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1996 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)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1996 North Queensland Cowboys season
ARL Rank17th
Play-off resultMissed finals
1996 recordWins: 6; draws: 0; losses: 15
Points scoredFor: 288; against: 643
Team information
CoachGraham Lowe
Captain
StadiumStockland Stadium
Avg. attendance19,366
High attendance27,096 (vs. South Sydney Rabbitohs, Round 16)
Top scorers
TriesDavid Bouveng, Kris Tassell (8)
GoalsShane Howarth (21)
PointsShane Howarth (49)
← 1995 1997 →

The 1996 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 2nd in the club's history. Coached by Graham Lowe and captained by Adrian Vowles, they competed in the Optus Cup.

Season summary

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After finishing their debut season in last place, there was nowhere to go but up for the Cowboys in 1996. Under new head coach, former New Zealand, Queensland, Manly and Wigan boss Graham Lowe, the club recruited fairly strongly bringing in first grade regulars Jason Death (from Canberra) and Andrew Dunemann (from Gold Coast), former All Black Shane Howarth and New Zealand representatives Se'e Solomona and Whetu Taewa. Dunemann's signing would see him reunite with his brother Ian, the pair becoming the first siblings to play for the club.

Due to the ongoing Super League war, the clubs affiliated with the breakaway competition refused to participate in their Round 1 games, with the Cowboys' opening fixture, against fellow Super League-aligned club the Canterbury Bulldogs, cancelled. After losing their first game of the year against the Sydney City Roosters, the Cowboys picked up their first win of the season a week later against the Sydney Tigers. Seven straight losses followed until a Round 11 victory over the Newcastle Knights was followed by a win over the Cronulla Sharks, the club's first ever back-to-back wins. After four straight losses, the Cowboys ended the season in their strongest form to date, with three wins from their final six games. That included a win over the St George Dragons at Kogarah Oval in Round 21, the club's first win in Sydney. The club would end their second season in 17th place, with six wins from 21 games, tripling their win total from the year before. Steve Edmed, a long time Balmain Tiger who joined the Cowboys for the 1996 season, was named Player of the Year after playing in all 21 games in his lone season with the club.

The club made headlines during the season when Moranbah junior Josh Hannay was named to make his first grade debut at just 16-years old. The selection was later vetoed by the Australian Rugby League as Hannay was not 16 when the year began. Had he played, he would have been the second youngest player to make his senior debut in Australian rugby league history. Hannay would make his debut two years later and go onto play 150 games for the club over nine seasons.[1][2]

Milestones

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Squad list

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North Queensland Cowboys ARL Squad 1996
First team squad Coaching staff

Head coach

Assistant coach


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



Squad movement

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1996 Gains

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Player Signed From
Scott Brown Cronulla Sharks
Jason Death Canberra Raiders
Andrew Dunemann Gold Coast Chargers
Steve Edmed Sydney Tigers
Shane Howarth Auckland RU
Martin Locke South Queensland Crushers
Willie Poching Auckland Warriors
Se'e Solomona Auckland Warriors
Whetu Taewa Auckland Warriors
Kris Tassell Canterbury Bulldogs

1996 Losses

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Player Signed To
Martin Bella Gold Coast Chargers
Jonathan Davies Cardiff RFC
Kevin Ellis Gold Coast Chargers
Jason Erba Sheffield Eagles
Michael Hogue Paris Saint-Germain
David Maiden Cairns Cyclones
Andrew Meads Sydney Tigers
Craig Menkins Paris Saint-Germain
Ian Russell Paris Saint-Germain (mid-season)
Laurie Spina Retired

Ladder

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Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles (P) 22 18 0 4 549 191 +358 36
2 Brisbane Broncos 21 17 0 4 607 263 +344 34
3 North Sydney Bears 22 15 2 5 598 325 +273 32
4 Sydney City Roosters 22 15 1 6 521 321 +200 31
5 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 21 14 2 5 399 268 +131 30
6 Canberra Raiders 21 13 1 7 538 384 +154 27
7 St. George Dragons 21 12 1 8 443 360 +83 27
8 Western Suburbs Magpies 22 12 1 9 394 434 −40 25
9 Newcastle Knights 21 10 1 10 416 388 +28 23
10 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 21 11 0 10 375 378 −3 22
11 Auckland Warriors 21 10 0 11 412 427 −15 22
12 Sydney Tigers 22 11 0 11 319 459 −140 22
13 Parramatta Eels 21 9 1 11 404 415 −11 21
14 Illawarra Steelers 22 8 0 14 403 444 −41 16
15 Penrith Panthers 21 7 1 13 363 464 −101 15
16 Western Reds 21 6 1 14 313 420 −107 13
17 North Queensland Cowboys 21 6 0 15 288 643 −355 12
18 Gold Coast Chargers 22 5 1 16 359 521 −162 11
19 South Sydney Rabbitohs 22 5 1 16 314 634 −320 11
20 South Queensland Crushers 21 3 0 18 220 496 −276 8

