The 1999 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 5th in the club's history. Coached by

Tim Sheens Tim Sheens (born 30 October 1950) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and former player. Head Coach of the Australia national team between 2009 and 2015, he has also been the head coach of National Rugby League (NRL) clubs ...

and captained by

Noel Goldthorpe Noel Goldthorpe (born 25 December 1969) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the halves in the 1990s. He played most of his career for the St George Dragons. Goldthorpe also played for the Western Suburbs ...

, they competed in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

Season summary

Despite undergoing another roster clean-out in the off-season, the Cowboys endured a rough season. After starting the year with a bye, the club went on a five-game losing streak. One of the few positive periods of their season then followed, with a 24-0 win over the

Auckland Warriors The New Zealand Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as ...

followed by a 20-20 draw with the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite com ...

and a 20-14 win over the

Balmain Tigers The Balmain Tigers (also known as the Sydney Tigers from 1995–96) are a rugby league club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and one of the most successful in t ...

. The victory over the Warriors was the first time in club history that they had held a side scoreless. Following the win over Balmain in Round 9, the club won just two of their next 16 games. The Round 25 victory over the

Western Suburbs Magpies The Western Suburbs Magpies (legal name: Western Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club Ltd) are an Australian rugby league football club based in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Formed in 1908, Wests, as they are commonly r ...

turned out to be the club's most important game of the season. Heading into the match, the Cowboys sat in 16th place, one point ahead of the bottom-placed Magpies. A loss would have more than likely seen them finish the year in last place. In Round 26, the Cowboys played the

North Sydney Bears The North Sydney Bears is an Australian rugby league football club based in North Sydney, New South Wales. The club competes in the New South Wales Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL season after 90 years in the ...

in their final ever premiership appearance. The club finished the season in 16th with just four wins, their lowest win total since 1995. One of the players brought to the club in 1999 was former-

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 ...

halfback Paul Green. In June, Green became the first Cowboys' player to represent

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_ ...

State of Origin A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Oval ...

. In 2014, Green returned to the club as head coach, leading them to their maiden premiership victory in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

Milestones

* Round 2: Geoff Bell,

Greg Bourke Greg Bourke is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He played for the Balmain Tigers, Eastern Suburbs and the North Queensland Cowboys in the Australian Rugby League and NRL competition ...

, Brett Boyd,

Darrien Doherty Darrien Doherty (born ) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s. He is one of three players to date (the others being Tyran Smith and Blake Green) to play first grade for a record seven different NRL clubs. Care ...

Jody Gall Jody Gall (born 6 June 1974) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played for the Penrith Panthers and the North Queensland Cowboys in the NRL. He played as a and second row. Gall played for the NSW City Origin te ...

, Paul Green,

Brett Hetherington Brett Hetherington is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played for the Canberra Raiders and North Queensland Cowboys. Playing career Hetherington made his debut for Canberra in Round 1 of the 1992 season against Pen ...

and Matthew Ryan made their debuts for the club. * Round 3:

Chad Halliday Chad Halliday in an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. Playing career Halliday made his first grade debut for Eastern Suburbs known now as the Sydney Roosters in Round 22 1997 against the ...

and

Ben Rauter Ben Rauter (born 6 January 1979) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and current assistant coach of the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League (NRL). A or er, played for the Canberra Raiders, Cowboys an ...

made their debuts for the club. * Round 4: Peter Jones played his 50th game for the club. * Round 4:

Paul Dezolt Paul Dezolt (born 29 August 1978) is a former professional rugby league footballer. His position of choice was at Hooker. North Queensland A Herbert River junior, Dezolt started his career at the North Queensland Cowboys, debuting in 1999. De ...

made his NRL debut. * Round 5: Damien Smith made his debut for the club. * Round 7: The club held a team scoreless for the first time (def.

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, 24-0). * Round 7:

Brian Jellick Brian Andrew Jellick is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. A New Zealand international representative er, he played his club football in New Zealand, England and Australia. Playing care ...

made his NRL debut. * Round 9:

Adam Connelly Adam Connelly (born 28 April 1979) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played for the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League. He primarily played . Background A Norths Ipswich junior, Connelly attended Ipswich Gr ...

made his NRL debut. * Round 10: George Wilson made his debut for the club. * Round 14: Scott Asimus and Shaun Valentine made their NRL debuts. * Round 19: Kyle Warren played his 50th game for the club. * Round 21:

Glen Murphy Glen Murphy (born 6 April 1957) is a British actor and producer, best known as Firefighter George Green between 1988 and 2002 on the television drama '' London's Burning''. Career Murphy was the only actor to remain throughout the entire r ...

played his 50th game for the club. * Round 22: Leigh McWilliams made his NRL debut. * Round 23:

Mark Shipway Mark Shipway (born 3 May 1976 in Australia) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played for the North Queensland Cowboys, the Northern Eagles and the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in the National Rugby League (NRL). He also played ...

played his 50th game for the club. * Round 23: John Manning made his NRL debut. * Round 24:

Shane Muspratt Shane Muspratt (born 13 April 1979 in Ayr, Queensland, Australia) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played for the North Queensland Cowboys and the Parramatta Eels in the NRL. Playing career Muspratt has played for the North ...

made his NRL debut. * Round 25:

Nick Paterson Nick Paterson (born 24 September 1979) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played for North Queensland, Cronulla and Manly-Warringah in the NRL. Playing career A prop from Toowoomba, Paterson started his NRL car ...

made his NRL debut. * Round 26: Craig Smith made his NRL debut.

Squad list

Squad movement

1999 Gains

1999 Losses

Ladder

Fixtures

Regular season

Statistics

''Source:''

Representatives

The following players played a representative match in 1999.

Honours

Club

* Player of the Year: Paul Bowman * Players' Player: John Buttigieg * Club Person of the Year: Barry Buchanan

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1999 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 ...