The incredible turnaround of the North Queensland Cowboys in 2022 has surprised almost everyone.

Somehow, the side that finished 2021 in 15th spot as the competition's worst defensive side has just booked itself a home preliminary final.

North Queensland have languished in the bottom eight since 2018. But head coach Todd Payten has managed to change their fortunes.

With the 2022 Cowboys in mind, we will explore eight other times in which teams have been able to climb from one end of the ladder to the other in a single season.

3. Sydney Roosters - 2017

Trent Robinson's career at the Sydney Roosters has been nothing short of fantastic, and for most, he has cemented his spot as an NRL master coach alongside the likes of Wayne Bennett and Craig Bellamy.

With three premierships and four minor premierships under his belt in his time in Bondi, there is only one blip on his gleaming Roosters resume... the 2016 season.

Admittedly, some external factors influenced the Roosters' plummet from a minor premiership in 2015 to finishing 15th the following year with a record of just 6 wins from 24 played.

Controversy, suspension and injury marred the season of lead playmaker Mitchell Pearce. With captain Boyd Cordner and prop forward Jared Waera-Hargreaves also limited in game time due to injury, effectively plucking the beating heart from the Rooster's engine room.

On a positive note, 2016 did introduce Latrell Mitchell to first grade with him being one of only 3 players to appear in all 24 games.

In addition to injury, they were stripped of some key personnel from yesteryears such as James Maloney, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Michael Jennings who all departed the club.

Despite all of this, Trent Robinson entered 2017 intending to make 2016 a distant memory and that they did with a dramatic turnaround on and off the field.

The signing of Luke Keary proved a masterstroke as well as the handy pickup of Michael Gordon.

Another year under the belt of Mitchell and Joseph Manu would also prove handy in future.

The Roosters concluded the home and away season in second place with 17 wins from 24 played.

They would have to wait another 12 months before premiership glory awaited once more though, as they were bounced out in the preliminary final by a surging North Queensland Cowboys side.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - JULY 29: Latrell Mitchell of the Roosters celebrates scoring a try during the round 20 NRL match between the Sydney Roosters and the St George Illawarra Dragons at Allianz Stadium on July 29, 2018 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

4 COMMENTS

  3. It.s your article, so I donโ€™t want to be presumptuous. Iโ€™m also a Panthersโ€™ supporter, so I will acknowledge my bias. It perhaps ranks somewhere between 3 and 5 โ€“ They didnโ€™t have the bounce-back effect of internal drama like the Roosters in 3, but didnโ€™t necessarily climb as far. However, they were also wooden spooners two years prior and sat in fifteenth in the second week of the 2003 season. Based on that, Iโ€™ll leave it to you to judgeโ€ฆ but it certainly ranks 5 at least and I would argue higher.

  4. If I am honest the criteria for the rankings were kind of hard to pin down. Is it more impressive to come from 9th โ€“ 12th to win a prem or 13th โ€“ 16th and play deep into finals? Also how much do you factor in previous years in a one-year turnaround? Guess to some degree itโ€™s quite subjective. Without delving too deep into the 02 Panthers I would say 03 Penrith is comparable to 13 Roosters so probably 4th or 5th.

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