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1994
Robert Wright retained the First Grade coaching position while Steve Boyd took the reins of Reserve Grade. Major losses for the team were Mick Boyd, Kevin Siegert, Mark Johnson, Jason Norris, along with Darwin players Nathan Sariago and Bernard Niki. Gains included ex-junior players Jeremy Ryan from injury, and David Tysoe, Jon Watson, Glenn Crawley and Mark Siegert, while a young Frank Bright played 7 senior games. The team was further bolstered by NT players Ron Roe and Micky Peckham, although ruckman Bobby Ross who made an immediate impact returned home early in the season. A pacy Keyran Gibb was another welcome inclusion.
Ron Roe had a memorable start kicking 14 goals in his first game, as the Blues opened the season with a big win over Dubbo. Further wins over Orange and Bathurst gave the Blues their best start in many seasons to lead the competition, but only 2 further victories through the next 9 games saw them fall back to earth and fourth position at finals time.
Late July in a snow-swept Bathurst is never the warmest of places with the Darwin lads suffering the most. With the Eagles well in front, the mercy rule was applied early in the final term.
Another difficult semifinal trip to Dubbo in Robert Wright’s 100th First Grade game brought disappointment as the Demons outlasted the Blues by 17 points.
The Blues again fared well in the League awards with Micky Peckham’s outstanding season earning him the Clements medal, only the second time awarded to a Cowra player, while Ron Roe was leading goalkicker.
First Grade: Wins 7 Losses 9 Position 4th
Player Milestones:
100 First Grade games: Robert Wright
50 First Grade games: Matt Devlin, Jeremy Ryan
150 Club games: Robert Wright
100 Club games: Matt Devlin, Jeremy Ryan
1995
Rob Wright had his third stint as coach in 1995. The Blues were without NT players Ron Roe, David Brown, Kenny Niki and Micky Peckham, and had also lost Keyran Gibb, Mark Siegert, Jon Watson, Jim Inglis and David Finnimore. Nelson White returned for another season, while ex-juniors Craig Reid and Gavin Hoy returned, the former introducing future 200-gamer Kim Reid to the club.
Coonabarabran re-entered the competition in 1995 along with the newly-formed CSU Bulldogs from Bathurst.
The Blues started the season in emphatic style, beating Coonabarabran by 102 points at home. For the record, Steve Boyd (yes, Steve Boyd) kicked 7 goals in the big win.
Despite the start, there were only a few highlights for the remainder of the season with Cowra regularly thrashed by the stronger clubs Bathurst, Dubbo and Orange. The side suffered 100+ losses on no less than 9 occasions, a new record for the club.
Nevertheless, further wins over Coona and a couple of victories against CSU, including a top four play-off in the final round, allowed the Blues another semifinal clash with Dubbo. The Demons were again too strong with a 45 point result to leave Cowra in fourth spot.
Russell Manning won the Clowry medal in Under 16s.
First Grade: Wins 5 Losses 11 Position 4th
Player Milestones:
150 First Grade games: Geoff Day
100 First Grade games: Jeff Falconer
150 Club games: Geoff Day
100 Club games: Tom Devlin
1996
Long time player Mick Manning took over as coach for the 1996 season, with Robert Wright easing up a bit as Reserve Grade coach.
Notable inclusions for the season included new players Brendan Bedford and Richard Leary both to play big roles with the club in future seasons. A young David Manning also had his first taste of senior football.
There wasn’t a lot of joy for the club as the senior team lost its first 11 matches by an average of around 90 points, the closest results being a 48 point deficit to Orange and 35 points to Dubbo.
The side rallied in the last home and away game with a turnaround against CSU, a big 53 point victory ending a 12 game losing streak, and leading to a few end of season celebrations.
First Grade: Wins 1 Losses 11 Position 5th
Player Milestones:
50 First Grade games: Tom Devlin, David Tysoe
100 Club games: Tony Graham, Mick Manning
1997
After a 6 year stint in the NRFL, Parkes decided to return to the CWAFL for the 1997 season. The League had re-thought its junior policy and introduced an Under 16 competition.
For the Blues, Robert Wright was appointed senior coach, Ken McMurtrie took on the Reserve Grade job and both shared the Under 16s position.
The Under 16 competition paid immediate dividends attracting a number of juniors to the club as well as giving quite a few who had previously played Reserve Grade the opportunity to play against others their own age.
1997 was another season where wins were few and far between. Bathurst, Orange and Parkes proved way too strong, although the Blues did get within 2 goals of the Panthers mid-season.
Cowra enjoyed solid wins over Dubbo and CSU, before narrow losses to both at the end of the year left them out of the semifinals.
