May not have been a premiership-winning fullback with the Cowboys but he is undisputedly the best that the club has ever seen. 13 years Bowen spent as the custodian for the Cowboys and the little no.1 formed a devastating combination with Johnathan Thurston for almost a decade. His 21 tries in 2005 contributed to a charge to the grand final from fifth place, but his best individual season was in 2007, winning the Dally M fullback of the year after 22 tries in 25 games.
Kyle Feldt was lining up in an NRL Grand Final in just his 22nd game of first grade and he wrote himself into Cowboys folklore in the 80th minute, scoring the match-levelling try which took the game to golden point where his side prevailed. Feldt didn’t lose his wing spot after that, playing consecutive full seasons and consistently scoring tries. He’s scored double digits in tries for four straight seasons.
The centre debuted in 1998 at just the age of 18 and he established a successful nine-year spell with the Cowboys which resulted in a Grand Final appearance, 2 Origin matches and holding the highest point-scorer at the club title before Johnathan Thurston came along. Hannay was a solid defender and a capable try-scorer.
Bowman was a foundation signing for the Cowboys and the only one in this line-up. The centre was there for all the bad times and was there when things started to turn around for the Townsville club. Bowman was an uncompromising defender on his day and he notched up 12 Origins for Queensland. Bowman became a strong leader for the club and captained them from 2001-04.
Matt Sing joined the Cowboys in 2002 in a big coup for the club with his Origin and Test experience and over five years he delivered. He notched up a century of games with an impressive 73 tries for the club, which threw his name back into the Test arena. Sing was on the wing in the 2005 Grand Final but the greatest memory he left the Cowboys with was an incredible hat-trick against 2nd placed Bulldogs in the 2004 qualifying final.
It’s hard to believe Morgan has been a Cowboys player for a decade, given how he struggled to make the side on a consistent basis until 2014 with Ray Thompson or Robert Lui often preferred to him. Thrust into fullback in Lachlan Coote’s absence, Morgan showcased his true talent in a full 2014 campaign and he hasn’t looked back. He set up the match-defining play in the 2015 Grand Final with a flick pass to Feldt and he stood up to take his side to another GF without Thurston in 2017.
The immortal in waiting, Thurston was let go by the Bulldogs in 2004 and they didn’t know what they’d lost at the time. Thurston became one of the greatest halfbacks the game has ever seen in 14 years with the Cowboys as he delivered time and time again and finally delivered the Townsville faithful a Premiership in 2015, winning the Clive Churchill Medal for his efforts. Thurston also won a record four Dally M Medals (2005, 2007, 2014, 2015).
Matt Scott was the ultimate front-rower. Tough, hard-working, unrelenting and full of desire; Scott was everything you wanted in a middle forward, and it’s why Neil Henry wasted no time in making him co-captain with Thurston. He was that impressive when he broke into the team that he made his Queensland debut after just 14 first grade games. Scott recently retired during the 2019 season after a great 16-year career.
Granville joined the Cowboys in 2015 after a stint at Brisbane where he struggled to nail down a spot. After two seasons of searching for an Aaron Payne replacement, Granville arrived on the scene and became an unstoppable force to be reckoned with from dummy half. With speed to burn, Granville posed a threat to any lazy defence and played a huge part in Cowboys’ charge to premiership glory. He set up their first two tries of the 2015 Grand Final.
Tamou was a damaging ball-runner armed with a dangerous offload whenever he ran at the line. The Maori forward switched allegiance to play for Australia and NSW who he was consistently picked for from 2012-16. He moved to Penrith in 2017 and hasn’t seen the same form since. He played 170 games across just eight seasons, in a career largely injury-free. Tamou’s impact at the club has been tough for Paul Green to replace since his departure.
Any forward would be proud to have a try-scoring record like that of Gavin Cooper’s. Like Steve Menzies with Cliff Lyons, Cooper can thank Johnathan Thurston for a lot of his four-pointers, with the duo building a damaging combination on their potent left edge. One of the best hole-runners the game has seen, Cooper was also a specialist at scoring tries off kicks. He finally made his Queensland debut in 2016.
Luke O’Donnell built the reputation as quite a firebrand in the game but it was that aggression and ferociousness that earnt the adulation of the Cowboys fans and ultimately provided the club with the toughness it needed. O’Donnell played 52 games in his first two seasons which coincided with their first two finals appearances. After 2005, O’Donnell struggled to string together games with injury troubles and his absence affected the side badly.
The hulking forward has really built his game in waves in the past five years. He’s only 26 and already played ten years of first grade after debuting at the tender age of 17. The Tongan international nailed down a spot in 2014 for the Cowboys and grew in stature from there with consistent and monstrous on-field efforts. He has already won the Dally M Lock of the Year on three occasions and tied with Cooper Cronk for Dally M player of the year in 2016.
Aaron Payne spent 11 years at the Cowboys and became the club’s first great hooker. Payne was a consistent performer for his side but he was also greatly unheralded throughout his career. He wasn’t about all the individual accolades, he was a team player that went about his job without a fuss and focused on his work rate to help his team out.
Webb joined the Cowboys in 2005 to revive his stuttering career after struggling to put a full season together at the Broncos and he did just that at the Cowboys. After two years out of the Origin arena, Webb entered back into the selection frame, playing eight Origins from 2005-08 and making his solitary Test appearance in 2008. He missed out on playing in a Grand Final in 2005 and it was shown that his impact was missed.
Scott Bolton ends the 13th season of his career at the Cowboys in the top five for most appearances made for the club, falling just short of 250 games. Bolton could play at prop or in the back-row, and was always capable of getting his side out of trouble with big metres. A huge part of the Cowboys legacy, Bolton is a life member with the club and rightly so, playing a part in their first premiership success.
Rauhihi only spent three years in the white, yellow and navy blue but he amassed 72 appearances for the Cowboys and came into his own as an on-field leader and it was the firepower that he added to the forward pack that helped the club make their first ever finals appearance, and followed that up with a Grand Final appearance the following year.