2004 North Queensland Cowboys season

The 2004 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 10th in the club's history. Coached by Graham Murray and captained by Travis Norton, they competed in the National Rugby League's 2004 Telstra Premiership and made the finals for the first time, finishing 7th (out of 15). The Cowboys then came within one match of the grand final but lost to the Sydney Roosters. Luke O'Donnell was named the club's player of the year.^[1]

Post-season Matt Bowen became the first Cowboys-developed player to be selected to represent Australia.

Ladder

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Sydney	24	19	0	5	2	710	368	+342	42
2	Bulldogs	24	19	0	5	2	760	491	+269	42
3	Brisbane	24	16	1	7	2	602	533	+69	37
4	Penrith	24	15	0	9	2	672	567	+105	34
5	St George Illawarra	24	14	0	10	2	624	415	+209	32
6	Melbourne	24	13	0	11	2	684	517	+167	30
7	North Queensland	24	12	1	11	2	526	514	+12	29
8	Canberra	24	11	0	13	2	554	613	-59	26
9	Wests Tigers	24	10	0	14	2	509	534	-25	24
10	Newcastle	24	10	0	14	2	516	617	-101	24
11	Cronulla	24	10	0	14	2	528	645	-117	24
12	Parramatta	24	9	0	15	2	517	626	-109	22
13	Manly	24	9	0	15	2	615	754	-139	22
14	New Zealand	24	6	0	18	2	427	693	-266	16
15	South Sydney	24	5	2	17	2	455	812	-357	16

Squad

• Brenton Bowen
• Matthew Bowen
• Paul Bowman*
• Kevin Campion
• David Faiumu
• Nathan Fien
• Josh Hannay
• Rod Jensen
• Jaiman Lowe
• Michael Luck
• Jamie McDonald
• Leigh McWilliams
• Glenn Morrison*
• David Myles
• Travis Norton*
• Luke O'Donnell
• Aaron Payne
• Paul Rauhihi*
• Mitchell Sargent
• Matthew Scott
• Chris Sheppard
• Matt Sing
• Daniel Sorbello
• Daniel Stickland
• Neil Sweeney
• Shane Tronc
• Ty Williams

(*)Indicates player has captained the team in 2004.

Draw and Results

Round	Opponent	Result	Nth.Qld	Opp.	Date	Venue
1	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	Loss	20	24	Mar 13	Dairy Farmers Stadium
2	BYE
3	Canberra Raiders	Loss	18	19	Mar 27	Dairy Farmers Stadium
4	Wests Tigers	Loss	8	18	Apr 3	Dairy Farmers Stadium
5	Cronulla Sharks	Win	36	10	Apr 11	Toyota Park
6	Brisbane Broncos	Loss	12	19	Apr 17	Dairy Farmers Stadium
7	Melbourne Storm	Loss	6	28	Apr 25	Olympic Park
8	Parramatta Eels	Win	24	20	May 1	Parramatta Stadium
9	New Zealand Warriors	Win	16	8	May 8	Dairy Farmers Stadium
10	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Draw	20	20	May 15	Express Advocate Stadium
11	Penrith Panthers	Loss	22	18	May 22	Dairy Farmers Stadium
12	BYE
13	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Win	14	12	June 4	WIN Stadium
14	Newcastle Knights	Win	30	6	June 12	Dairy Farmers Stadium
15	New Zealand Warriors	Win	28	26	June 20	Ericsson Stadium
16	Canterbury Bulldogs	Loss	18	32	June 26	Dairy Farmers Stadium
17	Sydney Roosters	Loss	32	22	July 3	Express Advocate Stadium
18	Canberra Raiders	Loss	28	32	July 10	Canberra Stadium
19	Parramatta Eels	Win	28	6	July 17	Dairy Farmers Stadium
20	Newcastle Knights	Win	28	24	July 25	EnergyAustralia Stadium
21	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Win	34	10	July 31	Dairy Farmers Stadium
22	Canterbury Bulldogs	Loss	16	36	August 8	Sydney Showground
23	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Win	36	22	August 14	Dairy Farmers Stadium
24	Penrith Panthers	Loss	6	56	August 21	CUA Stadium
25	Wests Tigers	Win	24	12	August 29	Campbelltown Stadium
26	Cronulla Sharks	Win	38	20	September 4	Dairy Farmers Stadium

Final Series

Qualifying Finals September 11, 2004	North Queensland Cowboys	30 - 22	Canterbury Bulldogs	Telstra Stadium, Sydney Attendance: 18,371 Referee/s: Tim Mander
		Report

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Semi Final September 18, 2004	North Queensland Cowboys	10 - 0	Brisbane Broncos	Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville Attendance: 24,989 Referee/s: Tim Mander
	Tries: David Myles (1) Goals: Josh Hannay 3/3	Report

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Preliminary Final September 26, 2004	Sydney Roosters	19 - 16	North Queensland Cowboys	Telstra Stadium, Sydney Attendance: 43,048 Referee/s: Paul Simpkins
	Tries: Ryan Cross (1) Brad Fittler (1) Goals: Craig Fitzgibbon 5/5 Field Goals: Brett Finch (1)	Report	Tries: Ty Williams (2) Paul Bowman (1) Goals: Josh Hannay 2/3

Season Statistics

• Won: 12, Drawn: 1, Lost: 11, Byes: 0
• For: 526 (0 tries, 0 goals, 0 fgoals)
• Against: 514 (0 tries, 0 goals, 0 fgoals)
• Points: 25, Difference: 12

References

1. ^ Honours at cowboys.com.au