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The 2021 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 27th in the club's history. Coached by Todd Payten and captained by Jason Taumalolo, they competed in the NRL's 2021 Telstra Premiership.

The 2021 season was the Cowboys' first under Payten, who joined the club from the New Zealand Warriors on a three-year deal. He became the club's eighth full-time head coach and their 10th overall. On 16 December 2020, Taumalolo was named as co-captain of the club alongside Morgan.

The club endured another disappointing season in 2021, missing the finals for the fourth consecutive year.

Season summary

On 9 April, co-captain Michael Morgan announced his immediate retirement from rugby league due to an ongoing shoulder injury.

Milestones

• Round 1: Corey Jensen played his 50th NRL game for the club.
• Round 2: Lachlan Burr made his debut for the club.
• Round 4: Coen Hess played his 100th NRL game for the club.
• Round 5: Ben Condon scored his first NRL try.
• Round 5: Lachlan Burr scored his first try for the club.
• Round 5: The club won at Leichhardt Oval for the first time since Round 12, 2000.
• Round 7: Jake Granville played his 150th NRL game.
• Round 10: Jason Taumalolo played his 200th game for the club.
• Round 11: Heilum Luki made his NRL debut.
• Round 11: Heilum Luki scored his first NRL try.
• Round 11: Valentine Holmes scored his 500th career point.
• Round 14: Tom Dearden made his debut for the club.
• Round 15: Tom Dearden scored his first try for the club.
• Round 19: Kane Bradley made his NRL debut.
• Round 19: Kane Bradley scored his first try for the club.
• Round 19: Kyle Feldt scored his 100th try for the club.
• Round 22: Jeremiah Nanai and Griffin Neame made their NRL debuts.
• Round 22: Jeremiah Nanai scored his first NRL try.
• Round 23: Laitia Moceidreke made his NRL debut.
• Round 23: Laitia Moceidreke scored his first NRL try.
• Round 24: Scott Drinkwater played his 50th NRL game.
• Round 25: Scott Drinkwater played his 50th game for the club.

Squad

Squad movement

Gains

Player	Signed From	Until End of	Notes
Javid Bowen	Northern Pride	2022
Kane Bradley	Wests Tigers	2022
Lachlan Burr	New Zealand Warriors	2022
Tom Dearden	Brisbane Broncos (mid-season)	2024
Laitia Moceidreke	Canterbury Bulldogs (mid-season)	2023

Losses

Player	Signed To	Until End of	Notes
John Asiata	Brisbane Broncos	2021
Michael Bell	Townsville Blackhawks (mid-season)	2021
Jake Clifford	Newcastle Knights (mid-season)	2023
Gavin Cooper	Retired	–
Wiremu Greig	Parramatta Eels (mid-season)	2023
Esan Marsters	Gold Coast Titans (mid-season)	2022
Josh McGuire	St George Illawarra Dragons (mid-season)	2022
Michael Morgan	Retired (mid-season)	–
Justin O'Neill	Retired (mid-season)	–
Tom Opacic	Parramatta Eels	2021
Dan Russell	Brisbane Tigers	2021
Tukimihia Simpkins	Wests Tigers	2023
Garrett Smith	Newcastle Knights	2021

Re-signings

Player	Club	Until End of	Notes
Javid Bowen	North Queensland Cowboys	2022
Ben Condon	North Queensland Cowboys	2023
Scott Drinkwater	North Queensland Cowboys	2023
Jake Granville	North Queensland Cowboys	2022
Ben Hampton	North Queensland Cowboys	2022
Griffin Neame	North Queensland Cowboys	2023
Riley Price	North Queensland Cowboys	2023

Ladder

2021 NRL season v t e
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Melbourne Storm	24	21	0	3	1	815	316	+499	44
2	Penrith Panthers (P)	24	21	0	3	1	676	286	+390	44
3	South Sydney Rabbitohs	24	20	0	4	1	775	453	+322	42
4	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	24	16	0	8	1	744	492	+252	34
5	Sydney Roosters	24	16	0	8	1	630	489	+141	34
6	Parramatta Eels	24	15	0	9	1	566	457	+109	32
7	Newcastle Knights	24	12	0	12	1	428	571	−143	26
8	Gold Coast Titans	24	10	0	14	1	580	583	−3	22
9	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	24	10	0	14	1	520	556	−36	22
10	Canberra Raiders	24	10	0	14	1	481	578	−97	22
11	St. George Illawarra Dragons	24	8	0	16	1	474	616	−142	18
12	New Zealand Warriors	24	8	0	16	1	453	624	−171	18
13	Wests Tigers	24	8	0	16	1	500	714	−214	18
14	Brisbane Broncos	24	7	0	17	1	446	695	−249	16
15	North Queensland Cowboys	24	7	0	17	1	460	748	−288	16
16	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	24	3	0	21	1	340	710	−370	8

Fixtures

Pre-season

On 13 February, the Cowboys played the Townsville Blackhawks in an unofficial hour-long scrimmage match in Ayr.

