2002 North Queensland Cowboys season

Coordinates: 19°18′58″S 146°42′43″E / 19.31611°S 146.71194°E / -19.31611; 146.71194 (Willow Sports Complex)
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2002 North Queensland Cowboys season
NRL Rank11th
Play-off resultMissed finals
2002 recordWins: 8; draws: 0; losses: 16
Points scoredFor: 496; against: 803
Team information
CEODenis Keeffe
CoachMurray Hurst (sacked on 3 April)
Graham Murray
Captain
StadiumDairy Farmers Stadium
Avg. attendance12,133
High attendance24,212 (vs. Brisbane Broncos, Round 1)
Top scorers
TriesMatt Sing (16)
GoalsJosh Hannay (48)
PointsJosh Hannay (108)
← 2001 2003 →

The 2002 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 8th in the club's history. Coached by Murray Hurst and captained by Paul Bowman, they competed in the NRL's 2002 Telstra Premiership. Graham Murray replaced Hurst after three rounds and helped the club to their highest finish (11th) and most competition points (20) at the time.

Season summary[edit]

The Cowboys underwent another rebuild in 2002 following a disastrous 2001 season. A number of players were moved on, with the key recruit being former Australian and Queensland winger Matt Sing. Sing was an instant success for the club, finishing the 2002 season as the team's top try scorer and being named their Player of the Year. He would later earn his way back into representative sides, becoming a club legend for the Cowboys, being named in their 10th and 20th Anniversary Teams and an inaugural inductee into their Hall of Fame in 2016.[1][2]

The 2002 season began with three straight losses and looked to be even worse than the year before. Following their Round 3 defeat to the Melbourne Storm, coach Murray Hurst was sacked and replaced by former Sydney Roosters boss Graham Murray, who had taken the Roosters to the Grand Final just two years earlier.[3] Another key piece of their rebuild, Murray would later lead the club to their first finals series and first Grand Final, and was their most successful head coach until the arrival of Paul Green.

Although the success was not instant, the signs were there, as the side won three of their first six games under Murray. Five straights losses soon followed, before ending the year with four wins from their final seven games, giving hope for the 2003 season. The club finished the regular season in 11th, their highest ever finish, with 20 competition points, also a record.

Off the field, Peter Parr joined the club as football manager for the 2002 season. A former administrator with the Perth Reds and Brisbane Broncos, Parr later held the positions of CEO and General Manager and was instrumental in the club's future successes and bringing players, such as Johnathan Thurston, to the club.[4]

2002 also saw the retirement of club stalwart and foundation player Peter Jones, who held the club's most games record until 2004. Jones, the first player to play 100 games for the club, would remain on the Cowboys football operations staff until the end of 2012.[5] While one club great retired, another emerged, with Aaron Payne making his debut in Round 12. Payne would go onto play 219 games for the club and start at hooker in their first ever Grand Final appearance in 2005.

Milestones[edit]

Squad List[edit]

North Queensland Cowboys NRL Squad 2002
First team squad Coaching staff

Head coach

Assistant coach


Legend:
  • (c) Captain(s)
  • (vc) Vice-captain(s)



Squad Movement[edit]

2002 Gains[edit]

Player Signed From
Tevita Amone Western Suburbs Magpies
Ken McGuinness Toowoomba Clydesdales
Matt Petersen Newcastle Knights
Matt Sing Sydney Roosters
David Thompson Canterbury Bulldogs

2002 Losses[edit]

Player Signed To
Geoff Bell Penrith Panthers
Brett Hetherington Retired
Brian Jellick Limoux Grizzlies
Trent Leis Redcliffe Dolphins
Naipolioni Kuricibi Retired
Bruce Mamando Retired
Danny Moore Retired
Julian O'Neill Wigan Warriors
Lee Oudenryn Retired
Nick Paterson Cronulla Sharks
Matt Petersen Parramatta Eels (mid-season)
Robert Relf Widnes Vikings
Mark Shipway Northern Eagles
Kyle Warren Castleford Tigers

