Bowman given a red-hot send off

HE WAS one of the Cowboys’ first champions, and Paul Bowman embodied the North Queensland spirit.

After making his debut in the club’s inaugural season, he became the first Cowboy to reach 200 games and retired after a 13-year career in 2007.

And there was no better way for the club he loved to send him off their home field than with a dominant semi-final win.

On a hot September afternoon in the state’s north, the Cowboys literally cooked the New Zealand Warriors as they produced a stunning 49-12 win in front of a raucous crowd.

It was the boardroom tactician work of then Cowboys chief executive Peter Parr that laid the groundwork for the victory.

With the third-placed Cowboys set to host the Sunday-afternoon clash, and temperatures soaring past 30C that day, Parr – along with late coach Graham Murray – made the decision for the home side to wear their away jerseys.

It left the Cowboys in a white strip as the Warriors baked in their all-black number.

And the home side was sure to remind them how hot it was every step of the way.

Former Cowboys dummy-half Aaron Payne, who rates the game as one of his fondest memories on the footy field, said there was plenty of banter at each stoppage.

“It was quite smart what the club did, making the Warriors wear their black jerseys,” he said. “Even for a North Queenslander, it was a hot afternoon.”

“Our game plan was having a high completion rate and making them bring the ball out of their own end, make them work hard and wear them down with the heat.

“A couple of scrums we packed down in we kept reminding (the Warriors forwards) just how hot it was, full well knowing we didn’t mind.

“It went exactly the way we wanted it to go. I almost felt sorry for them in the end.”

The Warriors actually started the game on the front foot, scoring twice in the opening 20 minutes to open up a 12-6 lead.

But it would be the crafty Cowboys dummy-half that swung the momentum back to the home side and set them on an unstoppable run to the final whistle. Payne scooted out from behind the ruck and opened space in the defensive line with a dummy to a rampaging Matt Scott before slicing through into the backfield.

“I vividly remember setting up that try. I made a break out of dummy half and drew the fullback and passed to Benny Farrar, who crossed over under the posts,” he said.

The home side would score tries on either side of halftime to take the score to 24-12 before a Matt Bowen field goal in the 60th minute stretched the lead beyond the Warriors.

But that would be the least of the visitors’ worries, as their heads began to drop and the heat took its full toll with four more tries in the final 15 minutes.

Johnathan Thurston was infallible from the kicking tee before the retiring Bowman had the honour of piloting over the final conversion as the full-time siren rang across the stadium.

The 20,000 fans in attendance erupted as the ball sailed over the black dot and the people’s champion was given a lap of honour as the sun set on a special career.

“There was plenty of emotion. Paul Bowman was and still is one of the most respected guys in the Cowboys canvas, not only as a player but as part of the coaching staff,” Payne said.

“He never says much but when he does, I can guarantee everyone listens.

“You knew what you were going to get every game with him. As a teammate you wanted to play better for him and that was certainly the case being his last game at home.

“It was one of my fondest memories as a player.”