Travis NORTON [
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Fri September 1, 2006
by Matthew O'Neill
North Queensland halfback and Australian International Johnathan Thurston will play for the Cowboys tonight in their final round clash against Parramatta in a last bid chance to remain a part of Australia's Tri Nation plans following the Finals.
Thurston has been out injured for several weeks due to a knee injury, which was to rule him out for the remainder of the season but is back one week earlier to prove that he'll be fit for the end of season Internationals.
With Andrew Johns retired from representative football, Thurston was the short priced favourite to takeover the halfback position but the good form of Matt Orford and Cooper Cronk have placed them in good positions to win International selection.
It's been an up and down year for Thurston where his form was good enough early in the season to win selection on the bench for Australia and performed well in Queensland's State of Origin series victory. Injury and off-field allegations have frustrated Thurston's season and the Cowboys have gone from being one of the prime contenders to being an also ran in such a short space of time.
Tonight's clash against Parramatta will also be the final NRL appearance for winger Matt Sing in what will be his 275th first grade match with 104 of them (including tonight's game) with the Cowboys. Sing also enjoyed stints with the Penrith Panthers and Sydney Roosters making his debut for Penrith against South Sydney in 1993. Sing has also played in 24 State of Origins and 15 Tests and his tally of 159 tries is equal 4th all-time alongside current Manly forward Steve Menzies and only behind Ken Irvine (212), Andrew Ettingshausen (165) and Terry Lamb (164).
Another player making his final appearance at NRL level is Cowboys captain Travis Norton who has been named on the bench. Norton has enjoyed a successful career with South Queensland, Canterbury and North Queensland where he has appeared in two Grand Finals in 1998 and as captain last year and played five games for Queensland. Tonight's game will be Norton's 208th appearance at NRL level, which includes 58 for the Cowboys. The majority of Norton's career was spent at Canterbury with seven seasons at Belmore with his first two years at the Crushers and his final three seasons in North Queensland. Norton probably played his best Football with the Bulldogs but at the Cowboys he developed into an outstanding captain and has been a true credit to the game on and off the field.
A victory for Parramatta could see them finish as high as 5th position providing the Roosters defeat the Dragons (very strong possibility) and the Warriors defeat the Broncos with the Warriors and Eels victories being by a combined total of 45 points. A loss could see Parramatta finish in 8th should Canberra topple the Sharks.
With the Bulldogs ravaged by injury and poor form at the wrong end of the season plus they have an embarrassing home Finals record, a finish in 7th position wouldn't be that bad for the Eels. Parramatta have been boosted with halfback Tim Smith and prop Michael Vella returning at just the right time of the season.
North Queensland comfortably defeated South Sydney last weekend and will be looking to finish a miserable season on a high with Thurston, Sing and Norton in particular having plenty to play for.
Tue June 27, 2006
by Matthew O'Neill
North Queensland captain Travis Norton has been moved to five-eighth as a depleted Cowboys outfit look to unrest a horrible run of form against the last placed Rabbitohs this Saturday night at Dairy Farmers Stadium.
The Cowboys will be without Johnathan Thurston, Josh Hannay, Carl Webb and Luke O'Donnell who are on State of Origin duty but have been boosted with the return of Ty Williams after a long period out through injury. Williams would have been a certain selection for the Maroons this year if it wasn't for injury.
Norton has had plenty of experience at five-eighth but mostly early in his career and also for a brief period in 2004. Norton played five-eighth for the South Queensland Crushers in 1995-96 as well as other positions in the backline. He joined Canterbury to fill the five-eighth position vacated by Terry Lamb before Chris Anderson moved him to lock where his career immediately took off.
With Head Coach Graham Murray and Assistant Coach Neil Henry in camp with the New South Wales and Queensland State of Origin sides respectively, original Cowboys coach from 1995 Grant Bell will take the reigns. Bell coached the Cowboys in 1995 and was sacked in favour of Graham Lowe for a season before Tim Sheens took the reigns for a lengthy and controversial period. Bell has since been coaching in the Queensland Cup and has done a good job with the Young Guns.
