2010 North Queensland Cowboys season


The 2010 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 16th season in the club's history. Coached by Neil Henry and co-captained by Johnathan Thurston and Matthew Scott, they competed in the National Rugby League's 2010 Telstra Premiership, finishing in 15th place and failing to make the finals for the 3rd consecutive year.

Season summary

Prior to the kick-off of the 2010 season, the media's attention surrounded the Cowboys' signing of ex-Australian international forward, Willie Mason on a one-year deal. The controversial figure was one of the team's most consistent players in 2010 but would leave the Cowboys at season's end to join English Super League side Hull Kingston Rovers.
2010 resulted in a very poor season for the Cowboys who recorded just five wins from 24 matches, although four of those wins came against teams that would participate in the 2010 finals series. Had the Melbourne Storm not been deducted premiership points for salary cap breaches earlier in the year, the Cowboys would have received the wooden spoon. During the season the side went on a three-game losing streak, two four-game losing streaks and ended the season on a run of six straight losses.
Highlights during the season included a golden point extra time victory over the Newcastle Knights in Round 20, in which rookie winger Will Tupou scored the match-winning try and the debuts of 18-year old Michael Morgan and 17-year old Jason Taumalolo, who would go on to play integral roles in the Cowboys' first Premiership win in 2015. Taumalolo was the youngest player to ever make his debut for the Cowboys.
The Cowboys' season of disappointment only got worse when Johnathan Thurston was arrested in Brisbane for drunk and disorderly behaviour during the off-season. His captaincy role at the Cowboys was under review, but no further action was taken. Furthermore, CEO Peter Parr was removed from his role and relegated to football operations manager.
During the off-season the club underwent a major overhaul of personnel, releasing 15 players and signing a number of new recruits for 2011, including Queensland and Australian representatives Dallas Johnson and Brent Tate.

Milestones

Squad Movement

2010 Gains

2010 Losses

Ladder

Fixtures

Pre-season

Regular season

Statistics

Source:

Representatives

The following players have played a representative match in 2010
All Stars matchCity vs CountryState of Origin 1State of Origin 2State of Origin 3Prime Minister's XIIIFour Nations
Matthew Bowen
-
-
-
-
-
Prime Minister's XIII
-
Willie Mason
-
Country
-
-
-
-
-
Luke O'Donnell
NRL All Stars
-
-
New South Wales
-
-
-
Matthew Scott
-
-
Queensland
Queensland
Queensland
-
Australia
Johnathan Thurston
Indigenous All Stars
-
Queensland
Queensland
Queensland
-
-
Willie Tonga
-
-
Queensland
Queensland
Queensland
Prime Minister's XIII
Australia
Anthony Watts
-
-
-
-
-
Prime Minister's XIII
-
Carl Webb
Indigenous All Stars
-
-
-
-
-
-
Ty Williams
Indigenous All Stars
-
-
-
-
-
-

Honours

League

National Youth Competition">National Youth Competition (rugby league)">National Youth Competition