text: In the final round of the 2020 NRL season, North Queensland condemned Brisbane to their first ever Wooden Spoon.  Brisbane needed to win the match to overtake Canterbury-Bankstown but lost the match.  As of 2020, the sides have met five more times in the finals, including the 2015 NRL Grand Final, the first all-Queensland Grand Final, which North Queensland won 17–16 in extra time. The rivalry between the two clubs is considered one of the best in modern rugby league.
  The club had a minor competitive rivalry with the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks The games with Cronulla grew from finals football, with the two clubs meeting five times in the finals since 2013. From 2023, the player of the match in games between the two clubs has been awarded the Paul Green Medal, in honour of Paul Green, a former player for both clubs and coach for the Cowboys who died in 2022.
  Women's team
  On 15 June 2022, the Cowboys were admitted to the NRL Women's Premiership for the 2023 season. On 24 November 2022, Ben Jeffries was announced as the club's inaugural NRLW head coach, with Anita Creenaune appointed as Head of Women's Elite Programs. On 4 April 2023, Mackay's Emma Manzelmann became the club's inaugural signing.