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There comes a point in a persons childhood where something profound occurs which leads that person into falling in love with a team or sport.
It may be the sweet taste of success and the ensuing celebrations with the older generations of your family who already barrack for a team.
It could be the camaraderie of going down to the local oval with ones friends and the eventual realisation that your support of that team is more than likely to outlast your friendships.
As a 10-year-old scrawny kid who had just migrated from Pakistan in 1998 and was an avid cricket and football fan, something special was needed for me to begin my love affair with the game of rugby league.
All it took was one full field run from a special player and a special human being, who came in the form of a miniscule will-o’-the-wisp playing among giants.
I cannot pinpoint the exact Matty Bowen run which initially got me hooked and on the edge of my seat.
As I look back on my teens, there is a vague mental collage of the kid they call ‘Mango’ evading tacklers and scoring ridiculous length of the field tries.
His highlights reel on YouTube evokes great memories for me.
The measure of a classy player is how the hard things are made to look effortless. Mango would pick up the ball in his in-goal nonchalantly, skip around the most seasoned tacklers, and turn defence into attack in a flash.
In terms of natural ability, the kid from North Queensland is up there with the best we have ever seen.
His horrific knee injury and recurrence at the peak of his career is a tragedy that I feel has been grossly underwhelmed.
In the three disrupted years where he had to go through two knee reconstructions between 2008-2010, the Cowboys failed to make the finals, finishing 15th, 12th and 15th.
With all due respect to Johnathan Thurston, who is the best halfback in the world, the Cowboys just seemed to miss their heart and soul when their hero was out and there were fears that he would have to retire.
Regardless, he came back when all the odds were stacked against him. While he may have lost a step, he matured into an experienced ball-playing fullback who still had the nous to terrorise defenders, and along with Thurston led the Cowboys back into the finals.
To come back from such an injury shows the character of the man, and why he is such a huge role model for a massive region.
It is not easy for our kids from the countryside to make it to the big stage and stay grounded.
He has never been involved in any controversies and places big emphasis on charities and giving back to his community and the NRL community in general.
The much-maligned Ben Barba who is a gifted player with similar qualities would have benefitted from following his good friends example.
Matty Bowen is North Queensland personified. His carefree style of play makes him one of the most entertaining players that the game has ever seen.
At the peak of his career, one would get the sense that he was just a kid playing in is own backyard. To be fair, sometimes he made defenders look so silly that one could be forgiven for thinking it was backyard footy.
He always had a smile on his face and a laid back attitude. I cannot think of an instance where he got angry with a player or an official. He is a great model for our junior rugby league players and youth in general across the country.
Lets hope his knees hold up for him to carve up for another couple of years in the Super League.
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