| Bowen in 2007 | ||||||
| Personal information | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Matthew Jeremy Bowen | |||||
| Nickname | Matty, Mango, Bowen Magic, | |||||
| Born | 9 March 1982 Cairns, Queensland, Australia |
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| Height | 175 cm (5 ft 9 in) | |||||
| Weight | 84 kg (13 st 3 lb) | |||||
| Playing information | ||||||
| Position | Fullback, Wing, Five-eighth | |||||
| Club | ||||||
| Years | Team | Pld | T | G | FG | P |
| 2001– | North Queensland | 225 | 111 | 23 | 3 | 493 |
| Representative | ||||||
| Years | Team | Pld | T | G | FG | P |
| 2003–07 | Queensland | 10 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 20 |
| 2004 | Australia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| As of 9 October 2011 | ||||||
| Source: Herald Sun, rugbyleagueproject.org,Nth Qld Cowboys | ||||||
Matthew Jeremy "Matt" Bowen (born 8 March 1982 in Cairns, Queensland) is an Australian rugby league player. He has spent his whole professional career with the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League (NRL), playing in over 200 matches and holding the club's record for the player with the most NRL appearances. He appeared in the club's only NRL Grand Final (2005). A dynamic fullback, he was twice the NRL's top try-scorer for a season, in 2005 and 2007. He was named the NRL's best player in his position in the 2007 season.
Bowen played in one Test match for Australia, against France in 2004. He played in ten State of Origin matches for Queensland, between 2004 and 2007.
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Bowen grew up in the Cape York Aboriginal community of Hopevale.[1] He attended Abergowrie College near Ingham where he started playing rugby league at the age of 12.[2] His school team won the Queensland schoolboys' competition in 1999 and he was named player of the tournament.[3][4] His schoolboy exploits attracted the attention of a number of NRL clubs in Sydney and Brisbane; however, he chose to pursue his professional career with his local team, the North Queensland Cowboys.[4] In 2000, he was part of the Cowboys' reserve grade team that made the grand final of the reserve grade competition.[5]
Bowen made his first-grade debut on 17 February 2001 against Queensland rivals the Brisbane Broncos at Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville.[6]
In 2003, Bowen made his representative debut, being called up to the Queensland team for the second match of the State of Origin series.[7] He played 16 minutes as a substitute, as Queensland lost the series.[8] The following season, Bowen was selected in the Australian Kangaroos squad for a Tri-Nations series against New Zealand and Great Britain.[9] His selection followed a season in which the Cowboys finished one match away from qualifying for their first NRL Grand Final. He played as fullback in a tour match against Cumbria, scoring a try, although did not play in the Tri-Nations series, with Anthony Minichello preferred as the Kangaroos' fullback.[10] However, after the Tri-Nations series, he made his Test debut in a one-off match against France in Carcassonne, that Australia won 52–30.[11][12][13] On the touring squad's return journey to Australia, he scored three tries in a non-Test exhibition match against the United States in Philadelphia.[14]
2005 was a breakthrough year for Bowen and the Cowboys. In the 2005 State of Origin series, Bowen proved to be the game-breaker in the first match. After coming off the bench in the second half, he intercepted a pass from New South Wales half-back Brett Kimmorley and ran 40m to score in extra time, thus winning the game for Queensland.[15] Bowen would also score tries in the second and third games of the series, although Queensland lost both matches to lose the series. He was selected in Queensland's starting line-up in the third match for the first time in his career, displacing Billy Slater.[16] Bowen's 21 tries for the 2005 NRL season made him the League's top try-scorer of the year.[17] The Cowboys made it to the 2005 NRL Grand Final, the club's first, where, despite Bowen scoring the opening try, they lost to the Wests Tigers, 30–16.
Bowen and the Cowboys failed to capitalise on their progress in 2005, finishing ninth on the 2006 NRL season ladder, outside the finals series. Bowen was left out of the Kangaroos' squad for the ANZAC Test against New Zealand,[18] was dropped from Queensland's side for the second match of the State of Origin series,[19] and scored only five tries in 24 matches for the Cowboys.[20]
In 2007, Bowen regained his top try-scorer's title, with 22 tries, and also made the most line breaks (32) and tackle breaks (220) in the NRL.[21] He also returned to the Queensland squad for the final match of the State of Origin series, and the Cowboys returned to the NRL finals, finishing third on the ladder. He was voted by his peers as the Rugby League Player Association's player of the year,[22] was named the Cowboys' player of the year for the first and only time in his career,[23] and was given the award for the NRL's best fullback at the season-ending Dally M Awards. He also signed a new contract to remain at the Cowboys through the 2011 season, with his coach Graham Murray claiming he was the "best fullback in the game".[24] Despite the accolades for his performances during the year, Bowen was controversially omitted from the Kangaroos side to face New Zealand at the end of the season, as Brett Stewart and Kurt Gidley were preferred at fullback.[25] Kangaroos' coach Ricky Stuart argued that Bowen's small stature was a factor against his selection.[26] Former dual-code international Wendell Sailor argued that selectors were correct to leave Bowen out of the national team, suggesting that his form in club football had not been replicated at State of Origin level.[27]
Bowen started the 2008 season slowly, missing Rounds Four and Five of the NRL due to a left knee injury. He returned in Round Six against the New Zealand Warriors and scored three tries.[28] However, barely weeks later, Bowen injured his knee again and underwent surgery that ruled him out of action for the rest of the season.[29] Without him, North Queensland finished 15th on the NRL ladder.
Bowen returned to football in the 2009 pre-season.[30] However in August he injured his right knee in the same way that he had injured his left knee the previous season. Another round of surgery followed, ruling him out for the remainder of the season and the beginning of the next.[31][32] The Cowboys had a disastrous 2010 campaign, finishing on the bottom of the ladder. Bowen played his 200th match for the Cowboys during the season, in a September defeat to the Sydney Roosters.[33]
Bowen reached another milestone early in the 2011 season, surpassing Paul Bowman's record for the most number of NRL matches for a Cowboys player.[34] The Cowboys had an improved season, finishing seventh on the ladder and returning to the finals series. Bowen returned to representative football, being selected for a Prime Minister's XIII that defeated Papua New Guinea in a post-season exhibition match.[35] During the season, Bowen signed a new contract with the Cowboys through 2013, citing his "love" for the club and a desire to continue to be close to his extended family. He had considered competing offers to play in England.[36] After the season, he was shortlisted for the Rugby League International Federation's Fullback of the Year award.[37]
Long-time Queensland and Australian captain Darren Lockyer has called Bowen a "little freak", citing his skills and dynamism.[38] Respected coach and commentator Phil Gould remarked in 2005 that he was a "modern-day icon of the game", saying: "Bowen has unique football instincts. He performs the difficult with ease and some of his feats have redefined what we once believed to be impossible."[39]
Bowen played with his cousin Brenton Bowen at the Cowboys from 2003 to 2007, before Brenton moved to the Gold Coast Titans.[40]
2005: Leading tryscorer (21)
2007: Leading tryscorer (22)
2007: Dally M Fullback of the Year
2007: Rugby League Professionals Association's Player of the Year
2007: Cowboys' Player of the Year
2007: North Queensland Cowboys Player's Player of the Year
2011: Most matches played for the North Queensland Cowboys (204).
2005: NRL Grand Final – North Queensland Cowboys – Runners-up
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