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance
Saturday, 27 February	Trial 1	Brisbane Broncos	Moreton Daily Stadium	34 – 18	Drinkwater, Dunn, Feldt, Holmes, Marsters, Tabuai-Fidow	Clifford (3/4), Holmes (2/2)
Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw   Bye

Regular season

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance
Saturday, 13 March	Round 1	Penrith Panthers	Panthers Stadium	0 – 24			14,077
Saturday, 20 March	Round 2	St George Illawarra Dragons	Queensland Country Bank Stadium	18 – 25	Granville, Hess, Holmes	Holmes (3/3)	15,120
Sunday, 28 March	Round 3	Gold Coast Titans	Queensland Country Bank Stadium	8 – 44	Tabuai-Fidow, Taulagi	Holmes (0/2)	12,621
Saturday, 3 April	Round 4	Cronulla Sharks	Netstrata Jubilee Stadium	10 – 48	Holmes, Tabuai-Fidow	Holmes (1/2)	5,119
Sunday, 11 April	Round 5	Wests Tigers	Leichhardt Oval	34 – 30	Taulagi (2), Burr, Condon, Drinkwater, Tabuai-Fidow	Holmes (5/6)	9,433
Sunday, 18 April	Round 6	Canterbury Bulldogs	Queensland Country Bank Stadium	30 – 18	Condon, Dunn, Feldt, Granville, Robson	Holmes (5/5)	11,965
Saturday, 24 April	Round 7	Canberra Raiders	Queensland Country Bank Stadium	26 – 24	Condon, Feldt, O'Neill, Robson	Holmes (5/5)	13,791
Sunday, 2 May	Round 8	Warriors	Central Coast Stadium	20 – 24	Taulagi (2), Drinkwater, Robson	Holmes (2/4)	3,692
Saturday, 8 May	Round 9	Brisbane Broncos	Queensland Country Bank Stadium	19 – 18	Feldt, Lemuelu, Taumalolo	Holmes (3/4, 1 FG)	22,222
Saturday, 15 May	Round 10	Sydney Roosters	Suncorp Stadium	16 – 30	Drinkwater (2), Bowen	Holmes (2/4)	45,122
Thursday, 20 May	Round 11	Newcastle Knights	Queensland Country Bank Stadium	36 – 20	Taulagi (3), Dunn, Holmes, Luki, Robson	Holmes (4/7)	11,208
Friday, 28 May	Round 12	Warriors	Queensland Country Bank Stadium	29 – 28	Clifford, Drinkwater, Feldt, Tabuai-Fidow, Taulagi	Holmes (4/5, 1 FG)	14,951
	Round 13	Bye
Friday, 11 June	Round 14	Manly Sea Eagles	4 Pines Park	18 – 50	Bowen, Tabuai-Fidow, Taulagi	Holmes (3/3)	6,801
Friday, 18 June	Round 15	Cronulla Sharks	Queensland Country Bank Stadium	24 – 26	Feldt (2), Dearden, Molo	Holmes (4/4)	13,926
Saturday, 3 July	Round 16	Newcastle Knights	McDonald Jones Stadium	0 – 38			7,610
Friday, 9 July	Round 17	South Sydney Rabbitohs	McDonald Jones Stadium	18 - 46	Dearden, Wright, Feldt	Drinkwater (3/4)	3,127
Saturday, 17 July	Round 18	Sydney Roosters	Queensland Country Bank Stadium	18 - 34	Bowen, Tabuai-Fidow, Robson	Drinkwater (3/3)	15,933
Friday, 23 July	Round 19	Melbourne Storm	Queensland Country Bank Stadium	16 – 20	Bradley, Feldt, Hess	Drinkwater (2/3)	14,924
Friday, 30 July	Round 20	Brisbane Broncos	Suncorp Stadium	18 – 37	Dearden, Feldt, Granville	Drinkwater (3/4)	29,136
Sunday, 8 August	Round 21	Gold Coast Titans	Cbus Super Stadium	14 – 36	Dearden, Feldt, Holmes	Holmes (1/3)	0
Saturday, 14 August	Round 22	Wests Tigers	Queensland Country Bank Stadium	16 – 24	Dearden, Hampton, Nanai	Holmes (2/4)	12,663
Saturday, 21 August	Round 23	Parramatta Eels	Cbus Super Stadium	16 – 32	Granville, Luki, Moceidreke	Holmes (2/3)	3,013
Saturday, 28 August	Round 24	St George Illawarra Dragons	Browne Park	38 – 26	Feldt (2), Dearden, Hampton, Luki, Robson, Tabuai-Fidow	Holmes (5/7)	4,487
Sunday, 4 September	Round 25	Manly Sea Eagles	Queensland Country Bank Stadium	18 – 46	Condon, McLean, Tabuai-Fidow	Holmes (3/3)	14,336
Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw   Bye

