The player of the season though was Matthew Bowen. Scoring 22 tries in 27 appearances, this was perhaps the Origin representative's finest NRL season so far. Paul Bowman, the last of the 1995 Cowboys, retired after 13 years of service and a club record of 203 first grade games at the end of 2007. He was given a rousing farewell by the home crowd and took on a coaching role with the club in 2008. Another player to retire after season 2007 was Jason Smith. Although only playing one season with the Cowboys, he provided sound experience and leadership to the 2007 squad. Jason's first grade career spanned 17 seasons, with 16 test matches for Australia and 16 Origin appearances for Queensland. He was also the last player still playing NRL to play in the very first Cowboys match on 11 March 1995, when he was with the Canterbury Bulldogs. There were some low points to the season apart from the injury toll, mainly three big losses which blew out the 'for' and 'against' scores record.
