NRL 2018 season review: North Queensland Cowboys’ epic fail

JOHNATHAN Thurston’s final season in Townsville was a complete fiasco. The Cowboys kicked off the year a premiership favourite and ended it locked in a battle for the wooden spoon.

North Queensland fell woefully short of sending Johnathan Thurston out in style.

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NORTH Queensland were among the premiership favourites to begin the year and ended it locked in a battle for the wooden spoon. It is difficult to recall any premiership-calibre team underperforming to this extent. The Cowboys missed the finals for the first time since 2010 and only a late charge stopped them from crashing to their first wooden spoon since 2000. Johnathan Thurston’s final season in Townsville was a complete fiasco.

North Queensland fell woefully short of sending Johnathan Thurston out in style.

WHERE THEY FINISHED

13th

WHAT WENT WRONG?

A lot of things. Some key players got very old, very quickly. Role players took a step back. The points dried up. Time beat Johnathan Thurston. Everything slowed down. Michael Morgan was in the worst form of his life and got injured. Jordan McLean only played nine games. The trappings of success wore heavily on many players and they looked tired, unfit or both. It was a tough old go up north.

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Johnathan Thurston was a shadow of his former self. Picture: Zak Simmonds

WHAT WENT RIGHT

Jason Taumalolo was one player who could hold his head high, turning in another stellar season and reaffirming his status as the best forward in the world, if not the best player. Paul Green finally took the chance to blood a few youngsters, giving the team a much-needed injection of enthusiasm — Jake Clifford, Enari Tuala and Mitchell Dunn can all be players of the future. The final six weeks of the season was a good time and Thurston’s send-off, while coming at the end of a difficult year, was as emotional and satisfying as the club could want.

Jason Taumalolo was immense for the Cowboys. Picture: AAP

STATS THAT SUM UP THE SEASON

The Cowboys scored 30 points or more three times and all three came in the final month of the competition. Their vaunted attack totally dried up and that was the root of many of their problems.

KEY MAIN AREA THEY NEED TO IMPROVE

Scoring points was an issue all through the season for North Queensland, but more than that they need to be hungry for success again. After two Grand Final appearances in three years things might have gotten a little too comfortable in Townsville, with several players sticking around for too long while others were not as fit or primed as they were in the past. Snapping back to reality like this could be a blessing in disguise.

The Cowboys got it together just in time for Johnathan Thurston. Picture: smpimages.com

HIGHLIGHT OF THE SEASON

The last month of the season was a return to form for the Cowboys as they farewelled Thurston in some style. An epic comeback win over Brisbane, a Parramatta smash-up in Thurston’s final home game and a final round comeback win over the Titans that had a little bit of everything was as good a departure as anyone could have asked for.

LOWLIGHT OF THE SEASON

Depends what you’re looking for. The dire 27-10 home loss to Canterbury in Round 6 was their fifth straight defeat and a mark of how far they’d fallen, but there were also two one-point losses to South Sydney, another to Melbourne and a six-point defeat of the Roosters, which showed there was still so much good footy within the team.

The Cowboys hit rock bottom against the Bulldogs in round six. Picture: Getty Images

BIG-NAME RECRUITS

None

BIG-NAME LOSSES

Antonio Winterstein (retired), Johnathan Thurston (retired), Kane Linnet (released), Lachlan Coote (released), Shaun Fensom (released), Javid Bowen (released).

2019: BEST POSSIBLE SCENARIO

Michael Morgan returns and is emboldened as the club’s dominant playmaker. Valentine Holmes returns to Townsville and the Cowboys are among the premiership heavyweights once again.

2019: WORST POSSIBLE SCENARIO

Michael Morgan returns but the point-scoring troubles remain. Gavin Cooper and Matt Scott fall off a cliff and the club lurches to another below-par campaign.

COACH SAFETY RATING

9. Green re-signed at the beginning of the season, he’s not going anywhere if he doesn’t want to.

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Originally published as NRL 2018 season review: North Queensland Cowboys’ epic fail