2003 North Queensland Cowboys season

The 2003 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 9th in the club's history. coached by Graham Murray and captained by Paul Bowman, they competed in the NRL's 2003 Telstra Premiership, finishing 11th (out of 15). Paul Rauhihi was named the club's player of the year.^[1]

The 2003 season saw the emergence of this mostly unknown Cowboys squad, with Matthew Bowen making his State of Origin debut in the second game at 21 years of age. The Cowboys spent two weeks in the top eight, in Rounds 3 and 12, but faltered to finish 11th at the end of the season.

Ladder

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Penrith	24	18	0	6	2	659	527	+132	40
2	Sydney	24	17	0	7	2	680	445	+235	38
3	Bulldogs	24	16	0	8	2	702	419	+283	36
4	Canberra	24	16	0	8	2	620	463	+157	36
5	Melbourne	24	15	0	9	2	564	486	+78	34
6	New Zealand	24	15	0	9	2	545	510	+35	34
7	Newcastle	24	14	0	10	2	632	635	-3	32
8	Brisbane	24	12	0	12	2	497	464	+33	28
9	Parramatta	24	11	0	13	2	570	582	-12	26
10	St George Illawarra	24	11	0	13	2	548	593	-45	26
11	North Queensland	24	10	0	14	2	606	629	-23	24
12	Cronulla	24	8	0	16	2	497	704	-207	20
13	Wests Tigers	24	7	0	17	2	470	598	-128	18
14	Manly	24	7	0	17	2	470	791	-234	18
15	South Sydney	24	3	0	21	2	457	758	-301	10

Squad

• Jason Barsley
• Brenton Bowen
• Matthew Bowen
• Paul Bowman (C)
• John Buttigieg
• Paul Dezolt
• Nathan Fien
• George Gatis
• Josh Hannay
• Jacob Lillyman
• Jaiman Lowe
• Michael Luck
• Jamie McDonald
• Paul McNicholas
• Leigh McWilliams
• Glenn Morrison
• Chris Muckert
• Shane Muspratt
• David Myles
• Aaron Payne
• Paul Rauhihi
• Chris Shepperd
• Matt Sing
• Daniel Sorbello
• Daniel Strickland
• David Thompson
• Derricke Watkins
• Scott Whiting
• Ty Williams

Draw and Results

Round	Opponent	Result	Nth.Qld	Opp.	Date	Venue
1	Canberra Raiders	Loss	14	46	Mar 15	Dairy Farmers Stadium
2	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	Win	30	20	Mar 22	Dairy Farmers Stadium
3	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Win	27	20	Mar 30	Aussie Stadium
4	Brisbane Broncos	Loss	24	32	Apr 5	Dairy Farmers Stadium
5	Sydney Roosters	Loss	0	32	Apr 12	Dairy Farmers Stadium
6	New Zealand Warriors	Loss	24	30	Apr 21	Ericsson Stadium
7	Melbourne Storm	Win	32	12	Apr 26	Dairy Farmers Stadium
8	BYE
9	Brisbane Broncos	Loss	12	38	May 11	ANZ Stadium
10	Wests Tigers	Win	26	8	May 17	Dairy Farmers Stadium
11	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	Win	31	20	May 24	Brookvale Oval
12	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Win	36	16	June 1	Oki Jubilee Stadium
13	Penrith Panthers	Loss	24	28	June 7	Dairy Farmers Stadium
14	Sydney Roosters	Loss	14	15	June 15	Aussie Stadium
15	Parramatta Eels	Loss	22	24	June 21	Parramatta Stadium
16	Cronulla Sharks	Loss	28	34	June 28	Dairy Farmers Stadium
17	New Zealand Warriors	Win	30	10	July 5	Dairy Farmers Stadium
18	Melbourne Storm	Loss	16	22	July 12	Olympic Park Stadium
19	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Loss	16	36	July 19	Dairy Farmers Stadium
20	Canterbury Bulldogs	Loss	22	42	July 27	Sydney Showground
21	BYE
22	Newcastle Knights	Loss	24	60	August 9	Dairy Farmers Stadium
23	Canberra Raiders	Win	34	28	August 16	Canberra Stadium
24	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Win	60	8	August 23	Dairy Farmers Stadium
25	Wests Tigers	Win	34	14	August 31	Campbelltown Stadium
26	Newcastle Knights	Loss	26	34	September 7	EnergyAustralia Stadium

References

1. ^ Honours at cowboys.com.au