Ladder[edit]

Pos Team Pld W D L B PF PA PD Pts
1 New Zealand Warriors 24 17 0 7 2 688 454 +234 38
2 Newcastle Knights 24 17 0 7 2 724 498 +226 38
3 Brisbane Broncos 24 16 1 7 2 672 425 +247 37
4 Sydney Roosters (P) 24 15 1 8 2 621 405 +216 35
5 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 24 15 0 9 2 653 597 +56 34
6 Parramatta Eels 24 10 2 12 2 531 440 +91 26
7 St George Illawarra Dragons 24 9 3 12 2 632 546 +86 25
8 Canberra Raiders 24 10 1 13 2 471 641 -170 25
9 Northern Eagles 24 10 0 14 2 503 740 -237 24
10 Melbourne Storm 24 9 1 14 2 556 586 -30 23
11 North Queensland Cowboys 24 8 0 16 2 496 803 -307 20
12 Penrith Panthers 24 7 0 17 2 546 654 -108 18
13 Wests Tigers 24 7 0 17 2 498 642 -144 18
14 South Sydney Rabbitohs 24 5 0 19 2 385 817 -432 14
15 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 24 20 1 3 2 707 435 +272 81

1 The Bulldogs were deducted 37 premiership points due to gross salary cap breaches.

Fixtures[edit]

Regular season[edit]

Date Round Opponent Venue Score Tries Goals Attendance
16 March Round 1 Brisbane Broncos Dairy Farmers Stadium 6 – 42 Doyle Hannay (1/1) 24,212
23 March Round 2 Newcastle Knights EnergyAustralia Stadium 18 – 50 Bradford, Petersen, Matt Sing Hannay (3/3) 14,868
30 March Round 3 Melbourne Storm Olympic Park 10 – 38 Hannay, Morrison Hannay (1/2) 8,828
6 April Round 4 Warriors Dairy Farmers Stadium 20 – 50 Morrison (2), Bowen, Hannay Hannay (2/4) 9,657
13 April Round 5 South Sydney Rabbitohs Dairy Farmers Stadium 30 – 18 Bowen, Bradford, Morrison, Muspratt, Williams Hannay (5/6) 11,014
21 April Round 6 Sydney Roosters Aussie Stadium 12 – 58 Fien, Sing Morrison (2/2) 7,318
27 April Round 7 Penrith Panthers Penrith Stadium 28 – 18 Fien (2), Bowen, Petersen, Williams Morrison (4/5) 8.759
5 May Round 8 Parramatta Eels Parramatta Stadium 19 – 20 Doyle, Morrison, Sing Morrison (3/5), Fien (1 FG) 11,174
11 May Round 9 Wests Tigers Dairy Farmers Stadium 40 – 16 Bowen (2), Sing (2), Fien, Hannay, McGuinness Hannay (6/9) 13,089
18 May Round 10 Penrith Panthers Dairy Farmers Stadium 8 – 38 Bowman Hannay (2/2) 10,512
26 May Round 11 Canberra Raiders Canberra Stadium 20 – 32 Sing (2), Alberts, Gatis Bowen (2/4) 7,128
1 June Round 12 St George Illawarra Dragons Dairy Farmers Stadium 40 – 32 Bowman (2), Gatis, Peter Jones, Morrison, Sing, Williams Morrison (6/7) 10,561
9 June Round 13 Warriors Ericsson Stadium 6 – 34 Phillips Morrison (1/1) 14,616
16 June Round 14 Brisbane Broncos ANZ Stadium 8 – 52 Bowen, Bowman Bowen (0/1), Hannay (0/1) 10,215
22 June Round 15 Cronulla Sharks Dairy Farmers Stadium 16 – 46 Bowen, Muckert, Sing Hannay (2/3) 13,568
29 June Round 16 St George Illawarra Dragons WIN Stadium 18 – 45 Bowen, Fien, Sing Hannay (3/3) 7,987
Round 17 Bye
13 July Round 18 Northern Eagles Dairy Farmers Stadium 12 – 28 Bowen, Sing Hannay (2/2) 8,505
20 July Round 19 Canberra Raiders Dairy Farmers Stadium 34 – 18 Sing (2), Bowen, Bowman, Muckert, Williams Hannay (5/6) 8,121
28 July Round 20 Northern Eagles Brookvale Oval 30 – 18 Williams (2), Bowman, Dezolt, Maddison Hannay (3/6) 6,520
3 August Round 21 Canterbury Bulldogs Dairy Farmers Stadium 26 – 34 Bowman (2), Dezolt, Morrison Hannay (5/6) 12,231
10 August Round 22 Melbourne Storm Dairy Farmers Stadium 30 – 40 Sing (2), Bowen, Dezolt, Fien, Sheppard Bowen (3/4), Hannay (0/2) 9,238
Round 23 Bye
24 August Round 24 Cronulla Sharks Toyota Park 14 – 36 Bowman, Dezolt, Williams Hannay (1/3) 12,658
31 August Round 25 South Sydney Rabbitohs Aussie Stadium 36 – 34 Williams (3), Bowen, Bowman, Fien, Sing Hannay (4/7) 9,129
7 September Round 26 Parramatta Eels Dairy Farmers Stadium 15 – 6 Williams (2) Hannay (3/5), Fien (1 FG) 14,892
Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw   Bye

