2000 North Queensland Cowboys season

The Cowboys entered the new millennium with a renewed sense of hope, adding veterans Tim Brasher and Julian O'Neill from the South Sydney Rabbitohs, with Brasher becoming the club's fifth captain.

The competition started a month earlier due to the Sydney Olympics being held later that year. Because of this, the side played their first month away from home. It was a disastrous away trip, with the club losing their first three games. They managed a win on their final away game against Parramatta but were later stripped of the two competition points after fielding a fourteenth player for three minutes.

After two straight losses, back-to-back wins followed, which included the club's biggest ever victory at the time, a 50-10 win over the Northern Eagles. It was the first time the club had scored 50 points in a game. Five rounds later they recorded 50 points again, breaking their biggest winning margin record with a 50-4 victory over St George Illawarra. It would be one of the last bright spots of the season, as the club managed just two wins from the final 13 rounds and ended the season in last place.

Paul Green represented Queensland in State of Origin once again, and was joined by O'Neill and Paul Bowman, who made his first appearance for the Maroons. Brasher was selected for New South Wales, becoming the club's first Blues' representative.

Despite playing State of Origin, Green was sacked halfway through the season for allegedly negotiating with other clubs while still under contract. He would subsequently win an out-of-court settlement against the club. In a further blow to the club, homegrown halfback Scott Prince, who made his debut at 18 and played 53 games for the side, departed at the end of the season for rivals, the Brisbane Broncos.

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Brisbane (P)	26	18	2	6	696	388	+308	38
2	Sydney	26	16	0	10	601	520	+81	32
3	Newcastle	26	15	1	10	686	532	+154	31
4	Canberra	26	15	0	11	506	479	+27	30
5	Penrith	26	15	0	11	573	562	+11	30
6	Melbourne	26	14	1	11	672	529	+143	29
7	Parramatta	26	14	1	11	476	456	+20	29
8	Cronulla	26	13	0	13	570	463	+107	26
9	St. George Illawarra	26	12	0	14	576	656	-80	24
10	Wests Tigers	26	11	2	13	519	642	-123	24
11	Canterbury	26	10	1	15	469	553	-84	21
12	Northern Eagles	26	9	0	17	476	628	-152	18
13	Auckland	26	8	2	16	426	662	-236	18
14	North Queensland	26	7	0	19	436	612	-176	12

• North Queensland were stripped of 2 competition points due to a breach of the interchange rule in one game.

Source:[1]

The following players played a representative match in 2000.