Supporting North Queensland: Round 2

ONCE upon a time, in a land far, far away, the North Queensland Cowboys made a grand final.

It's not actually a fairytale. It did happen.

Honestly.

Go look it up. I'll still be here.

Done now? Good.

Smartarse.

Anyhow, the Cowboys took an early lead against the Wests Tigers and were looking comfortable when a guy by the name of Paul Bowman had a brain fart. Worried about getting caught in-goal after a Tigers' kick, Bowman passed the ball to pretty much no one, allowing the Tigers to score a try before going on to w... wi... not lose.
What made this all the more painful was that Bowman was a Cowboys' original. He'd played his first game back in 1995, played every season where not collecting the wooden spoon was an achievement, and now, playing in a grand final, he did that.
It just wasn't fair.

Last night it happened again.

Up 16-8 against the Brisbane Broncos - in Brisbane - Matt Bowen was coming back from a kick return when he dropped the ball. The Broncos scored, and all of a sudden it was deja vu all over again. Bowen, a thoroughly likeable lad from the community of Hope Vale in the far north, was supposed to be celebrating his 30th birthday when that happened.
Of all the games to do it in! The Broncos have pretty much always been the dominant Queensland team - it wasn't until the semi-final in 2004 that we finally beat them. There have been a few wins since, but with a 5-24-2 head-to-head record against your fiercest rivals, you want that win so very badly. For one of your club legends - celebrating a personal milestone - to do something so bad in such a big game was like a dagger to the heart/pain in my inbox. Not only that, but my brother was at the game with his fiancee and baby son: we needed the win to lock Lachie in as a little Cowboy!

The game itself was a massive improvement on last week. For one, we scored points! The defense wasn't quite where it needs to be to properly challenge for the premiership, but forays into Broncos territory were often rewarded. Bowen helped redeem himself with a nice little run to the tryline to put us back in front, but when the Broncos scored with 10 minutes to go you felt that was game over. Nice one guys, improvement on last week, but no cigar. Broncos up by 4.

Then the Broncos knock on with two minutes to go. Cowboys scrum, 27m out. Bowen takes the ball out, throws a dummy...

..and he's through! HE'S THROUGH! Try under the posts, Thurston converts, Cowboys win, Bowen celebrates his 30th in style, I'm yelling, screaming and can't stop grinning.

Sometimes fairytales do come true.

NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS 28 (Bowen 2, Johnson, Segeyaro, Tate tries, Thurston 4/5 goals) - Brisbane Broncos 26