North Queensland entered the NRL in 1995 but, according to one-time leading point scorer Josh Hannay, the club didn’t really arrive until a decade later on an electric night at Dairy Farmers Stadium.
In front of almost 25,000 Cowboys fans, Hannay says the planets aligned as the Cowboys notched an historic 10-0 breakthrough finals win over big brothers Brisbane.
The stage is set again for another memorable showdown on Saturday night with the Cowboys and Brisbane to do battle in front of another sell-out house at the same Townsville ground.
“To this day it’s the most memorable night of my footy career,” said Hannay, a member of the Queensland side which kick-started the Maroons’ remarkable seven series’ streak in 2006.
“It was an extraordinary night, a landmark night for the club.
“All the planets aligned with Brisbane getting the game moved to Townsville for its first ever finals and beating the Broncos for the first time. It set a new standard for the club.
“It had been 10 years of hard slog against them up until that magical night, I think our record was something like 0-17 or some bloody thing – it was atrocious.
“It was a real coming of age for the club.”
Hannay left the club in 2006 as its points record holder (882 pts) until he was recently passed by current leader Johnathan Thurston.
Hannay made headlines as a teenager when coach Graham Lowe wanted him to debut for the Cowboys when he was still attending high school.
The Australian Rugby League however torpedoed the move because he wasn’t 16 before the 1997 season had kicked off.
He eventually made his debut as one of the youngest players in history against Parramatta in 1997.
Hannay kicked three goals for the Cowboys in their 2004 elimination final win over Brisbane, in which David Myles scored the only try.
The low scoreline would suggest the clash was a tight, dour arm wrestle but it was anything but.
“It was an end-to-end classic with amazing scrambling defence from both sides that kept the scoreline down,” he said.
“I’ve never experienced an atmosphere like it at a club game.
“The crowd didn’t stop cheering from the time the whistle went.
“I remember doing the walk around the ground with Bear (Paul Bowman) and 15 or 20 minutes after the game it didn’t seem like one person left or sat down, they were all still standing and cheering as loud as they were the first minute.
“It was a special night.”
Hannay said the victory signalled the arrival of the Cowboys who he believes are ready to win the grand final, with “a little luck”.
“You look at the best sides in the comp like Souths who have got (Greg) Inglis, Manly who have (Brett) Stewart, (Daley) Cherry-Evans and (Kieran) Foran, and the Bulldogs who have (Ben) Barba, the Cowboys can match them in terms of game breakers with JT (Thurston) and Mango (Matt Bowen),” Hannay said.
