text: Johnathan Thurston finished the year with his second Dally M Medal and Matt Bowen was named Dally M Fullback of the Year.
  2008–2010: Struggling seasons
  At the start of the 2008 season, the club announced head coach Graham Murray's contract would not be renewed. After only winning three of the first ten games, Murray resigned from his job and the club promoted assistant coach Ian Millward to the head coaching role for the rest of the year. During his stint as head coach, the club could only win two more games. Throughout the season the team were decimated by injuries and suspensions as well as off-field issues. In the end, the Cowboys finished 15th on the ladder avoiding the wooden spoon by for and against.
  2009 saw the appointment of Neil Henry as head coach, who had won the Dally M Coach of the Year with the Canberra Raiders the previous year.  The club however experienced another disappointing season, finishing 12th with 11 wins and 13 losses.  2009 also saw Matthew Bowen score his 100th try, becoming the first North Queensland player to score 100 tries for the club and the debut of future Australian and New South Wales representative forward James Tamou.