With news that our game against the New Zealand Warriors will be shown live on FS1 this Friday morning in North America, we have put together a list of five reasons why people in the US should support the North Queensland Toyota Cowboys.
1. Hawks in North Queensland
During the 2017 World Cup, the Hawks (the USA's national rugby league team) were based in Townsville, North Queensland, playing two of their three pool games out of our former home ground, 1300SMILES Stadium.
2. America's Team
The Dallas Cowboys, who are widely considered as 'America's Team', are one of the NFL's most popular franchises.
It only makes sense that the North Queensland Cowboys become America's Team too.
3. We have a history
One of the USA Hawks most capped players, Matt Petersen, commonly nicknamed Sideshow Bob, made his NRL debut with the Cowboys in 2002. Petersen went on to play eight games for the Hawks. David Myles, who played 57 games for the Cowboys between 2003-05, made three appearances for the Hawks between 2007-08.
Our former assistant coach Terry Matterson (2012-2014) coached the USA National Team to their most successful campaign in the 2013 Rugby League World Cup. The then-named Tomahawks won two of their three pool matches, before being knocked out in the quarterfinals by eventual winners Australia.
4. Same city
A number of towns in North Queensland share the same names as towns in North America.
- Townsville, Queensland --> Townsville, North Carolina
- Ayr, Queensland --> Ayr, North Dakota
- Mackay, Queensland --> Mackay, Idaho
- Clermont, Queensland --> Clermont, Florida
- Georgetown, Queensland --> Georgetown, Washington DC
- Winton, Queensland --> Winton, California
5. Everything is bigger in North Queensland
North Queensland is home to JR, the Texas Longhorn bull with the world's largest horns. In 2012 'The Guinness Book of Records' measured JR to have the world's biggest horns at 109 inches, knocking off a bull named Shadow Jubilee from Ohio.
NQ also holds the record for the world's longest banana split (4.99 miles), the most people wearing high-vis vests in a single venue (2,499 people), and the world's biggest barramundi (85.43 pounds).
