2021 North Queensland Cowboys season

2021 North Queensland Cowboys season
NRL Rank15th
Play-off resultMissed finals
2021 recordWins: 7; draws: 0; losses: 17
Points scoredFor: 460; against: 748
Team information
CEOJeff Reibel
CoachTodd Payten
Captain
StadiumQueensland Country Bank Stadium
Avg. attendance14,472
High attendance22,222 (vs. Brisbane Broncos, Round 9)
Top scorers
TriesKyle Feldt (12)
GoalsValentine Holmes (54)
PointsValentine Holmes (126)
← 2020 2022 →

The 2021 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 27th in the club's history. Coached by Todd Payten and captained by Jason Taumalolo, they competed in the NRL's 2021 Telstra Premiership.

The 2021 season was the Cowboys' first under Payten, who joined the club from the New Zealand Warriors on a three-year deal. He became the club's eighth full-time head coach and their 10th overall.[1][2] On 16 December 2020, Taumalolo was named as co-captain of the club alongside Morgan.[3]

The club endured another disappointing season in 2021, missing the finals for the fourth consecutive year.[4]

Season summary

[edit]

On 9 April, co-captain Michael Morgan announced his immediate retirement from rugby league due to an ongoing shoulder injury.[5]

Milestones

[edit]

Squad

[edit]
North Queensland Cowboys 2021 Squad
NRL squad Coaching Staff

Head coach

Assistant coaches

Legend:
  • (c) Captain(s)
  • (vc) Vice-captain(s)
  • D Development player[7]

Updated: 27 August 2021
Source(s): NQ Cowboys


Squad movement

[edit]

Gains

[edit]
Player Signed From Until End of Notes
Javid Bowen Northern Pride
2022
[8]
Kane Bradley Wests Tigers
2022
[9]
Lachlan Burr New Zealand Warriors
2022
[10]
Tom Dearden Brisbane Broncos (mid-season)
2024
[11]
Laitia Moceidreke Canterbury Bulldogs (mid-season)
2023
[12]

Losses

[edit]
Player Signed To Until End of Notes
John Asiata Brisbane Broncos
2021
[13]
Michael Bell Townsville Blackhawks (mid-season)
2021
Jake Clifford Newcastle Knights (mid-season)
2023
[14]
Gavin Cooper Retired
–
[15]
Wiremu Greig Parramatta Eels (mid-season)
2023
[16]
Esan Marsters Gold Coast Titans (mid-season)
2022
[17]
Josh McGuire St George Illawarra Dragons (mid-season)
2022
[18]
Michael Morgan Retired (mid-season)
–
[5]
Justin O'Neill Retired (mid-season)
–
[19]
Tom Opacic Parramatta Eels
2021
[20]
Dan Russell Brisbane Tigers
2021
[21]
Tukimihia Simpkins Wests Tigers
2023
[9]
Garrett Smith Newcastle Knights
2021
[22]

Re-signings

[edit]
Player Club Until End of Notes
Javid Bowen North Queensland Cowboys
2022
[23]
Ben Condon North Queensland Cowboys
2023
[24]
Scott Drinkwater North Queensland Cowboys
2023
[25]
Jake Granville North Queensland Cowboys
2022
[26]
Ben Hampton North Queensland Cowboys
2022
[27]
Griffin Neame North Queensland Cowboys
2023
[24]
Riley Price North Queensland Cowboys
2023
[24]

Ladder

[edit]
2021 NRL season
Pos Team Pld W D L B PF PA PD Pts
1 Melbourne Storm 24 21 0 3 1 815 316 +499 44
2 Penrith Panthers (P) 24 21 0 3 1 676 286 +390 44
3 South Sydney Rabbitohs 24 20 0 4 1 775 453 +322 42
4 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 24 16 0 8 1 744 492 +252 34
5 Sydney Roosters 24 16 0 8 1 630 489 +141 34
6 Parramatta Eels 24 15 0 9 1 566 457 +109 32
7 Newcastle Knights 24 12 0 12 1 428 571 −143 26
8 Gold Coast Titans 24 10 0 14 1 580 583 −3 22
9 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 24 10 0 14 1 520 556 −36 22
10 Canberra Raiders 24 10 0 14 1 481 578 −97 22
11 St. George Illawarra Dragons 24 8 0 16 1 474 616 −142 18
12 New Zealand Warriors 24 8 0 16 1 453 624 −171 18
13 Wests Tigers 24 8 0 16 1 500 714 −214 18
14 Brisbane Broncos 24 7 0 17 1 446 695 −249 16
15 North Queensland Cowboys 24 7 0 17 1 460 748 −288 16
16 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 24 3 0 21 1 340 710 −370 8

Fixtures

[edit]

Pre-season

[edit]

On 13 February, the Cowboys played the Townsville Blackhawks in an unofficial hour-long scrimmage match in Ayr.[28]

