Cowboys INSIDER

• On board a small plane in a tropical storm wasn’t the scenario a couple of Cowboys wanted to be part of last week, but that’s where Ray Thompson and Jason Taumalolo found themselves while flying back to Mt Isa from their NRL Community Carnival visit to Doomadgee on Thursday. The storm rocked and rolled their eight-seater and the duo were very happy when they set foot on the tarmac at Mt Isa Airport.

• The Isa trial against the Broncos was very special for Cowboys triallist BJ Munns. Not only did the 21-year-old get to pull on a Cowboys jersey for the first time, but his dad was there to watch after making the 10-hour drive west from Charters Towers. BJ scored a second-half try which gave him and his dad a thrill even though Munns Sr is a Broncos fan. BJ was back at work as a welder on Monday after enjoying his taste of the rugby league big time. “I wasn’t that nervous, just excited to be part of it,” he said on the flight home. “It’s been an awesome few days.”

• The Mt Isa Rugby League did a great job in organising the pre-season match and the festivities that went with the Cowboys and Broncos’ three-day stay. The great news is that they benefitted from the visit, with their Sportsman’s Dinner raising $35,000 via a dozen auction items, including two half-Cowboys, half-Broncos jerseys.

• It was a night of celebrations for the Cowboys on Saturday night. Not only did the boys beat the Broncos, but there were birthday celebrations for Kyle Feldt (21) and Tariq Sims (23).

• One of the biggest laughs from the Mt Isa Community Carnival school visits came at Sunset State School. The students there thought it was pretty funny when Robert Lui revealed that his teammate Michael Morgan was a Justin Bieber fan. Morgo, who was standing alongside, confirmed that he loves the young singer’s music.

• The Cowboys took 3,000 team posters for the Mt Isa school visits and they were all snapped up by eager young fans in another sign of the great support we have out west.

• Kalifa Faifai Loa had a mixed day with his kicking game against the Broncos. He took on the kick-off responsibilities and his first was a beauty, sailing deep into the corner. However, the next one went out on the full and the winger immediately sacked himself from the job. Later in the game, he knocked over a conversion from near the posts to be one from one in his Cowboys career.

• Young front-rower Sam Hoare will remember the Mt Isa game for an odd reason – a small cut on his cheek ended up requiring the first stitches of his footy career.

• There’ll be even more of the Cowboys on Channel Nine/WIN’s Footy Show this year. Six of our leading players will face the show’s cameras this Wednesday to answer a 40-question quiz – their answers will be shown throughout the season.

• If you’re in the Cairns region, make sure you pick up a copy of the Cairns Post on Wednesday. Inside will be a special NRL trial liftout including the official 2013 Cowboys team poster that you can take along to the open training session at Barlow Park at 4pm or the game on Saturday night.

• Our membership team will be at Barlow Park for the trial this Saturday to sign up new and renewing Cowboys members for 2013 – look out for the membership marquee.

•We had a great response to our tweets on the Mt Isa trial and are planning to post updates for the Dragons game also. Follow us @nthqldcowboys to keep up to date on scores, what's happening on the field and all the goss from the Cowboys camp.