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1998 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

1998 North Queensland Cowboys season
NRL Rank16th
Play-off resultMissed finals
1998 recordWins: 9; draws: 0; losses: 15
Points scoredFor: 361; against: 556
Team information
CoachTim Sheens
Captain
StadiumMalanda Stadium
Avg. attendance17,034
High attendance30,250 (vs. Brisbane Broncos, Round 22)
Top scorers
TriesJosh Hannay (15)
GoalsJosh Hannay (29)
PointsJosh Hannay (118)
← 1997 1999 →

The 1998 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 4th in the club's history. Coached by Tim Sheens and captained by John Lomax, they competed in the inaugural season of the newly formed National Rugby League (NRL) competition.

Season summary

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After a disappointing 1997 season, the Cowboys entered the newly unified National Rugby League competition with high hopes. While the squad from a year earlier was kept mostly the same, the club added former Australia and Queensland representative and local favourite Dale Shearer, veteran forward Dale Fritz from the recently folded Perth Reds and former Canberra Raiders flyer Noa Nadruku, who reunited with coach Tim Sheens.

The year got off to the best start possible, as the club went on a four-game winning streak, the first time they'd won three and four games in a row. They then bounced back from a big loss to Brisbane in Round 5, with a 17-4 win over Newcastle. After six rounds, the club sat in equal 1st on 10 competition points and a maiden finals appearance looked to be a real possibility.

It turned out to be false dawn, as a five-game losing streak followed. The club would then make history in Round 12, defeating the Penrith Panthers 36-28, after trailing 26-0 at half time. As of 2019, this still stands as the biggest comeback victory in Australian first grade history. They followed that up with another milestone, recording 40 points in a game for the first time, defeating the Western Suburbs Magpies 40-10. Over the last 10 rounds, the club would win just two games, finishing in 16th place after such a promising start to the season. The club's lone representative in 1998, New Zealand's John Lomax, was named Player of the Year and Players' Player.

The club blooded two talented 18-year-olds during the season, Moranbah's Josh Hannay and Mt Isa's Scott Prince. Hannay, whose planned debut in 1996 as a 16-year-old was vetoed by the ARL, played 21 games and was the club's top try and point scorer. He went onto set numerous point scoring records for the club, playing 150 games over nine seasons, and representing Queensland on two occasions. Prince, a Junior Kangaroo in 1998, played 16 games (10 of those off the bench) and would play 53 games over three seasons before joining the Cowboys' arch-rivals, the Brisbane Broncos, in 2001. In 2005, he guided the Wests Tigers to their maiden premiership, defeating the Cowboys in the Grand Final.

Milestones

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  • Round 1: Dale Fritz, Noa Nadruku, Dale Shearer and Scott Wilson made their debuts for the club.
  • Round 2: Ray Mercy became the first player to score four tries in a match for the club.
  • Round 3: Josh Hannay made his NRL debut.
  • Round 3: The club won three games in a row for the first time.
  • Round 4: Scott Prince made his NRL debut.
  • Round 4: The club won four games in a row for the first time.
  • Round 12: The club overcame a 26-0 half time deficit to defeat Penrith 36-28 (Biggest comeback in NSWRL/ARL/NRL history).
  • Round 13: The club scored 40 points in a game for the first time.
  • Round 14: Paul Pensini made his NRL debut.
  • Round 19: Scott Donald made his NRL debut.
  • Round 20: John Malu made his NRL debut.
  • Round 21: Andrew Dunemann played his 50th game for the club, the first player to do so.
  • Round 23: Scott Whiting made his NRL debut.
  • Round 24: Denny Lambert made his NRL debut.

Squad list

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North Queensland Cowboys NRL Squad 1998
First team squad Coaching staff

Head coach

Assistant coaches


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



Squad movement

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1998 Gains

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Player Signed From
Dale Fritz Perth Reds
Leigh McWilliams Hunter Mariners
Noa Nadruku Canberra Raiders
Dale Shearer Sydney City Roosters
Scott Wilson Perth Reds

1998 Losses

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Player Signed To
Justin Loomans South Sydney Rabbitohs
Luke Phillips Manly Sea Eagles
Scott Wilson Canterbury Bulldogs (mid-season)

Ladder

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Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1 Brisbane Broncos (P) 24 18 1 5 688 310 +378 37
2 Newcastle Knights 24 18 1 5 562 381 +181 37
3 Melbourne Storm 24 17 1 6 546 372 +174 35
4 Parramatta Eels 24 17 1 6 468 349 +119 35
5 North Sydney Bears 24 17 0 7 663 367 +296 34
6 Sydney City Roosters 24 16 0 8 680 383 +297 32
7 Canberra Raiders 24 15 0 9 564 429 +135 30
8 St. George Dragons 24 13 1 10 486 490 -4 27
9 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 24 13 0 11 489 411 +78 26
10 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 24 13 0 11 503 473 +30 26
11 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 24 12 1 11 438 387 +51 25
12 Illawarra Steelers 24 11 1 12 476 539 -63 23
13 Balmain Tigers 24 9 1 14 381 463 -82 19
14 Penrith Panthers 24 8 2 14 525 580 -55 18
15 Auckland Warriors 24 9 0 15 417 518 -101 18
16 North Queensland Cowboys 24 9 0 15 361 556 -195 18
17 Adelaide Rams 24 7 0 17 393 615 -222 14
18 South Sydney Rabbitohs 24 5 0 19 339 560 -221 10
19 Gold Coast Chargers 24 4 0 20 289 654 -365 8
20 Western Suburbs Magpies 24 4 0 20 371 802 -431 8