Statistics

Representatives

The following players have played a representative match in 2021.

Honours

Club

• Paul Bowman Medal: Coen Hess
• Players' Player: Murray Taulagi
• The Cowboys Way Award: Jake Granville
• Member's Player of the Year: Jake Granville
• Club Person of the Year: Ben Hampton
• Rookie of the Year: Heilum Luki

Feeder Clubs

Queensland Cup

• Mackay Cutters - 12th, missed finals
• Northern Pride - 9th, missed finals
• Townsville Blackhawks - 7th, lost elimination final

Women's team

QRL Women's Premiership

• North Queensland Gold Stars - 3rd, lost semi final

References

1. Newton, Alicia (4 September 2020). "Todd gets the nod: Cowboys name Payten as new coach". NRL.com. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
2. "North Queensland Cowboys name Todd Payten coach for next three seasons". Wide World of Sports. 30 August 2020.
3. "Taumalolo named Cowboys co-captainTaumalolo named Cowboys co-captain". NQ Cowboys. 16 December 2020.
4. "Storm chasers: Turbo sizzles as Sea Eagles set up epic clash". NRL. 4 September 2021.
5. ^ "Morgan announces immediate retirement". NQ Cowboys. 9 April 2021.
6. "Storm survive stern Cowboys test to make it 15 straight". NRL. 23 July 2021.
7. Development players train with the Top 30 squad but cannot play NRL until after Round 10
8. "Cowboys sign Bowen". NQ Cowboys. 3 February 2021.
9. ^ "Simpkins released, Bradley signed". cowboys.com.au. 5 February 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
10. "Cowboys sign Burr". NQ Cowboys. 21 October 2020.
11. "Dearden to join Cowboys with immediate effect". NQ Cowboys. 29 May 2021.
12. "Cowboys Apollo Register update". NQ Cowboys. 30 June 2021.
13. "Title-Winner Asiata Joins Broncos". broncos.com.au. 13 December 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
14. "Jake Clifford joins Knights for remainder of 2021 season". newcastleknights.com.au. 29 May 2021.
15. "Cooper to depart Cowboys". cowboys.com.au. 30 September 2020. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
16. "Cowboys rocked as another man signs south".
17. "Cowboys release Marsters". NQ Cowboys. 4 May 2021.
18. "Dragons confirm McGuire signing". St George Illawarra Dragons. 13 April 2021.
19. "O'Neill announces immediate retirement". NQ Cowboys. 27 August 2021. Archived from the original on 27 August 2021.
20. "Cowboys to farewell five departing players". cowboys.com.au. 3 October 2020. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
21. "How has your team recruited for the 2021 Intrust Super Cup season?". couriermail.com.au. 22 January 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
22. "Ex-player's huge opinion of Knights new English teenage star plus more signing news". newcastleherald.com.au. 22 November 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
23. "Cowboys re-sign Bowen". NQ Cowboys. 26 May 2021.
24. ^ "Cowboys re-sign young trio". NQ Cowboys. 12 May 2021.
25. "Cowboys re-sign Drinkwater". NQ Cowboys. 5 May 2021.
26. "Cowboys re-sign Granville". NQ Cowboys. 25 June 2021.
27. "Cowboys re-sign Hampton". NQ Cowboys. 11 June 2021.
28. "Cowboys to face Blackhawks in Ayr". NQ Cowboys. 29 January 2021.
29. Game played behind closed doors
30. ^ "2021 Presentation Night: Live Updates". NQ Cowboys. 9 September 2020.

27°27′53″S 153°0′34″E / 27.46472°S 153.00944°E / -27.46472; 153.00944

• North Queensland Cowboys seasons
• 2021 NRL season by club