Laurie Spina’s all-time North Queensland Cowboys dream team
Inaugural Cowboys captain Laurie Spina has revealed his all-time North Queensland dream team, with eight current players making the list. See who else made the cut.
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Inaugural Cowboys captain Laurie Spina has revealed his all-time North Queensland dream team, with eight current players making the final cut.
Even with a four-player bench and an 18th man, Spina found it challenging to land on some of his most contentious calls with a number of legends left in the ‘honourable mentions’ pile.
The Cowboys would need a second set of books to fit this star-studded team under a modern salary cap, but there’s no question they would be premiership contenders in any era.
Perhaps the toughest position to narrow down was the wing.
The Cowboys have a long history of electric outside backs and Spina had his shortlist down to four before making his final cut.
“You’ve probably got to have Matt Sing in there because at the start we was a really good player,” Spina said.
“For the second wing spot it’s a toss-up. It was hard to pick between (Kyle) Feldty, Ty Williams and Murray Taulagi. All of those players are super but you’ve probably got to lean towards Feldty for his try-scoring heroics.”
While some positions had a long list of candidates that would hold their own in the dream team, others were easy decisions.
“Matt Bowen is pretty safe there at fullback, and the halves are pretty straightforward” Spina said.
“I saw (Bowen) at 12 or 13 at St Teresa’s College in Abergowrie, Joe Pennisi was his coach and I saw him as a really young bloke coming up and we knew he was something special at 13 years old.
“The tries he scored, he was so electric. Him and Johnathan were the most exciting thing the north had ever seen.”
Valentine Holmes and Paul Bowman got the call-up to play in the centres, while Moranbah junior Josh Hannay was too good to leave out so Spina found space for him on the bench as a replacement goal-kicker.
“I’d like to mention Josh Hannay because he was a very good player for the Cowboys and also represented Queensland, but Val’s point-scoring is outstanding,” Spina said.
“He actually just overtook Josh’s (most points in an NRL game) record, him and Thurston had 24 and then (Holmes) smashed it with 30.”
Paul Bowman Medallist (2003) and Dally M Prop of the Year (2004) Paul Rauhihi was the front rower who narrowly missed out on selection in favour of premiership-winning pair Matt Scott and James Tamou.
Aaron Payne got the nod to start at hooker with Gavin Cooper, Jeremiah Nanai and Jason Taumalolo rounding out the forwards.
“It was a close tussle for hooker between Jakey Granville and Aaron Payne, but Aaron Payne is probably just ahead for me and I’ll have Jake on the bench,” Spina said.
“Aaron’s combination with Thurston and Bowen, and his running from dummy half was really good. He was a really good, solid defender and his ball-running and combinations made him a great all-round player.
“I picked Nanai for his freakish ability. Last year’s catching of the football and scoring tries, I’ve never seen a forward do some of the stuff he did so I had to put him in, I reckon he’s super.”
Spina’s bench balance might not be conventional but there’s no doubt it’s stacked with talent, and 18th man Coen Hess has shown in 2023 he has the ability to do whatever his coaches ask for.
“Coen can play different positions and he’s been outstanding for the Cowboys for a good few years now and I reckon he’ll be there for a fair few more.”
LAURIE SPINA’S NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS DREAM TEAM
1. MATT BOWEN
Cowboys matches: 270 games (2001-2013)
Cowboys tries: 130
NRL matches: 270
Rep honours: Australia, Queensland, Indigenous All Stars
2. MATT SING
Cowboys matches: 104 (2002-2006)
Cowboys tries: 73
NRL matches: 275 (including NSWRL and ARL)
Rep honours: Australia, Queensland
3. VALENTINE HOLMES
Cowboys matches: 72 (2020-present)
Cowboys tries: 26
NRL matches: 177
Rep honours: Australia, Queensland
4. PAUL BOWMAN
Cowboys matches: 203 (1995-2007)
Cowboys tries: 62
NRL matches: 203 (including ARL and Super League 1997)
Rep honours: Queensland
5. KYLE FELDT
Cowboys matches: 189 (2013-present)
Cowboys tries: 126
NRL matches: 188
Rep honours: Queensland
6. MICHAEL MORGAN
Cowboys matches: 169 (2010-2021)
Cowboys tries: 59
NRL matches: 168
Rep honours: Australia, Queensland
7. JOHNATHAN THURSTON
Cowboys matches: 295 (2005-2018)
Cowboys tries: 81
NRL matches: 323
Rep honours: Australia, Queensland, Indigenous All Stars
8. MATT SCOTT
Cowboys matches: 269
Cowboys tries: 19
NRL matches: 268
Rep honours: Australia, Queensland, NRL All Stars
9. AARON PAYNE
Cowboys matches: 219 (2002-2012)
Cowboys tries: 25
NRL matches: 219
Rep honours: NRL All Stars
10. JAMES TAMOU
Cowboys matches: 174 (2009-2016, 2023)
Cowboys tries: 13
NRL matches: 308
Rep honours: NZ Maori, Australia, New South Wales, NSW City, Maori All Stars
11. GAVIN COOPER
Cowboys matches: 248 (2006, 2011-2020)
Cowboys tries: 72
NRL matches: 323
Rep honours: Queensland, NRL All Stars
12. JEREMIAH NANAI
Cowboys matches: 38 (2021-present)
Cowboys tries: 23
NRL matches: 38
Rep honours: Australia, Queensland
13. JASON TAUMALOLO
Cowboys matches: 247 (2010-present)
Cowboys tries: 38
NRL matches: 246
Rep honours: Tonga, New Zealand, NRL All Stars, Tonga Invitational
14. JAKE GRANVILLE
Cowboys matches: 190 (2015-present)
Cowboys tries: 22
NRL matches: 199
15. REUBEN COTTER
Cowboys matches: 53 (2019-present)
Cowboys tries: 5
NRL matches: 53
Rep honours: Australia, Queensland, Indigenous All Stars
16. LUKE O’DONNELL
Cowboys matches: 117 (2004-2010)
Cowboys tries: 23
NRL matches: 188
Rep honours: Australia, New South Wales, NSW City, NRL All Stars
17. JOSH HANNAY
Cowboys matches: 150 (1998-2006)
Cowboys tries: 49
NRL matches: 153
Rep honours: Queensland
18. COEN HESS
Cowboys matches: 159 (2015-present)
Cowboys tries: 33
NRL matches: 159
Rep honours: Queensland
Originally published as Laurie Spina’s all-time North Queensland Cowboys dream team
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