Fixtures

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Regular season

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Date Round Opponent Venue Score Tries Goals Attendance
13 March Round 1 Adelaide Rams Adelaide Rams 18 – 8 Nadruku, Shearer, Walters Ferris (3/5) 11,289
21 March Round 2 Balmain Tigers Malanda Stadium 26 – 2 Mercy (4), Tassell Dunemann (2/3), Ferris (1/5) 18,399
29 March Round 3 Parramatta Eels Parramatta Stadium 16 – 15 Bowman, Hannay, Tassell Ferris (1/2, 2 FG), Hannay (0/1) 10,177
4 April Round 4 Canberra Raiders Malanda Stadium 14 – 12 Murphy, Nadruku Doyle (1/2), Ferris (1/1), Hannay (1/1) 20,048
12 April Round 5 Brisbane Broncos ANZ Stadium 4 – 58 Hannay Hannay (0/1) 20,904
18 April Round 6 Newcastle Knights Malanda Stadium 17 – 4 Warren (2), Hannay Hannay (2/5), Dunemann (1 FG) 18,428
25 April Round 7 Sydney City Roosters Malanda Stadium 16 – 50 Mercy, Tassell, Warren Hannay (2/3) 21,027
2 May Round 8 Cronulla Sharks Shark Park 8 – 16 Hannay, Roberts Hannay (0/2) 5,978
9 May Round 9 Canterbury Bulldogs Malanda Stadium 18 – 24 Ahmat, Hannay, Mahon, Mercy Doyle (1/3), Hannay (0/2) 15,288
17 May Round 10 Canberra Raiders Bruce Stadium 12 – 50 Cunningham, Tassell Hannay (2/2) 8,291
23 May Round 11 Parramatta Eels Malanda Stadium 12 – 29 Hannay, Tassell Hannay (2/3) 17,361
29 May Round 12 Penrith Panthers Penrith Panthers 36 – 28 Nadruku (3), Dunemann (2), Mercy, Shipway Hannay (4/7) 8,685
6 June Round 13 Western Suburbs Magpies Malanda Stadium 40 – 10 Nadruku (2), Ferris, Mercy, Prince, Tassell, Warren, Warwick Shearer (2/2), Dunemann (1/1), Ferris (1/4), Warren (0/1) 10,628
14 June Round 14 St George Dragons Kogarah Oval 14 – 16 Mercy (2), Hannay Hannay (1/3) 9,486
20 June Round 15 Melbourne Storm Malanda Stadium 8 – 10 Mercy Hannay (2/3) 24,464
28 June Round 16 Illawarra Steelers WIN Stadium 18 – 24 Hannay (2), Nadruku, Tabuai Hannay (1/4) 6,558
4 July Round 17 Gold Coast Chargers Malanda Stadium 14 – 4 Hannay, Shearer Hannay (3/4) 7,127
11 July Round 18 Balmain Tigers Leichhardt Oval 0 – 18 10,653
18 July Round 19 Adelaide Rams Malanda Stadium 14 – 10 Hannay, Locke Hannay (3/4) 11,340
25 July Round 20 South Sydney Rabbitohs Malanda Stadium 16 – 22 Dunemann, Nadruku, Walters Hannay (2/3) 10,409
31 July Round 21 Auckland Warriors Ericsson Stadium 18 – 34 Hannay, Mercy, Shipway Hannay (3/4) 4,500
8 August Round 22 Brisbane Broncos Malanda Stadium 10 – 22 Nadruku (2) Hannay (1/3) 30,250
16 August Round 23 Manly Sea Eagles Brookvale Oval 12 – 28 Hannay (3) Hannay (0/3) 8,422
23 August Round 24 North Sydney Bears North Sydney Oval 0 – 62 15,604
Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw   Bye

Statistics

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Name App T G FG Pts
Jimmy Ahmat 2 1 - - 4
Paul Bowman 6 1 - - 4
John Buttigieg 9 - - - -
Michael Coorey 7 - - - -
Owen Cunningham 23 1 - - 4
Jason Death 17 - - - -
Scott Donald 1 - - - -
John Doyle 8 - 2 - 4
Andrew Dunemann 21 3 3 1 19
Jason Ferris 19 1 7 2 20
Dale Fritz 21 - - - -
Josh Hannay 21 15 29 - 118
Liam Johnson 2 - - - -
Denny Lambert 1 - - - -
Martin Locke 17 1 - - 4
John Lomax 21 - - - -
Scott Mahon 4 1 - - 4
John Malu 2 - - - -
Ray Mercy 24 12 - - 48
Glen Murphy 9 1 - - 4
Noa Nadruku 22 11 - - 44
Paul Pensini 6 - - - -
Scott Prince 16 1 - - 4
Ian Roberts 12 1 - - 4
Luke Scott 10 - - - -
Dale Shearer 13 2 2 - 12
Mark Shipway 19 2 - - 8
Bert Tabuai 5 1 - - 4
Kris Tassell 18 6 - - 24
Steve Walters 22 2 - - 8
Kyle Warren 20 4 - - 16
Adam Warwick 7 1 - - 4
Scott Whiting 1 - - - -
Scott Wilson 2 - - - -
Totals 68 43 3 361

Source:[1]

Representatives

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The following players played a representative match in 1998.

Anzac Test
John Lomax
New Zealand

Feeder Clubs

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Honours

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Club

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References

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  1. ^ "NRL 1998 - North Queensland Cowboys - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org.

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