The Cowboys got their title defence off to a strong start, winning seven of their first nine games, including a 40-0 win over the Sydney Roosters and 36-0 win over the St George Illawarra Dragons in the space of 16 days.
The team reaped the rewards of the early season form with a club-record six State of Origin representatives.
Despite some post-Origin wobbles, the Cowboys finished fourth on the table off the back of the second best defence record in the competition, .
The finals campaign got off to a shaky start, falling to the Melbourne Storm 16-10 and losing Ethan Lowe, Antonio Winterstein and Kane Linnett to injury.
The Cowboys bounced back a week later against the Brisbane Broncos in one of the games of the season, with Johnathan Thurston and Michael Morgan combining for the match-winning try in extra-time.
The season finally came to a close with a 32-20 loss to the eventual Premiers, the Cronulla Sharks at Allianz Stadium.
In the Under 20s, the Cowboys finished the regular season with a 16-7 record under Todd Payten before falling to the Panthers 32-16 in the Preliminary Final.
In the Queensland Cup, the Townsville Blackhawks (3rd) were the only feeder club to make the playoffs, with the Northern Pride and Mackay Cutters failing to crack the top six.
Season Statistics
- Captain: Matt Scott and Johnathan Thurston
- Coaches: Paul Green
- Principal Sponsor: Toyota
- Wins: 15, Losses: 9
- Points for: 584, Points against: 355
- Top point scorer: Johnathan Thurston (201)
- Finished: 4th
- Average home crowd: 16,692
Representative Players
- Matthew Wright: World All Stars
- Michael Morgan, Matt Scott, James Tamou, Johnathan Thurston: Australia
- Jason Taumalolo: New Zealand
- John Asiata, Antonio Winterstein: Samoa
- Patrick Kaufusi: Tonga
- Rory Kostjasyn, Kane Linnett: Country Origin
- Michael Morgan, Gavin Cooper, Justin O’Neill, Matt Scott, Johnathan
- Thurston: Queensland
- James Tamou: New South Wales
