Cup
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External links
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