Statistics[edit]

Name App T G FG Pts
Ashley Alberts 5 1 - - 4
Tevita Amone 3 - - - -
Matthew Bowen 24 12 5 - 58
Paul Bowman 14 10 - - 40
Tarin Bradford 3 2 - - 8
Tim Brasher 3 - - - -
John Buttigieg 16 - - - -
Paul Dezolt 8 4 - - 16
John Doyle 11 2 - - 8
Nathan Fien 24 7 - 2 30
George Gatis 15 1 - - 4
Josh Hannay 19 3 48 - 108
Peter Jones 18 1 - - 4
Ben Laity 1 - - - -
Jaiman Lowe 16 - - - -
Micheal Luck 18 - - - -
Tim Maddison 8 1 - - 4
Jamie McDonald 12 - - - -
Kevin McGuinness 9 1 - - 4
Leigh McWilliams 9 - - - -
Glenn Morrison 15 7 16 - 60
Chris Muckert 13 2 - - 8
Shane Muspratt 17 1 - - 4
Aaron Payne 5 - - - -
Matt Petersen 8 2 - - 8
Simon Phillips 4 1 - - 4
Grant Reibel 3 - - - -
Chris Sheppard 9 1 - - 4
Matt Sing 23 16 - - 64
Daniel Strickland 13 - - - -
David Thompson 21 - - - -
Shaun Valentine 3 - - - -
Derrick Watkins 2 - - - -
Scott Whiting 13 - - - -
Ty Williams 21 13 - - 52
Totals 89 69 2 496

Source:[6]

Representatives[edit]

The following players played a representative match in 2002.

State of Origin 1 State of Origin 2 State of Origin 3
John Buttigieg
Queensland
-
-
John Doyle
Queensland
-
-

Honours[edit]

Club[edit]

Feeder Clubs[edit]

Queensland Cup[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Cowboys Hall of Fame unveiled". 6 September 2016.
  2. ^ "Introducing your 20-year team!". 17 May 2015.
  3. ^ "If Cowboys need help, Bennett is their man". 3 April 2002.
  4. ^ North Queensland Cowboys seasonhttps://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/teams/cowboys/peter-parr-is-the-creator-of-the-cowboys-enviable-culture/news-story/1406b89c0ffda792617c66abae7e4ef7
  5. ^ "Last of the original Cowboys to ride off into the sunset". 10 August 2002.
  6. ^ "NRL 2002 - North Queensland Cowboys - Rugby League Project".

19°18′58″S 146°42′43″E / 19.31611°S 146.71194°E / -19.31611; 146.71194 (Willow Sports Complex)