END OF AN ERA FOR COWBOYS Send her off and be ready to party
JOHNATHAN Thurston will forever be known for his drop goal in extra time that sealed North Queensland Cowboys its maiden premiership.
But it’s what he said after the game that will also be remembered fondly in Townsville.
“The last thing I want to say (is that) North Queensland deserves a new stadium,” Thurston said at the end of the epic final against the Brisbane Broncos.
And his request didn’t fall on deaf ears with the stadium set to be complete early next year.
“I may have mentioned a need for it after the 2015 grand final,” Thurston told the Townsville Bulletin recently.
“I knew it would put a bit of pressure on the Government to act on it and it is great they have come through with this new stadium.”
Construction on the North Queensland Stadium started in August 2017 and is nearly three-quarters complete, according to latest information by the State Government.
Housing Minister Mick de Brenni said the western stand was ahead of schedule, while in the eastern and southern stands, installation of the concrete seating platforms for the upper seating bowls had been completed and waterproofing was underway.
Once complete, the first moulded plastic seats will be fixed in place.
Food and beverage outlets are taking shape inside, while outside the stadium, roadworks and footpaths are progressing and landscapers have started on site.
The stadium is set to be complete by February when rock royalty Sir Elton John takes the stage to officially open the site.
“Elton John has played some of the most iconic venues around the world, and with an opening act of such calibre, you can only imagine the big things in store for North Queensland Stadium,” Mr de Brenni said.
At the top of his wishlist for the stadium is hosting a women’s State of Origin game, but Mr de Brenni also floated the idea of football and rugby union games.
North Queensland Cowboys chief executive Jeff Reibel said the positioning of the stadium would create a new experience for fans that he hoped would be likened to Caxton St, near Lang Park in Brisbane.
“At the moment, we’re 14km from the city centre and whilst that doesn’t sound much, Townsville hasn’t the integrated public transport system that other cities do have,” he said. “In the new stadium, what we want to be is one stop out of a two or three stop, night and day out for the families.”
Mr Reibel said the positioning of the stadium would help reinvigorate crowd numbers.
“I think there’s no doubt that when you have something such as a new stadium people will want to come and support it and experience it,” he said.
“I think that whilst we haven’t had a good look at the crowd numbers that we need and want for next year, we’re concentrating on that membership piece.
“There’s no doubt that we wouldn’t have been involved with the campaign to get a new stadium if we didn’t think that would reinvigorate (numbers) and also give people the experience to come along and try something new while supporting their team.”
Mr Reibel remained tight lipped on which club the Cowboys preferenced to open their campaign at the new ground, despite ongoing support for a Queensland derby.
“We’ve put our priority request in and we’ve requested something that we see should be fitting of what this stadium means to North Queensland,” he said.
The club did, however, ask the NRL to play tonight’s farewell game at 1300 Smiles Stadium against the Canterbury-bankstown Bulldogs, who were the Cowboys first opponent at the ground 24 years ago.
“This place has given us so many memories, you know, we won our first ever semi-final here in 2004 when we beat the Broncos,” Mr Reibel said.“there’s so many firsts that will happen with the club. We’re not dying … we’re evolving. We’ll make sure that this old baby is sent off the way that it should be and then we’ll celebrate like there’s no tomorrow when we open up our new place in 2020.”