From the Couch: North Queensland Cowboys Season Review

Win-Loss: 15-9
Ladder Position: 5th
Finals: Semi Final
Attack: 27.38 (3rd)
Defence: 23.67 (8th)
Longest Win Streak: 4 (R24-EF)
Longest Loss Streak: 5 (R6-10)
Best Win: Round 27: 42-4 at Canterbury
Worst Loss: Round 14: 42-12 v New Zealand

Season Review

Highlights: The Cowboys returned to the finals for just the second time since 2017. The 1-6-9 combination really clicked with all of Drinkwater, Dearden and Robson playing at elite levels.

Kyle Feldt enjoyed an outstanding final season to his NRL career.

There were few better moments in their season than Tom Dearden’s incredible cover tackle on Selwyn Cobbo.

Scott Drinkwater was a highlight machine with speed and vision, setting up a remarkable 25 tries from fullback.

Lowlights: The Cowboys will rue their soft finals exit after winning four on end and topping 38 in three of those.

Concerns around the coach and the players’ relationship with him did not dissipate throughout the season.

Two losses to rivals Brisbane – both hammerings – did not sit well with the faithful.

Inconsistency again plagued the Cowboys. The failure of some highly paid players to perform at an adequate level was highly disappointing.

What Worked: North Queensland’s attack sizzled, ranking Top 4 in points and tries.

The attacking success came from engaging the line constantly, ranking third in line engagements and fourth in line breaks.

North Queensland fought through contact as well as anyone with very high post-contact metres numbers.

Reece Robson ranked amongst the leading dummy half runners in the competition.

Changing halfbacks from Chad Townsend to Jake Clifford at the backend of the season was a risky ploy but one that worked.

North Queensland had the second most intercepts and pulled them in at some key moments.

What Didn’t: North Queensland were the worst defensive team to play finals and it was primarily on the back of them being one of the worst tackling teams in the premiership.

The Cowboys ranked bottom four for set completions but that was more a reflection of their aggressive approach to attack than anything else.

They ranked in the bottom four for handling errors.

Offloads were not part of the Cowboys attack, ranking bottom four.

Betting Stats

ATS: 11-15
Over/Under: 18-8
Head-to-Head Return: +4.66 units

Three Betting Notes:

• North Queensland were the only finals team to have a losing cover record.
• The Cowboys were tied with the Eels for the fewest unders with eight.
• North Queensland were 5-12 against the spread in Queensland.

Personnel

Best Player: Tom Dearden
Next Best: Reece Robson, Scott Drinkwater
Most Disappointing Player: Jeremiah Nanai
Next Most Disappointing: Chad Townsend, Valentine Holmes
Top Tryscorer: Kyle Feldt (23)
Top Assist Merchant: Scott Drinkwater (25)
Top Tackle Breaker: Scott Drinkwater (4.50 per game)
Top Metre Eater: Scott Drinkwater (158.25m per game)
Top Tackler: Reuben Cotter (39.76 per game)
Best Buy: Viliami Vailea
Worst Buy: Harrison Edwards
Best Rookie: Kulikefu Finefeuiaki

Player Ratings