Fixtures

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Regular season

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Date Round Opponent Venue Score Tries Goals Attendance
23 March Round 1 Canterbury Bulldogs Stockland Stadium Cancelled due to Super League clubs refusing to play
30 March Round 2 Sydney City Roosters Stockland Stadium 2 – 40 Howarth (1/1) 16,186
6 April Round 3 Sydney Tigers Stockland Stadium 17 – 2 Tassell (2), Peter Jones Cressbrook (2/4), Howarth (1 FG) 15,912
14 April Round 4 Canberra Raiders Bruce Stadium 10 – 66 Bartlett, Taewa Howarth (1/2) 9,115
21 April Round 5 Brisbane Broncos ANZ Stadium 14 – 58 Skardon, Tassell, Vowles Howarth (1/3) 18,609
27 April Round 6 North Sydney Bears Stockland Stadium 6 – 50 Skardon Howarth (1/2) 20,864
5 May Round 7 Manly Sea Eagles Brookvale Oval 4 – 46 Edmed Cressbrook (0/1) 5,227
11 May Round 8 Illawarra Steelers Stockland Stadium 8 – 24 Tassell (2) Cressbrook (0/2) 15,289
25 May Round 9 Parramatta Eels Stockland Stadium 12 – 26 Loomans, Tassell Cressbrook (1/2), Poching (1/1) 12,088
9 June Round 10 Sydney City Roosters SFS 14 – 38 I. Dunemann, Tassell, Vowles Poching (1/3) 9,287
15 June Round 11 Newcastle Knights Stockland Stadium 26 – 10 Loomans (2), Death, Murphy, Tassell Cressbrook (3/3), I. Dunemann (0/1), Poching (0/2) 14,153
22 June Round 12 Cronulla Sharks Stockland Stadium 16 – 10 Bouveng, Cressbrook, Gibson Cressbrook (2/3) 22,014
29 June Round 13 Sydney Tigers Parramatta Stadium 16 – 18 Coorey, A. Dunemann, Gibson Cressbrook (2/2), Poching (0/1) 4,257
6 July Round 14 Penrith Panthers Stockland Stadium 0 – 21 25,068
14 July Round 15 Western Suburbs Magpies Campbelltown Stadium 32 – 40 Miller (2), Cressbrook, A. Dunemann, Loomans, Morganson Cressbrook (2/3), Vowles (2/2), Poching (0/1) 5,281
20 July Round 16 South Sydney Rabbitohs Stockland Stadium 20 – 22 Bowman, I. Dunemann, Loomans Howarth (3/3), Vowles (1/1) 27,096
26 July Round 17 Gold Coast Chargers Carrara Stadium 24 – 14 Bowman, Howarth, Loomans Howarth (6/6) 5,777
3 August Round 18 Auckland Warriors Ericsson Stadium 6 – 52 Death Howarth (1/1) 14,600
9 August Round 19 South Queensland Crushers Stockland Stadium 11 – 6 Miller (2) Howarth (1/3, 1 FG) 24,989
17 August Round 20 Western Reds WACA 4 – 30 Taewa Howarth (0/1) 5,889
25 August Round 21 St George Dragons Kogarah Oval 24 – 20 Gibson (2), Johnson, Loomans Howarth (3/4, 1 FG), A. Dunemann (1 FG) 9,062
1 September Round 22 Canterbury Bulldogs Belmore Oval 22 – 50 Death, Locke, Loomans, Morganson Howarth (3/4) 6,595
Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw   Bye

Statistics

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Name App T G FG Pts
Faron Anderson 1 - - - -
George Bartlett 6 1 - - 4
David Bouveng 5 1 - - 4
Paul Bowman 6 2 - - 8
Scott Brown 6 - - - -
Andrew Bulmer 1 - - - -
John Buttigieg 9 - - - -
Michael Coorey 11 1 - - 4
Reggie Cressbrook 15 2 12 - 32
Jason Death 20 3 - - 12
Andrew Dunemann 16 2 - 1 9
Ian Dunemann 13 2 - - 8
Steve Edmed 21 1 - - 4
Paul Galea 5 - - - -
Damian Gibson 11 4 - - 16
Leigh Groves 2 - - - -
Shane Howarth 12 1 21 3 49
Liam Johnson 6 1 - - 4
Peter Jones 19 1 - - 4
Aaron Ketchell 6 - - - -
Martin Locke 11 1 - - 4
Justin Loomans 21 8 - - 32
Jason Martin 12 - - - -
Jamie Mathiou 4 - - - -
Marshall Miller 6 4 - - 16
Willie Morganson 4 2 - - 8
Glen Murphy 15 1 - - 4
Willie Poching 16 - 2 - 4
Ian Russell 1 - - - -
Dean Schifilliti 10 - - - -
Wayne Sing 15 - - - -
John Skardon 3 2 - - 8
Se'e Solomona 4 - - - -
Whetu Taewa 12 2 - - 8
Kris Tassell 9 8 - - 32
Adrian Vowles 21 2 3 - 14
Graham White 1 - - - -
Totals 52 38 4 288

Source:[3]

Honours

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Club

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References

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  1. ^ "Where Are They Now: Josh Hannay". 24 August 2011.
  2. ^ "Year 2 - 1996 - Cowboys". Archived from the original on 20 August 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  3. ^ "ARL 1996 - 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)