Date Round Opponent Venue Score Tries Goals Attendance
Saturday, 27 February Trial 1 Brisbane Broncos Moreton Daily Stadium 34 – 18 Drinkwater, Dunn, Feldt, Holmes, Marsters, Tabuai-Fidow Clifford (3/4), Holmes (2/2)
Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw   Bye

Regular season

[edit]
Date Round Opponent Venue Score Tries Goals Attendance
Saturday, 13 March Round 1 Penrith Panthers Panthers Stadium 0 – 24 14,077
Saturday, 20 March Round 2 St George Illawarra Dragons Queensland Country Bank Stadium 18 – 25 Granville, Hess, Holmes Holmes (3/3) 15,120
Sunday, 28 March Round 3 Gold Coast Titans Queensland Country Bank Stadium 8 – 44 Tabuai-Fidow, Taulagi Holmes (0/2) 12,621
Saturday, 3 April Round 4 Cronulla Sharks Netstrata Jubilee Stadium 10 – 48 Holmes, Tabuai-Fidow Holmes (1/2) 5,119
Sunday, 11 April Round 5 Wests Tigers Leichhardt Oval 34 – 30 Taulagi (2), Burr, Condon, Drinkwater, Tabuai-Fidow Holmes (5/6) 9,433
Sunday, 18 April Round 6 Canterbury Bulldogs Queensland Country Bank Stadium 30 – 18 Condon, Dunn, Feldt, Granville, Robson Holmes (5/5) 11,965
Saturday, 24 April Round 7 Canberra Raiders Queensland Country Bank Stadium 26 – 24 Condon, Feldt, O'Neill, Robson Holmes (5/5) 13,791
Sunday, 2 May Round 8 Warriors Central Coast Stadium 20 – 24 Taulagi (2), Drinkwater, Robson Holmes (2/4) 3,692
Saturday, 8 May Round 9 Brisbane Broncos Queensland Country Bank Stadium 19 – 18 Feldt, Lemuelu, Taumalolo Holmes (3/4, 1 FG) 22,222
Saturday, 15 May Round 10 Sydney Roosters Suncorp Stadium 16 – 30 Drinkwater (2), Bowen Holmes (2/4) 45,122
Thursday, 20 May Round 11 Newcastle Knights Queensland Country Bank Stadium 36 – 20 Taulagi (3), Dunn, Holmes, Luki, Robson Holmes (4/7) 11,208
Friday, 28 May Round 12 Warriors Queensland Country Bank Stadium 29 – 28 Clifford, Drinkwater, Feldt, Tabuai-Fidow, Taulagi Holmes (4/5, 1 FG) 14,951
Round 13 Bye
Friday, 11 June Round 14 Manly Sea Eagles 4 Pines Park 18 – 50 Bowen, Tabuai-Fidow, Taulagi Holmes (3/3) 6,801
Friday, 18 June Round 15 Cronulla Sharks Queensland Country Bank Stadium 24 – 26 Feldt (2), Dearden, Molo Holmes (4/4) 13,926
Saturday, 3 July Round 16 Newcastle Knights McDonald Jones Stadium 0 – 38 7,610
Friday, 9 July Round 17 South Sydney Rabbitohs McDonald Jones Stadium 18 - 46 Dearden, Wright, Feldt Drinkwater (3/4) 3,127
Saturday, 17 July Round 18 Sydney Roosters Queensland Country Bank Stadium 18 - 34 Bowen, Tabuai-Fidow, Robson Drinkwater (3/3) 15,933
Friday, 23 July Round 19 Melbourne Storm Queensland Country Bank Stadium 16 – 20 Bradley, Feldt, Hess Drinkwater (2/3) 14,924
Friday, 30 July Round 20 Brisbane Broncos Suncorp Stadium 18 – 37 Dearden, Feldt, Granville Drinkwater (3/4) 29,136
Sunday, 8 August Round 21 Gold Coast Titans Cbus Super Stadium 14 – 36 Dearden, Feldt, Holmes Holmes (1/3) 0[29]
Saturday, 14 August Round 22 Wests Tigers Queensland Country Bank Stadium 16 – 24 Dearden, Hampton, Nanai Holmes (2/4) 12,663
Saturday, 21 August Round 23 Parramatta Eels Cbus Super Stadium 16 – 32 Granville, Luki, Moceidreke Holmes (2/3) 3,013
Saturday, 28 August Round 24 St George Illawarra Dragons Browne Park 38 – 26 Feldt (2), Dearden, Hampton, Luki, Robson, Tabuai-Fidow Holmes (5/7) 4,487
Sunday, 4 September Round 25 Manly Sea Eagles Queensland Country Bank Stadium 18 – 46 Condon, McLean, Tabuai-Fidow Holmes (3/3) 14,336
Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw   Bye

