2002 North Queensland Cowboys season

The Cowboys underwent another rebuild in 2002 following a disastrous 2001 season. A number of players were moved on, with the key recruit being former Australian and Queensland winger Matt Sing. Sing was an instant success for the club, finishing the 2002 season as the team's top try scorer and being named their Player of the Year. He would later earn his way back into representative sides, becoming a club legend for the Cowboys, being named in their 10th and 20th Anniversary Teams and an inaugural inductee into their Hall of Fame in 2016.[1][2]

The 2002 season began with three straight losses and looked to be even worse than the year before. Following their Round 3 defeat to the Melbourne Storm, coach Murray Hurst was sacked and replaced by former Sydney Roosters boss Graham Murray, who had taken the Roosters to the Grand Final just two years earlier.[3] Another key piece of their rebuild, Murray would later lead the club to their first finals series and first Grand Final, and was their most successful head coach until the arrival of Paul Green.

Although the success was not instant, the signs were there, as the side won three of their first six games under Murray. Five straights losses soon followed, before ending the year with four wins from their final seven games, giving hope for the 2003 season. The club finished the regular season in 11th, their highest ever finish, with 20 competition points, also a record.

Off the field, Peter Parr joined the club as football manager for the 2002 season. A former administrator with the Perth Reds and Brisbane Broncos, Parr later held the positions of CEO and General Manager and was instrumental in the club's future successes and bringing players, such as Johnathan Thurston, to the club.[4]

2002 also saw the retirement of club stalwart and foundation player Peter Jones, who held the club's most games record until 2004. Jones, the first player to play 100 games for the club, would remain on the Cowboys football operations staff until the end of 2012.[5] While one club great retired, another emerged, with Aaron Payne making his debut in Round 12. Payne would go onto play 219 games for the club and start at hooker in their first ever Grand Final appearance in 2005.

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	New Zealand	24	17	0	7	2	688	454	+234	38
2	Newcastle	24	17	0	7	2	724	498	+226	38
3	Brisbane	24	16	1	7	2	672	425	+247	37
4	Sydney	24	15	1	8	2	621	405	+216	35
5	Cronulla	24	15	0	9	2	653	597	+56	34
6	Parramatta	24	10	2	12	2	531	440	+91	26
7	St George Illawarra	24	9	3	12	2	632	546	+86	25
8	Canberra	24	10	1	13	2	471	641	-170	25
9	Northern Eagles	24	10	0	14	2	503	740	-237	24
10	Melbourne	24	9	1	14	2	556	586	-30	23
11	North Queensland	24	8	0	16	2	496	803	-307	20
12	Penrith	24	7	0	17	2	546	654	-108	18
13	Wests Tigers	24	7	0	17	2	498	642	-144	18
14	South Sydney	24	5	0	19	2	385	817	-432	14
15	Bulldogs	24	20	1	3	2	707	435	+272	8

• Bulldogs were stripped of 37 competition points due to the salary cap breach.

Source:[6]

The following players played a representative match in 2002.