Inside Cowboys
Reliable business, streaky football.
North Queensland sit around the middle of the table, roughly where the modern Cowboys live: 11th for win rate over the decade, ninth over three years, one premiership in 2015 and three finals trips since. The business is the steadier performer, a $9.1 million profit on $90.4 million of group revenue in 2025 per the audited accounts, from a leagues-club-owned group that restructured itself in February under NQ Cowboys Limited. The season's low was public and self-declared: an 82 to 12 home loss to the Roosters, the third-highest score in premiership history, which the club apologised for as its darkest day. The response has been recruitment. The coaching staff grew for 2026, Sione Katoa and Jesse Ramien arrive for 2027, Fanafou Seve was extended with the Telegraph reaching for Taumalolo clone, and the Courier-Mail reports Murray Taulagi weighing an offer from French rugby.
- Group revenue $90.4 million, profit $9.1 million, audited accounts to October 2025. The football company made $6.2 million; its own revenue is unpublished.
- Training base: Hutchinson Builders Centre, Townsville. $40 million, opened 2021, funded federally ($15 million), by Queensland ($5 million) and a $20 million NAIF loan.
Checked 21 August 2026 · Evidence high
At a glance
- Home crowd, 2026: 16,325 across 12 home matches, down 1,001 on 2025
- Members, 2026: 20,619, published by North Queensland Cowboys
- Following: 1,112,726 across 4 platforms
- Brand value, 2024: $72M, 4th of 17 clubs
- Who owns the club: Member-owned; Cowboys Leagues Club controls the football company, NQ Cowboys Limited runs group services
- Accounts we can see: Audited group accounts to 31 Oct 2025 · leagues club as parent
- Training base: Hutchinson Builders Centre, Townsville · open since May 2021 · council land lease
- Head coach: Todd Payten
Ownership & Financials
- Since a constitutional change on 4 May 2012, Cowboys Leagues Club Limited controls Cowboys Rugby League Football Limited through its subscribing members and carries the right to control as an intangible asset; the football company is consolidated in the group accounts.
- The audited concise group accounts for the year ended 31 October 2025 report $90.42M revenue and other income, $9.13M profit after tax, $14.02M cash, $79.88M net assets, $24.59M staff salaries and $15.36M player salaries, and record NQ Cowboys Limited as established to employ shared-services staff from 1 November 2025.
- The directors' report states Cowboys Rugby League Football Limited's profit for 2025 was $6,220,000 (2024: $5,400,000), on growth in all key commercial streams.
- On 18 February 2026 the club announced a new structure: the Football Club, Cowboys Leagues Club, Cowboys Community Foundation and NRL Cowboys House consolidated under NQ Cowboys Limited with Lewis Ramsay as group chair, a new Football Club board chaired by David Myles with full control of the rugby league arm, and Micheal Luck promoted to CEO - Football.
Following & Sponsorship
- Principal Partner: Toyota
Leadership
- Tim Follett, Group Chief Executive Officer
- Micheal Luck, CEO - Football
- David Myles, chair
- Lewis Ramsay, chair
- Lewis Ramsay, chair
- Joe Carey, deputy chair
Football Department
- Todd Payten, NRL Head Coach
- Blake Green, Assistant Coach
- Paul Wellens, Assistant Coach
- Jordan McLean, Transitions Coach
- Steve Sheppard, Transitions Coach
- Ricky Henry, NRLW Head Coach
Training Base
- Hutchinson Builders Centre, Townsville: Three-level community, training and high-performance centre beside Queensland Country Bank Stadium, opened 7 May 2021: an indoor synthetic field convertible to a hard court, gym, three pools, a heat and altitude chamber, sleep room, sports medicine and rehabilitation, offices, a lecture theatre, function space, cafe and team shop, with an adjacent 12,000 square metre community field.
Pathways
- North Queensland run a regional model: the Northern Pride and Mackay Cutters are the club's named Queensland Cup feeders, the club fields its own NRLQ under-21 side, and a female academy places 16-to-19-year-olds with the region's QRL clubs beneath an NRLW team. There is no club team below under-21s on either ladder.
- The club's pathways page names the Northern Pride and Mackay Cutters as its Queensland Cup feeder teams and describes a female academy, formed in 2020 with the Pride, Townsville Blackhawks and Cutters, that places 16-to-19-year-olds into the QRL under-19 and BMD Premiership competitions.
- The club fields its own NRLQ under-21 side, which won the 2026 grand final 24-22 against the Dolphins.
Results
- All-time win rate: 43.3% (All first-grade games), 15th of 17
- Last 10 seasons: 46.1% (2017–2026), 11th of 17
- Last 3 seasons: 50.7% (2024–2026), 9th of 17
- Team Rating: 79.6 (2026 season), 11th= of 17
- Premierships: 1 (Since 1995), 12th= of 17
- Finals seasons: 13 (Since 1995), 12th of 17
Sources
Cowboys: squad and cap · Every club, inside · Tell us we’re wrong