After not winning a flag for the opening 11 seasons, 1997 saw the Bathurst team notch their 5th straight, a record not likely to be surpassed.
In Under 16s, the Blues fared much better with a narrow Grand Final loss to Parkes, disappointing after a strong season.
What the re-introduction of a junior competition did do was effectively a kiss of life for the Cowra club. The club fielded 58 players in Under 16s in 1997 including the likes of Mick McLeish, David Manning, Brendan Reid, Marc Hyland, Frank Bright, Michael McMurtrie, Josh Galvin, David McMurtrie, Damian Wallace, Shaun Cox, Andrew Falconer, Damien Green, Jason Cox, Brad Green, Ray Bridge, Kenny Webb, Nathan Reed, Josh Platt, Russell Manning, Jason Stopps, Aaron Newton and Jamie O’Brien, all of whom went on to play plenty of footy both junior and senior for the club. 10 seasons later, no less than 6 were involved in the 2006 First Grade Premiership team.
First Grade: Wins 3 Losses 12 Position 5th
Player Milestones:
100 First Grade games: Mick Manning, Chris Gorham
50 First Grade games: Frank Bright
150 Club games: Chris Gorham
100 Club games: Frank Bright
1998
For the 1998 season, ex-junior and senior Premiership player Ross Butcher was senior coach, Brendan Bedford was Reserves coach and Ken McMurtrie again looked after the Under 16s.
The seniors were fortunate to pick up Nigel Hall, Lee Haselgrove and Keith Hart all of who contributed well through the season. The Blues looked further afield again to secure players with a recruitment drive around the district. The stop at Young proved fruitful with the signing of Steve Corkery, Phil Charles and Paul Treloar, the latter destined to play over 100 games for the club, and with his three boys in juniors, a combined total of closer to 250 games.
Major losses were former juniors Frank Bright, David Tysoe and Wayne Reid.
The Kelso Crows entered a team in the 1997 competition, with the Blues able to record a comfortable win over them in the second match of the season in early May.
What the club didn’t know was they team wouldn’t record another win until May 2001, a losing streak of 40 matches.
The ‘98 team battled on gamely losing to Orange by 24, Dubbo by 19 and 11, Kelso by 15, Parkes by 33, and CSU by 2 in the last round.
Again it was the Under 16s that got the results on the board, entering another finals campaign. Again it was Parkes to eliminate them in the Preliminary Final, with the Kelso side winning the flag in their only season.
First Grade: Wins 1 Losses 11 Position 6th
Player Milestones:
150 First Grade games: Robert Wright
50 First Grade games: Kim Reid
200 Club games: Robert Wright, Geoff Day
150 Club games: Tom Devlin
1999
Brendan Bedford took on the job as senior coach, with Kim and Craig Reid Reserve Grade coaches, and Ken McMurtrie coach of Under 16s.
The likes of Nigel Hall, Lee Haselgrove and Keith Hart moved on, along with 200 gamer Robert Wright, the latter certainly leaving his mark on the club.
Russell Manning and Andrew Falconer made their senior debuts, along with Matt Cusack another former junior, while twins Allan and Mick McVey began what would be long careers with the club.
The senior team could manage just 47 goals in 15 games, the opposition averaging close to 160 points a game, the average losing margin was 135 points. In the final 4 games of the season, Cowra scored just 9 goals while conceding near-on 700 points...the light at the end of the tunnel was dim.
Nevertheless, the club was in good order, financially sound, good administration, plenty of social opportunities, good junior development.
The Under 16s again loomed as a Premiership contender, with again only Parkes looking likely to be a threat. As fate would have it, it was again the Panthers to eclipse the Blues at the last hurdle with a strong Grand Final performance.
First Grade: Wins 0 Losses 15 Position 6th
Player Milestones:
200 First Grade games: Geoff Day
50 First Grade games: Craig Reid
150 Club games: Jeremy Ryan
100 Club games: Steve Boyd, Craig Watmore, Craig Reid
2000
Mick Manning was talked into coaching the seniors, with Kim Reid and Terry Cooper coaching Reserve Grade, and Ken McMurtrie Under 17s coach, the League deciding the older age group a preferred grade. Under 14s was also introduced for the first time with Brendan Bedford coach.
With the exception of Paul Treloar, the Young players didn’t return, with the only other major loss being Tom Devlin, a good servant for the club with over 150 games.
Recruits to the senior ranks included Mick McLeish, Shaun Cox, Corey Kennedy and the return of Frank Bright.
Whereas there was no change in the results with 15 losses, the scorelines weren’t as one-sided, with a narrow 9 point loss to Orange, and a couple of relatively close games against CSU.
