The 2008 North Queensland Cowboys season was the 14th season in the club's history. They were coached by Graham Murray and captained by Johnathan Thurston, they competed in the National Rugby League's 2008 Telstra Premiership.

On 19 May, Murray resigned as head coach after just three wins from the opening 10 games. He was replaced by assistant coach Ian Millward, who took over as interim head coach until the end of the season. The Cowboys finished the season in 15th place, avoiding the wooden spoon by points differential.

The Cowboys entered the 2008 season optimistic about the finals chances after a preliminary final appearance in 2007. The club got off to the worst possible start, losing three straight games. They would win their next three but it proved to be a false dawn, as the side went on a club record 13-game losing streak. They finished the season with two wins from their final five games, finishing in 15th place and narrowly avoiding the wooden spoon. The season was plagued by injury, with key players Matthew Bowen, Luke O'Donnell, Matthew Scott and Johnathan Thurston all missing considerable playing time due to injuries.

On April 2, the Cowboys signed former assistant coach and then-Canberra Raiders coach Neil Henry as their head coach for the 2009 season.^[1] A month later, Graham Murray re-signed as head coach and was replaced by his assistant Ian Millward as interim head coach for the rest of 2008. Millward's first win as head coach occurred in Round 22, as the Cowboys defeated the Canterbury Bulldogs 36-12 at Suncorp Stadium.

Despite the poor season, the club still maintained the fourth highest home crowd average in the NRL with an average of 18,102.

• Round 1: Matthew Scott played his 50th game for the club.
• Round 1: Travis Burns and Ben Harris made their debuts for the club.
• Round 2: Dayne Weston made his debut for the club.
• Round 2: Obe Geia made his NRL debut.
• Round 4: Anthony Watts and John Williams made their debuts for the club.
• Round 8: Daniel Abraham made his debut for the club.
• Round 14: Nick Slyney made his NRL debut.
• Round 15: Greg Byrnes made his NRL debut.
• Round 16: Ashley Graham played his 50th game for the club.
• Round 16: Brandon Boor and Sam Bowie made their NRL debuts.
• Round 19: Luke Harlen made his debut for the club.
• Round 21: The club recorded their longest losing streak with their 13th straight loss.
• Round 22: Ray Cashmere played his 50th game for the club.
• Round 25: Shane Tronc played his 100th game for the club.

Player	Signed From	Until End of
Daniel Abraham	Newcastle Knights	2008
Travis Burns	Manly Sea Eagles	2009
George Gatis	Huddersfield Giants (mid-season)	2008
Ben Harris	Bradford Bulls	2010
Chris Sheppard	Northern Pride (mid-season)	2008
Anthony Perkins	Melbourne Storm	2009
Anthony Watts	Cronulla Sharks	2010
Dayne Weston	Cronulla Sharks	2009
John Williams	Sydney Roosters	2010

Player	Signed To	Until End of
Brett Anderson	Melbourne Storm	2009
Brenton Bowen	Gold Coast Titans	2009
Paul Bowman	Retired	-
David Faiumu	Huddersfield Giants (mid-season)	2009
Rod Jensen	Huddersfield Giants	2009
Karl Johnson	Newcastle Knights	2008
Scott Minto	Retired	-
Shane Muspratt	Mackay Cutters	2008
Jason Smith	Retired	-
Neil Sweeney	Newcastle Knights	2008
Colin Wilkie	Released	-

2008 NRL season v t e
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Melbourne Storm	24	17	0	7	2	584	282	+302	38
2	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles (P)	24	17	0	7	2	645	355	+290	38
3	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	24	17	0	7	2	451	384	+67	38
4	Sydney Roosters	24	15	0	9	2	511	446	+65	34
5	Brisbane Broncos	24	14	1	9	2	560	452	+108	33
6	Canberra Raiders	24	13	0	11	2	640	527	+113	30
7	St George Illawarra Dragons	24	13	0	11	2	489	378	+111	30
8	New Zealand Warriors	24	13	0	11	2	502	567	-65	30
9	Newcastle Knights	24	12	0	12	2	516	486	+30	28
10	Wests Tigers	24	11	0	13	2	528	560	-32	26
11	Parramatta Eels	24	11	0	13	2	501	547	-46	26
12	Penrith Panthers	24	10	1	13	2	504	611	-107	25
13	Gold Coast Titans	24	10	0	14	2	476	586	-110	24
14	South Sydney Rabbitohs	24	8	0	16	2	453	666	-213	20
15	North Queensland Cowboys	24	5	0	19	2	474	638	-164	14
16	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	24	5	0	19	2	433	782	-349	14

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance
16 February	Trial 1	Brisbane Broncos	Browne Park	10 – 20	Nicolau, Thompson	Nicolau (1/2)	-
23 February	Trial 2	Gold Coast Titans	Barlow Park	22 – 30	Webb (2), Faust, T Williams	Graham (3/4)	-
1 March	Trial 3	Canberra Raiders	Dairy Farmers Stadium	32 – 12	O'Donnell (3), Bowen, Southern, Webb	Graham (3/4), Burns (1/2)	-

