Matt Bowen

Matt Bowen

Personal information
Full name	Matthew Bowen
Date of birth	9 March 1982 (1982-03-09) (age 26)
Place of birth	Cairns, Queensland, Australia
Height	175 cm (5 ft 9 ins)
Weight	78 kg (12 st 5 lbs)
Nickname(s)	Matty, Mango
Relatives	Brenton Bowen (cousin)
Club information
Position(s)	Full-Back
Current club	North Queensland
Number	1
Youth clubs
Years	Club
	Abergowrie College
Senior clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (points)
2001–	North Queensland	158 (369)
Representative teams**
2003– 2004	Queensland Australia	10 (12) 1
* Professional club appearances and points counted for domestic first grade only and correct as of 16 September 2007. ** Representative team caps and points correct as of 05 Septembre 2007.

Matthew Bowen (born 9 March, 1982 in Cairns, Queensland) is an Australian professional rugby league player for the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League competition. His position of choice is at fullback. Bowen has also been selected for the Queensland Maroons and Australia.

Playing career

Bowen's love for the game grew from his upbringing in the remote Cape York town of Hopevale, under the guidance of his father and mother who watched him playing football, fishing, and riding horses.With his cousin Brenton Bowen started his junior playing career with both Souths in Townsville and playing for his school, Abergowrie College. Impressing many with his pace, agility and ability, he was duly selected in the Queensland Schoolboys in 1999, Queensland Under 19's in 2000 and the Junior Kangaroos in 2001. Despite his early athletic achievements, he was always told he was too small, and coaches typically felt he was too light-weight to play in the major leagues. However, Bowen has proven that he is able to overcome this handicap through his lightning-fast footwork and incredible acceleration. He is notorious for using a right-foot sidestep which has bamboozled his opponents on many occasions, leading to his prolific try-scoring ability .

North Queensland Cowboys

Bowen was signed by the North Queensland Cowboys in his teens and made his first grade debut on February 17, 2001 against state rivals the Brisbane Broncos at Dairy Farmers Stadium. In 2005, Bowen was at the top of the try-scorers list with 21. He, combined with player of the year Johnathan Thurston, lead a young Cowboys side to the Grand final, eventually falling short in a 30-16 loss to the Wests Tigers. Bowen was again added to the tour of England but was not used in a controversial decision . In 2006, Bowen gained starting selection for the Queensland team. After scoring the most tries in 2005 (21) he scored only a low 5 in 2006. In 2007, Bowen displayed the attacking brilliance he is renowned for which resulted in him leading the NRL in tries scored (22), line breaks (32) and tackle breaks (220) some 44 above his nearest rival Wade McKinnin of the Warriors with 176. After being not selected for the first 2 games of the 2007 Rugby League State of Origin series, his form was rewarded on 30 June 2007 with a late call up to replace the injured Jacob Lillyman in the final game of the series.

Representative Career

He finished the 2004 season on a high by being selected for Australia for the Tri-Nations Tour to England. While he did not play an official Test match, he played fullback for the ANZACs (against Cumbria), for Australia against France, and again against the USA in the match at Philadelphia on the return leg of the tour. During this game, a fatigued Australian side that had conquered England and played a lengthy representative and club season were losing to the United States and used Bowen from the bench who scored three tries, resulting in eventual victory for the Australian side. Bowen proved to be the game-breaker in the first match of the 2005 Rugby League State of Origin series. 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. Bowen would also score tries in the second and third game of the and would gain a starting selection for Game 3 before being dropped after Game 1 of the 2006 Series. In 2007 Bowen was used off the bench in game three of the state of origin series, there were many casualties this this game and Bowen would see much playing time being used at fullback in attack and on the wing in defense.

Statistics

Club Football

North Queensland Cowboys
2001 - Present

Representative Football

Queensland
2003 - Present

Australia
2004 - Present

Achievements

Individual

2007: Leading tryscorer (21) (tied with Israel Falou)
2007: Dally M Fullback of the Year
2007: Cowboys' Player of the Year
2007: North Queensland Player's Player of the Year

Team

2005: NRL Grand Final - North Queensland Cowboys - Runners-up

External links

• Bowen @ Cowboys.com.au
• Matt Bowen at the State of Origin official website.
• Matt Bowen action photographs