No more excuses for North Queensland

The North Queensland Cowboys represent everything that rugby league is about. A simple club with a strong community engagement, the Cowboys are the pride and joy of one of rugby league’s true heartlands.

Hailing from regional Queensland, the club was always going to be fighting an uphill battle to compete with the big brands and big money of their counterparts in the capital cities.

Even today, derbies between the Cowboys and the Broncos are promoted as ‘big brother versus little brother’.

Once the perennial cellar-dwellers of the NRL, it took 10 years for the club to reach its first play-offs in 2004, falling just one game short of a miraculous maiden premiership. They came even closer the following year, going down to the Tigers in one of the great grand finals this side of 2000. I can still remember watching the Cowboys upset the Broncos in Week 2 of the 2004 finals and cheering for them as if they were my own side. That victory remains one of the most exciting games of rugby league I’ve ever seen.

Despite their humble origins, the Cowboys have since proven that they can be one of the most exciting teams in the competition. Boasting a monstrous forward pack and one of the world’s best playmakers in their captain Johnathan Thurston, the Cowboys continue to defy the odds.
Their passionate fans have turned their home ground into a fortress, they boast global brand Toyota as their main sponsor and, just last year, they won their first silverware when they took out the inaugural Auckland Nines competition.

This is why it’s easy to love the Cowboys. They’re a simple, no-frills club that has proven that, on their day, they can match it with the best of them.

However, the last three years in a row have seen the Cowboys bow out of the finals in controversial circumstances.

In 2012, video referees Steve Clark and Paul Simpkins awarded a 63rd minute try to Manly’s Michael Oldfield, despite it being obvious that his teammate, Kieran Foran, had knocked the ball on (an incident for which both referees were stood down and which Foran later admitted to). Manly went on to win the game 22-12 thus ending the Cowboys season.

You had to feel sorry for the Cowboys. A loss always hurts, but when a refereeing blunder costs you your season, it hurts even more.

The following year, history seemed to be repeating itself when referees Matt Cecchin and Henry Perenara awarded a try in the seventh minute to Cronulla’s Beau Ryan. It was revealed soon after that the try was scored after a full set of six tackles had been completed. An embarrassing incident for the referees, but a heartbreaking one for the Cowboys as they once again bowed out due to referee incompetence. The incident even sparked a conspiracy theory that the NRL wanted to ensure an all-Sydney grand final.

The 2014 finals series offered more heartbreak for the hapless Cowboys. After turning around a 30-point deficit against the Roosters, Johnathan Thurston raced away to score the match-winning try to cap off the biggest comeback in NRL history to keep his side alive in the finals.

The video referees, however, mustn’t have read the script. They ruled that Robert Lui had knocked on during the play that led to Thurtson crossing the line. While, in this instance, the referees made the correct call, it was a very, very tight call that relied on numerous viewings and, more than likely, a few flicks through the old rule book. For Cowboys fans, though, it was the same old story: a single referee ruling had cost them their entire season.

So close, yet so far on so many occasions. However, there are other factors to consider.

In 2012’s ‘Hand of Foz’ final, Manly beat the Cowboys by 10 points. Even if the Oldfield try had been disallowed, Manly were still a try clear of their rivals on the scoreboard. Sure, the Oldfield try changed the momentum of the game, but North Queensland still had a full 15 minutes to try and put on two converted tries. Stranger things have happened.

Ryan’s seventh tackle try for Cronulla was ultimately a deciding factor in the Cowboys’ two-point defeat. However, this incident occurred in the seventh minute and the Cowboys continued to allow Cronulla to score during the rest of the game. 73 minutes should have been more than enough time for Thurston and his men to put the incident behind them and put a buffer between them and the Sharks, but they let the team from the Shire get the better of them.

In 2014, many Cowboys fans will tell you that a fifty-fifty ruling on a line-ball cost the Cowboys the game, and their season. But that conveniently ignores the fact that they allowed their opponents to put 30 points on them in the first half alone. The Cowboys weren’t unlucky to lose by a point, they were lucky to not lose by more.

And, of course, not once during this three-year run of bad luck did the Cowboys finish inside the top four. In fact, the Cowboys have only posted a top-four finish once in their existence, in 2007.

The point is if the Cowboys are serious about bringing the Provan-Summons trophy to Townsville, they need to stop trying to do it the hard way. Underdog victories make for a great narrative, but they sure as hell don’t come easy.

Finishing in the top four brings a lot of advantages. At best, top-four sides are rewarded with a bye in Week 2 of the finals. At worst, teams receive a home-game advantage.

There are few clubs in the NRL that benefit more from a home game than the Cowboys. By finishing first or second, the Cowboys could potentially spend the entire finals series on home soil, only needing to head south for the Big Dance. Given Townsville’s infamous heat and the burden of travel on visiting sides, this is an enticing prospect for the Cowboys.

It’s time North Queensland stop putting their season in the referees’ hands where a single decision can make or break them. They need to start putting results beyond doubt. A try wrongly awarded against them won’t do nearly as much damage when there’s a 12, 18 or 24-point margin for error.

I feel for the Cowboys. I really do, and I’d love to see them reward their fans, and their courageous captain with a long-awaited premiership. I daresay I wouldn’t be alone in having a soft spot for North Queensland. However, good will is fast running out for them.

Sure, they’ve suffered from some dud officiating, but the fact that they have continually put themselves in a position where a single call can end their season cannot be ignored.

The time for excuses is over. Luck can win you a premiership, but dominance will all but guarantee you one. The Cowboys mustn’t settle for anything less than a top-four finish this season.