They competed in the NRL's 2005 Telstra Premiership, captained by Mark O'Neill and Scott Prince and coached by Tim Sheens.
In round 3 against defending premiers, the Bulldogs, the Tigers trailed 0–12 and 6–18 before scoring thirty unanswered points to lead 36–18 with 10 minutes remaining.
During rounds 11–15 the Tigers remained in the bottom half of the table mixing promising wins with heavy defeats.
Both teams qualified for week two with the Tigers meeting six time premiers the Brisbane Broncos in a knock-out game.
The Broncos dominated early possession with Benji Marshall preventing a Darren Smith try before scoring a long range intercept try against the run of the play.
In a game defining moment, Benji Marshall returned a kick beating several defenders before a flick pass to Pat Richards.
Richards, who needed an injection to overcome a leg injury, pushed away from Rod Jensen to score, the Tigers leading 12–6 at the break.
With two minutes to go the Cowboys crossed the try-line wide but the conversion attempt missed, leaving the score at 24–16.