Time for Cowboys to turn up

IT was refreshing to see stand-in Cowboys coach Josh Hannay suggesting it is time for a cultural shift in North Queensland.

It’s something even the most diehard fan would have trouble disagreeing with at the moment.

Last weekend the team was embarrassing, slumping to its sixth straight loss against usual cellar-dwellers the Titans.

Watching the game was hard work, with hundreds of fans voicing their disgust on the club’s Facebook and Instagram pages after the defeat.

It seems Hannay has had enough, saying the club needed to own its results and stop looking for excuses.

He even went as far to say the team thinks it is better than it is.

Being the only NRL side in North Queensland, the players are treated like royalty.

But when the actions and results don’t stack up to the large pay packets and the effort put in by the locals to support the team, then something is wrong.

To put it into some sort of context, the Cowboys were gifted a massive new stadium to play in this year. That project cost fans, the region, the state and nation nearly $300m.

The stadium was won on the back of herculean efforts by players such as Johnathon Thurston, club officials and the Cowboys faithful.

Yet a stadium every fan expected to a be a formidable fortress, to scare the bejesus out of visiting teams, is anything but. The Cowboys have won just two games at home and lost five.

If playing in a stadium such as Queensland Country Bank isn’t enough to inspire the players to at least have a redhot go, what is?

It’s like the team has given up and is waiting for the next season to roll around.

Well, next season should start this weekend against the Rabbitohs.

Players should be as outraged as the fans at this year’s record.

It’s time to stand up and have a go, for the people of North Queensland.