The North Queensland Toyota Cowboys are pleased to announce Michael Dobbin will join the club as the Football Department's Head of Performance.

Dobbin will take over the role from Cowboys legend Paul Bowman, who will move to the Head of Sports Science position.

Dobbin joins the Cowboys from the AFL's Fremantle Dockers, where he had been the senior strength and conditioning coach since 2008.

He was also Head of Physical Performance for the AFL's biennial Indigenous All Stars Program in 2015 and 2017.

Cowboys Director of Football Peter Parr said being able to attract someone of Dobbin's calibre to North Queensland was a testament to where the club now sits in the national sporting landscape.

"We went through an extensive process and we were delighted with the number of people who were interested in the position, so much so that we engaged a special recruiting firm to help us," Parr said.

"There is no doubt that right from the beginning Michael was a standout. He had been with the Fremantle Dockers for a number of years and has a great reputation in the AFL industry.

"We were looking to go outside the square. We have enormous rugby league IQ in our performance area already and we felt that somebody from another code could give us a fresh set of eyes to help us look at things differently. We're excited by the fact Michael doesn't have a rugby league background and believe it will be good for our current staff with their professional development.

"The fact he has been based in Perth was a positive as well given the amount of travel we do being based in North Queensland and the onus we place on recovery."

Dobbin will arrive in North Queensland prior to the first intake of players returning for the commencement of pre-season training on November 5.