The Dubbo Demons were particularly strong keeping Cowra goal-less at home, and showing no mercy when the Blues traveled there late in the season heavily under-manned. The Demons kicked over 50 goals with the 319 point margin Cowra’s worst ever.
The Ken McMurtrie-led 17s were again strong and loomed as favourites for the flag. In a low-scoring Grand Final against Parkes at Dubbo where the Blues had their chances, the Panthers got up in a nail-biter. Still, the side continued to introduce players to footy and give plenty of players valuable experience.
First Grade: Wins 0 Losses 15 Position 6th
Player Milestones:
50 First Grade games: Brendan Bedford, Richard Leary
100 Club games: Kim Reid, Russell Manning, Andrew Falconer, Jason Petty, Shaun Cox
2001
Former junior Dave Bryant took on the 2001 coaching job, Kim Reid was Reserve Grade coach, and Brendan Bedford took over as 17s coach with Ken McMurtrie having a break due to injury. Geoff Day was in charge of Under 14s.
By the start of the 2001 season, the Blues hadn’t beaten Bathurst since early 1994, CSU and Dubbo since mid-1997, Orange since mid-1994 and Parkes since early 1987, or, for that matter, anyone since very early 1998. Brothers Rod and Steve Gray were the only new inclusions in the 2001 side.
The team was coming off 40 straight losses, and for the season opener were up against a red-hot Dubbo side that had easily won the flag a few months before. Their previous encounter saw the Blues thumped by a record 319 points.
In a high quality game, scores were level at threequarter time, with the Blues kicking 7 final term goals for a memorable win by 36 points.
A great start to the season was followed by further wins against CSU and Orange to have the team on top of the ladder after 3 rounds. Losses to Bathurst and Orange brought them back to earth, but a 29 point win over Parkes, their first in 14 years again raised hopes of a finals appearance.
However, narrow losses to Parkes (12 points), Dubbo (1 point after the siren) and Bathurst (7 points) in successive weeks killed off any semifinal aspirations.
In 17s, Bathurst loomed as a major threat to a Cowra side that had built well over a number of seasons under the guidance of Ken McMurtrie. They met in the qualifying semifinal in Bathurst with Cowra narrow winners after extra time. In the decider, the Blues were able to hang on for a great win and just their second flag. The team was: Aaron Newton Ricky Neels Shane Stopps Ray Bridge Daniel Smith Andrew Cousley Brendan Reid Michael McMurtrie Bradley Green Kenny Webb Jason Cox David McMurtrie Shaun O’Brien Matthew Boyce Ben Newcombe Chris Hampton Ricki Bronish Coach: Brendan Bedford
Kenny Webb won the Clowry medal for Best and Fairest in both 2000 and 2001.
First Grade: Wins 6 Losses 9 Position 6th
Player Milestones:
150 First Grade games: Chris Gorham
100 First Grade games: Jeremy Ryan
50 First Grade games: Paul Treloar
200 Club games: Chris Gorham
100 Club games: Richard Leary, David McMurtrie, Terry Cooper
2002
The coaching staff remained much the same for the 2002 season with Dave Bryant, Kim Reid, Brendan Bedford taking on the jobs, with Frank Bright co-coach of 17s and Mick McLeish coach of 14s.
After over 200 games, Jeremy Ryan finally succumbed to injury, while additions to the team included David McMurtrie and Aaron Newton from the juniors, and Warren McKenzie.
Early losses to CSU, Orange by nearly 150 points and Dubbo didn’t augur too well as the team continued to re-build, but round 4 saw a 3 point win away to Bathurst, their first victory over the Eagles since April 1994. However further losses to Parkes and Dubbo gave the Blues just a 1 win/5 loss record.
The Blues then strung wins together against CSU, Orange, Bathurst and Parkes, and repeated the dose against the latter two teams kicking a paltry 6-22-58 in the wet against the Eagles for a 10 point win.
Third position on the ladder at the end of the home and away series was Cowra’s best finish since 1987, earning them their first-ever home final. In a close battle, the Blues outlasted Parkes for a 11 point win.
The Preliminary Final meant another Dubbo trip to take on the Demons who lost to the strong Orange Tigers the week before. Cowra were well in contention late in the game when a goal square freekick ended the Blues run as they lost by 11 points.
In Under 17s, Bathurst avenged the Grand Final result of 2001 by easily accounting for Cowra in the decider. The flag began a dominance of the 17s competition by the Bathurst Eagles and now Bushrangers currently standing at 6 titles.
First Grade: Wins 8 Losses 9 Position 3rd
Player Milestones:
100 First Grade games: Kim Reid
50 First Grade games: David Manning
250 Club games: Geoff Day
150 Club games: Frank Bright
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