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance
14 March	Round 1	Gold Coast Titans	Skilled Park	18 – 36	Thurston (2), Harris	Thurston (3/3)	26,974
22 March	Round 2	Wests Tigers	Dairy Farmers Stadium	10 – 30	Graham, Harris	Thurston (1/2)	20,655
28 March	Round 3	Brisbane Broncos	Suncorp Stadium	2 – 36	-	Thurston (1/1)	50,612
5 April	Round 4	Parramatta Eels	Dairy Farmers Stadium	38 – 14	Graham, Henry, Lillyman, Smith, Watts, Webb	Thurston (7/7)	19,231
12 April	Round 5	St George Illawarra Dragons	WIN Stadium	20 – 16	Smith, Thurston, Watts	Thurston (4/4)	11,639
19 April	Round 6	Warriors	Dairy Farmers Stadium	48 – 20	Bowen (3), Harris (2), Graham, Smith, Southern, J Williams	Thurston (6/8), Graham (0/1)	20,544
26 April	Round 7	Melbourne Storm	Dairy Farmers Stadium	10 – 12	Henry, J Williams	Thurston (1/2)	24,053
4 May	Round 8	South Sydney Rabbitohs	ANZ Stadium	24 – 28	Graham, Vaeau, Webb, J Williams	Thurston (4/4)	9,818
10 May	Round 9	Cronulla Sharks	Dairy Farmers Stadium	18 – 24	Henry, O'Donnell, Webb	Thurston (3/3)	17,065
17 May	Round 10	Manly Sea Eagles	Central Coast Stadium	6 – 38	Farrar	J Williams (1/1)	9,343
	Round 11	Bye
31 May	Round 12	Penrith Panthers	Dairy Farmers Stadium	18 – 19	Abraham, Burns, Graham	Thurston (3/4)	16,553
7 June	Round 13	Wests Tigers	Campbelltown Stadium	16 – 40	Harris, Slyney, T Williams	J Williams (2/3)	10,488
16 June	Round 14	Newcastle Knights	Dairy Farmers Stadium	18 – 30	Farrar (2), Bartlett	Thurston (3/4)	14,234
21 June	Round 15	Melbourne Storm	Olympic Park	20 – 48	Cashmere, Henry, Webb, J Williams	Thurston (2/4)	10,880
28 June	Round 16	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Dairy Farmers Stadium	28 – 29	Graham (2), Cashmere, Harris, J Williams	J Williams (4/5)	15,631
	Round 17	Bye
12 July	Round 18	Warriors	Mt Smart Stadium	14 – 24	J Williams (2), Graham	Thurston (1/3)	7,772
18 July	Round 19	Brisbane Broncos	Dairy Farmers Stadium	18 – 32	Southern, Tronc, J Williams	J Williams (3/3)	22,048
25 July	Round 20	Parramatta Eels	Parramatta Stadium	4 – 16	J Williams	J Williams (0/1)	7,253
2 August	Round 21	Sydney Roosters	Dairy Farmers Stadium	20 – 32	Henry, O'Donnell, Weston, T Williams	Thurston (2/4)	14,601
9 August	Round 22	Canterbury Bulldogs	Suncorp Stadium	36 – 12	T Williams (2), Burns, Cashmere, Faumuina, Graham, Webb	J Williams (4/7)	8,549
16 August	Round 23	Gold Coast Titans	Dairy Farmers Stadium	20 – 26	O'Donnell, Weston, J Williams, T Williams	J Williams (2/4)	17,605
23 August	Round 24	Newcastle Knights	EnergyAustralia Stadium	24 – 38	O'Donnell (2), Payne, T Williams	J Williams (4/4)	10,323
30 August	Round 25	Canberra Raiders	Dairy Farmers Stadium	22 – 10	Burns, Harris, Thurston, Webb	J Williams (3/4)	14,998
6 September	Round 26	Cronulla Sharks	Toyota Stadium	22 – 28	Graham, Scott, Tronc, T Williams	J Williams (3/3), Thurston (0/1)	7,057
Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw   Bye

Source:^[2]

The following players have played a representative match in 2008

• Wally Lewis Medal: Johnathan Thurston

• Paul Bowman Medal: Aaron Payne
• Player's Player: Aaron Payne
• Club Person of the Year: Aaron Payne
• Rookie of the Year: Nick Slyney
• Most Improved: Brandon Boor
• NYC Player of the Year: Nick Slyney

• North Queensland Cowboys - 16th, Wooden Spoon

• Mackay Cutters - 9th, missed finals
• Northern Pride - 3rd, lost preliminary final

19°18′58″S 146°42′43″E / 19.31611°S 146.71194°E / -19.31611; 146.71194 (Willow Sports Complex)