TWELVE of the North Queensland Toyota Cowboys’ 18-man Telstra Premiership-winning squad visited members and supporters in Mackay, Mount Isa and Cairns on Sunday, October 18 during a landmark tour of major regional centres in the club’s footprint.
Large crowds gave the players a warm welcome across the three cities which saw players and staff fly over 3000km in an 11-hour period to give their regional fan base a chance to see the Provan-Summons Trophy up close and personal.
“It was a fantastic day and a real watershed moment in terms of connecting with Cowboys communities,” Cowboys CEO Greg Tonner said.
“The players and coaching staff have delivered the Cowboys a maiden NRL premiership and the club wanted to share this great achievement with our valued members, sponsors and supporters living in these three fantastic cities,” he said.
Sunday’s tour group departed from Townsville at 8am, heading south to Mackay for a tickertape parade and civic reception at Bluewater Quay.
The next stop was Mount Isa where the Buchanan Park rodeo grounds provided a fitting location for a civic reception. A flight north to Cairns and an raucous welcome at Barlow Park rounded out the three-city tour with the plane arriving back in Townsville at 7pm.
The first phase of the regional tour (minus the players) began on Monday with Cowboys CEO Greg Tonner accompanying the treasured trophy to western towns and cities including Hughenden;Richmond; Julia Creek; Mt Isa again and Cloncurry.
The second phase of the regional trophy tour begins this Friday and will see the Mr Tonner take the trophy to visit fans in Bamaga; Ingham; Tully; Innisfail; Atherton; Mareeba;Winton and Longreach before returning to Townsville on Tuesday, October 27.