MATCH: North Queensland Cowboys vs South Sydney Rabbitohs
GRADE: Telstra Premiership Rd 17 1/7/2006 7.30pm Dairy Farmers Stadium
TEAM LIST
1 Matt Bowen
2 Ashley Graham
3 Ty Williams
4 Paul Bowman
5 Matt Sing
6 Travis Norton (c)
7 Brent McConnell
8 Mitchell Sargent
9 Aaron Payne
10 Ray Cashmere
11 Matthew Scott
12 Steve Southern
13 Justin Smith
Subs:
14 Mark Henry
15 David Faiumu
16 Jacob Lillyman
17 Shane Tronc
18 Robert Tanielu
(one to be omitted)
Coach: Grant Bell
INJURIES
Gavin Cooper
Rod Jensen
Brett Firman
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2006 NRL Telstra Premiership
North Queensland Cowboys
20 games; [View] Round 1 [12 Mar 06] W 36-4 v Broncos (A). [LK] [View] Round 2 [18 Mar 06] W 20-16 v Sea Eagles (H). [LK] [View] Round 3 [25 Mar 06] W 40-8 v Storm (H). [LK] [View] Round 4 [31 Mar 06] W 26-18 v Eels (A). [LK] [View] Round 5 [07 Apr 06] W 32-12 v Tigers (H). [LK] [View] Round 6 [16 Apr 06] W 18-16 v Knights (A). [LK] [View] Round 8 [29 Apr 06] L 18-22 v Roosters (H). [LK] [View] Round 9 [06 May 06] W 22-6 v Panthers (H). [LK] [View] Round 10 [13 May 06] L 6-18 v Storm (A). [LK] [View] Round 12 [27 May 06] L 14-15 v Raiders (H). [LK] [View] Round 13 [04 Jun 06] L 14-24 v Tigers (A). [LK] [View] Round 14 [10 Jun 06] L 4-26 v Sharks (H). [LK] [View] Round 15 [18 Jun 06] L 12-20 v Bulldogs (A). [LK] [View] Round 16 [24 Jun 06] L 14-34 v Dragons (A). [LK] [View] Round 17 [01 Jul 06] W 16-14 v Rabbitohs (H). [F8] [View] Round 19 [15 Jul 06] L 8-17 v Panthers (A). [LK] [View] Round 20 [22 Jul 06] W 26-10 v Broncos (H). [F8] [View] Round 21 [30 Jul 06] L 20-40 v Roosters (A). [F8] [View] Round 22 [05 Aug 06] L 14-54 v Bulldogs (H). [F8] [View] Round 26 [01 Sep 06] W 22-8 v Eels (H). [BE]
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2005 NRL Telstra Premiership
North Queensland Cowboys
17 games; 2 tries, 8 points.
[View] Round 1 [13 Mar 05] L 16-29 v Broncos (A). [LK] [View] Round 2 [18 Mar 05] W 24-12 v Bulldogs (H). [LK] [View] Round 16 [25 Jun 05] L 22-23 v Raiders (A). [LK] [View] Round 17 [02 Jul 05] W 24-16 v Warriors (H). [F8] [View] Round 18 [10 Jul 05] L 18-22 v Knights (A). [F8] [View] Round 19 [16 Jul 05] L 14-16 v Souths (H). [LK] [View] Round 20 [23 Jul 05] W 38-18 v Panthers (H). [LK] [View] Round 21 [31 Jul 05] W 26-24 v Sea Eagles (A). [LK] [View] Round 22 [05 Aug 05] L 16-36 v Dragons (H). [LK] [View] Round 23 [14 Aug 05] L 16-28 v Tigers (A). [BE] [View] Round 24 [20 Aug 05] W 31-28 v Raiders (H). [LK] [View] Round 25 [28 Aug 05] W 30-16 v Souths (A). [LK] 4 Pts; 1t (34th) [View] Round 26 [03 Sep 05] W 30-24 v Storm (H). [LK] [View] Finals Week One [09 Sep 05] L 6-50 v Tigers (A). [LK] [View] Finals Week Two [17 Sep 05] W 24-16 v Storm. [LK] [View] Qualifying Finals [25 Sep 05] W 29-0 v Eels. [LK] [View] Grand Final [02 Oct 05] L 16-30 v Tigers. [LK] 4 Pts; 1t (55th)
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2004 NRL Telstra Premiership
North Queensland Cowboys
1 games; [View] Round 1 [13 Mar 04] L 20-24 v Sea Eagles (H). [F8]
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