TOWNSVILLE turned on a beautiful Saturday night for the North Queensland Toyota Cowboys 20 year Anniversary Dinner on the lawns of Jupiter’s casino.
Hot on the heels of a momentous victory over the Brisbane Broncos in the local derby the night before, 1100 guests, including players and coaches past and present, sponsors and a host of club supporters all turned out in their finest to celebrate the occasion .
The night included the launch of the club book ‘20 Years in The Saddle’ written by acclaimed author Neil Cadigan, the book showcases the clubs history, touching on the foundations of the game in the North to the early days of the Cowboys formation right through the clubs fortunes to the end of season 2014.
The evening also involved the naming of the Cowboys Twenty Year team , selected by former coaches Grant Bell, Tim Sheens, Murray Hurst, Neil Henry and current coach Paul Green.
The members of the North Queensland Toyota Cowboys’ 20-year team are: Fullback: Matthew Bowen; Wing: Ty Williams; Wing: Matt Sing; Centre: Brent Tate; Centre: Paul Bowman; Five-eighth: Johnathan Thurston; Halfback: Nathan Fien; Prop: Matthew Scott; Prop: Paul Rauhihi; Hooker: Aaron Payne; Second Row: Luke O’Donnell; Second Row: Gavin Cooper; Lock: Travis Norton.
The night also saw the launch of the new club Hall of fame with two former players, Paul Bowman and Matt Sing inducted as inaugural members.
Foundation Cowboy Bowman, who currently heads up the club’s high performance unit, played 203 games for the Cowboys over 13 seasons (1995-2007) and was captain for three seasons from 2001.
He played 12 State of Origin games for Queensland and was named the club’s Player of the Year in 1999 and 2000 (joint winner) and Players’ Player of the Year in 2005.
“With Paul Bowman’s selection into the Hall of Fame, it’s about his longevity at the club, the amount of finals appearances, his contribution to the Queensland team, two Player of the Year awards and a Players’ Player,” Cowboys General Manager – Football, Peter Parr said.
Sing enjoyed a stellar 104-game, six-season stint at the Cowboys, including a starring role in numerous finals appearances, while continuing to represent Queensland and Australia.
“He (Sing) scored 74 tries in 104 games for the Cowboys, which is unbelievable,” Parr said.
“The Hall of Fame committee thought he had a tremendous impact on the club. He came here in 2002 when it was at rock-bottom, and he went on and won Player of the Year in 2002 and Players’ Player (2002-03) and represented Queensland and Australia in his time here,” he said.
The players’ names will feature on a special Hall of Fame display at the Cowboys Leagues Club in Flinders Street, Townsville.
The evening also involved plenty of reminiscing through the various stages of the clubs history with inaugural CEO Kerry Boustead and Captain Laurie Spina giving their recollections of rugby league before the Cowboys formation, when young Northern players often had to move south to Brisbane or Sydney to further their Rugby League careers, as well as their memories of the early years of the club.
Interviews also took place with 2004-05 Grand final-era captain Travis Norton , Luke O’Donnell and Paul Bowman and finished up with modern day co-captain’s Johnathan Thurston and Matt Scott and current coach Paul Green, (who also has the honour of being a former player and was in fact the clubs first State of Origin representative in 1999) .
As was fitting, credit was given to former coach, the late Graham Murray, whose widow and daughter were also in attendance on the night.
Local media identity Glen Mintern kept the evening rolling along brilliantly as the Master of Ceremonies while comedian Dave Hughes rounded off a superb evening with a hilarious routine.