The 1996 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 2nd in the club's history. Coached by

Graham Lowe Sir Graham Michael Lowe is the owner of the Bradford Bulls together with fellow New Zealander Andrew Chalmers. He is a New Zealand former rugby league football coach and administrator. He previously coached in Australia and England and was the ...

and captained by

Adrian Vowles Adrian Vowles (born 30 May 1971) is a former professional Scotland international rugby league footballer who played as a or in the 1990s and 2000s. He played in Australia for several years, gaining State of Origin selection in 1994, but spent ...

, they competed in the Optus Cup.

Season summary

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 New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Manly and

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

boss

, the club recruited fairly strongly bringing in first grade regulars

Jason Death Jason Death (pronounced (; born 25 August 1971) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. Primarily a , he played for the Canberra Raiders, North Queensland Cowboys, New Zealand Warriors and ...

(from

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

) and

Andrew Dunemann Andrew Dunemann (born 6 October 1976) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and coach who played in the 1990s and 2000s. Primarily a , he played for the Gold Coast Seagulls, North Queensland Cowboys, South Sydney Rabbit ...

(from

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

), former

All Black The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

Shane Howarth Shane Paul Howarth (born 8 July 1968) is a former international rugby union player who gained four caps and scored 54 points for the All Blacks before later switching allegiance to Wales national rugby union team, Wales, attaining 19 Welsh caps ...

and

representatives

Se'e Solomona Maseese (Se'e) David Solomona (born 9 March 1965) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who represented both New Zealand and Western Samoa. Background Solomona was born in New Zealand. Playing career Solomona started his ...

and

Whetu Taewa Whetu Taewa (born 19 October 1970) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who represented New Zealand six times between 1989 and 1996. Playing career New Zealand Whetu was born on the West Coast, New Zealand and started p ...

. Dunemann's signing would see him reunite with his brother

Ian Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, derived from the Hebrew given name (Yohanan, ') and corresponding to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. It is a popular name in Sc ...

, the pair becoming the first siblings to play for the club. Due to the ongoing

Super League war The Super League war was a commercial competition between the Australian Rugby League (ARL) and the Australian Super League to establish pre-eminence in professional rugby league competition in Australia and New Zealand in the mid-1990s. Super ...

, 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 The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilita ...

, cancelled. After losing their first game of the year against the

Sydney City Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby league, Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won ...

, 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 The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, th ...

was followed by a win over the

Cronulla Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Cronulla, in the Sutherland Shire, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugby league ...

, 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 The St. George Dragons is an Australian rugby league football club from St George District in Sydney, New South Wales that played in the top level New South Wales competition and Australian Rugby League competitions from the 1921 until th ...

Kogarah Oval Jubilee Stadium, also known as Kogarah Oval or by its sponsored name Netstrata Jubilee Stadium, is a multipurpose stadium in Carlton, New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. The stadium is mainly used for rugby league and the A-League, and is one ...

in Round 21, the club's first win in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. 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 Moranbah is a coal mining town and locality in the Isaac Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Moranbah had a population of 8,735 people. In addition to the permanent population, Moranbah also has a large fly-in fly-out popula ...

junior

Josh Hannay Josh Hannay (born 11 January 1980) is an Australian professional rugby league coach who is an assistant coach of the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the NRL and a former professional rugby league footballer who played as a in the 1990s and 2000 ...

was named to make his first grade debut at just 16-years old. The selection was later vetoed by the

Australian Rugby League The Australian Rugby League Commission (ARL), formerly the Australian Rugby Football League known as the Australian Rugby League is an Australian rugby league football competition operator. It was founded in 1986 as the Australian Rugby Footbal ...

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.

Milestones

* Round 2:

Steve Edmed Steve Edmed (born 10 February 1968) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. Primarily a , he played for the Balmain Tigers, North Queensland Cowboys and Sheffield Eagles. Playing career A ...

, Martin Locke,

and

Kris Tassell Kris Tassell (born 16 September 1973) is a former Wales international rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. , or , he played for the Canberra Raiders, Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, North Queensland Cowboys, Salford City Re ...

made their debuts for the club. * Round 2:

made his first grade debut. * Round 3:

Willie Poching Willie Poching is a New Zealand professional rugby league football coach and former player. He is the former head-coach of Wakefield Trinity in the Super League. When he was appointed head coach of Wakefield, he became the first Samoan head coa ...

made his debut for the club. * Round 3:

Scott Brown Scott Brown may refer to: Sportsmen *Scott Brown (American football), American college football coach of Kentucky State * Scott Brown (baseball) (born 1956), former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds *Scott Brown (footballer, bor ...

made his debut for the club. * Round 6:

made his debut for the club. * Round 7:

made his debut for the club. * Round 9: Andrew Bulmer made his first grade debut. * Round 11: Michael Coorey made his first grade debut. * Round 12: The club won back-to-back games for the first time. * Round 13: John Buttigieg made his first grade debut. * Round 15: Marshall Miller and Graham White made their first grade debuts. * Round 17: Liam Johnson made his first grade debut.

Squad list

Squad movement

1996 Gains

1996 Losses

Ladder

Fixtures

Regular season

Statistics

''Source:''

Honours

Club

*Player of the Year:

*Players' Player:

*Club Person of the Year: Martin Locke

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1996 North Queensland Cowboys Season North Queensland Cowboys seasons

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest town in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...