Statistics

[edit]
Name App T G FG Pts
Daejarn Asi 5 - - - -
Javid Bowen 9 3 - - 12
Kane Bradley 2 1 - - 4
Lachlan Burr 15 1 - - 4
Jake Clifford 7 1 - - 4
Ben Condon 11 4 - - 16
Reuben Cotter 6 - - - -
Tom Dearden 12 6 - - 24
Scott Drinkwater 24 5 11 - 42
Mitchell Dunn 20 2 - - 8
Kyle Feldt 20 12 - - 48
Tom Gilbert 11 - - - -
Jake Granville 24 4 - - 16
Ben Hampton 10 2 - - 8
Coen Hess 22 2 - - 8
Peter Hola 3 - - - -
Valentine Holmes 20 4 54 2 126
Corey Jensen 9 - - - -
Connelly Lemuelu 13 1 - - 4
Heilum Luki 11 3 - - 12
Esan Marsters 3 - - - -
Josh McGuire 4 - - - -
Jordan McLean 24 1 - - 4
Laitia Moceidreke 1 1 - - 4
Francis Molo 19 1 - - 4
Michael Morgan 2 - - - -
Jeremiah Nanai 4 1 - - 4
Griffin Neame 3 - - - -
Justin O'Neill 5 1 - - 4
Reece Robson 24 6 - - 24
Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow 14 8 - - 32
Murray Taulagi 20 10 - - 40
Jason Taumalolo 15 1 - - 4
Shane Wright 16 1 - - 4
Totals 82 65 2 460

Representatives

[edit]

The following players have played a representative match in 2021.

All Stars match State of Origin 1 State of Origin 2 State of Origin 3
Daejarn Asi
Māori All Stars
Reuben Cotter
Indigenous All Stars
Kyle Feldt
Queensland
Queensland
Wiremu Greig
Māori All Stars
Valentine Holmes
Queensland
Queensland
Queensland
Esan Marsters
Māori All Stars
Francis Molo
Queensland
Queensland
Emry Pere
Māori All Stars
Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow
Queensland

Honours

[edit]

Club

[edit]

Feeder Clubs

[edit]

Queensland Cup

[edit]

Women's team

[edit]

QRL Women's Premiership

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Newton, Alicia (4 September 2020). "Todd gets the nod: Cowboys name Payten as new coach". NRL.com. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  2. ^ "North Queensland Cowboys name Todd Payten coach for next three seasons". Wide World of Sports. 30 August 2020.
  3. ^ "Taumalolo named Cowboys co-captainTaumalolo named Cowboys co-captain". NQ Cowboys. 16 December 2020.
  4. ^ "Storm chasers: Turbo sizzles as Sea Eagles set up epic clash". NRL. 4 September 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Morgan announces immediate retirement". NQ Cowboys. 9 April 2021.
  6. ^ "Storm survive stern Cowboys test to make it 15 straight". NRL. 23 July 2021.
  7. ^ Development players train with the Top 30 squad but cannot play NRL until after Round 10
  8. ^ "Cowboys sign Bowen". NQ Cowboys. 3 February 2021.
  9. ^ a b "Simpkins released, Bradley signed". cowboys.com.au. 5 February 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  10. ^ "Cowboys sign Burr". NQ Cowboys. 21 October 2020.
  11. ^ "Dearden to join Cowboys with immediate effect". NQ Cowboys. 29 May 2021.
  12. ^ "Cowboys Apollo Register update". NQ Cowboys. 30 June 2021.
  13. ^ "Title-Winner Asiata Joins Broncos". broncos.com.au. 13 December 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  14. ^ "Jake Clifford joins Knights for remainder of 2021 season". newcastleknights.com.au. 29 May 2021.
  15. ^ "Cooper to depart Cowboys". cowboys.com.au. 30 September 2020. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  16. ^ "Cowboys rocked as another man signs south".
  17. ^ "Cowboys release Marsters". NQ Cowboys. 4 May 2021.
  18. ^ "Dragons confirm McGuire signing". St George Illawarra Dragons. 13 April 2021.
  19. ^ "O'Neill announces immediate retirement". NQ Cowboys. 27 August 2021. Archived from the original on 27 August 2021.
  20. ^ "Cowboys to farewell five departing players". cowboys.com.au. 3 October 2020. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  21. ^ "How has your team recruited for the 2021 Intrust Super Cup season?". couriermail.com.au. 22 January 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  22. ^ "Ex-player's huge opinion of Knights new English teenage star plus more signing news". newcastleherald.com.au. 22 November 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  23. ^ "Cowboys re-sign Bowen". NQ Cowboys. 26 May 2021.
  24. ^ a b c "Cowboys re-sign young trio". NQ Cowboys. 12 May 2021.
  25. ^ "Cowboys re-sign Drinkwater". NQ Cowboys. 5 May 2021.
  26. ^ "Cowboys re-sign Granville". NQ Cowboys. 25 June 2021.
  27. ^ "Cowboys re-sign Hampton". NQ Cowboys. 11 June 2021.
  28. ^ "Cowboys to face Blackhawks in Ayr". NQ Cowboys. 29 January 2021.
  29. ^ Game played behind closed doors
  30. ^ a b c d e f "2021 Presentation Night: Live Updates". NQ Cowboys. 9 September 2020.

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