North Queensland Cowboys eye Las Vegas 2026 and weigh in on NYC U20s revival

Cowboys boss Micheal Luck has confirmed North Queensland’s intentions for Las Vegas in 2026, while weighing in on the proposed revival of the NYC U20s. Find out what he had to say.

North Queensland Cowboys general manager of football Micheal Luck at the 2023 North QLD Cowboys Awards night. 20/09/2023. Photo: Michael Chambers.

Cowboys boss Micheal Luck confirmed North Queensland will throw its hat in the ring for a Las Vegas appearance in 2026, while welcoming any under-20s initiative that can stop the drain of young talent defecting to New South Wales.

Speaking at the Cowboys season launch on Wednesday, Luck said the Cowboys would be watching this year’s Sin City season-opener intently.

“We’d definitely love to throw our hat in the ring for year three,” Luck said.

“I think the first year was always going to be the bright lights and everyone goes over and enjoys themselves.

“There’s been some good lessons learned out of that, not only by the NRL, but from the clubs that participated.”

A general view of the playing field at Allegiant Stadium before the NRL Rugby League Las Vegas double header on Friday, March 1, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Photo by David Becker)

The Broncos, Roosters, Rabbitohs and Sea Eagles became the first clubs to kick-off the NRL season in the United States in 2024.

While the four teams got an extra week off before facing other travelling teams in round 2, round 3 saw three out of four teams suffer disappointing defeats.

Luck said it would be important for the Cowboys to learn from the first two years of the Vegas experiment.

“We’ll take the lessons off the first year and then how the clubs that go over this year prepare for it, play for it, recover from it, and then go on for the weeks after that,” Luck said.

“So I’m really looking forward to seeing the event, I think it’s a great spectacle, I think it’s a great thing that they’ve invited the English teams and the women’s game as well on the day.

“Four good games of football will bring a really diverse crowd from a lot of different countries.”

The NRL is announcing their line up for Rugby League in Las Vegas 2025 which promises to be bigger, bolder and better, with more games, more teams, more nations and more opportunities for travelling supporters to take advantage. Isabelle Kelly of the Jillaroos. Picture: NRL Photos

The Cowboys general manager of football, who played 226 NRL games over 12 seasons in North Queensland and New Zealand, also welcomed the proposed reintroduction of a National Youth Competition (NYC).

It was revealed last week that Queensland’s four clubs were in private discussions to develop a historic ‘Super Series’ for the cream of Queensland’s teenage talent.

Luck said it was an area of the Queensland NRL pathway that was still lacking.

“Any initiative by the NRL and the state leagues to level up the playing field with the pathways will be well received by our club,” Luck said.

“It’s been a challenge, the last few years, with no under-20s competition in the QRL for placements for those players that might be a little bit over the age of playing for the 19s Mal Meninga Cup competition, but not yet ready to contribute week after week at Queensland Cup level.

“No doubt we’ve lost some significant talent to Sydney pathways in the last year or two because of that move.

“We’re really happy with that initiative at this point, and the devil’s in the details, but we’d love to be a part of it if that came to be.”

The Cowboys kick off their 2025 NRL campaign with a trail match against the Dolphins on Friday night. Kick-off is at 7pm.

Originally published as North Queensland Cowboys eye Las Vegas 2026 and weigh in on NYC U20s revival