Straight outta Townsville: Why Cowboys are fleeing North Queensland ahead of NRL season

They’re getting straight outta Townsville. The Cowboys will abandon their North Queensland base ahead of the start of the new NRL season. Find out why.

The Cowboys have taken the landmark step of staging a camp on foreign soil in New South Wales to escape the torrid Townsville heat and cyclonic chaos that has marred their pre-season.

‘Camp Kiama’ will be home to the Cowboys for the next week as North Queensland seek the cooler climes of the NSW south coast to aid their players’ physical welfare ahead of their NRL premiership opener in a fortnight.

The Cowboys will play their final trial of the season against Canberra in Queanbeyan on Sunday before heading for a five-day camp at Kiama, 40km south of Wollongong.

It’s been a wretched pre-season for the Cowboys, who have battled not only a succession of sweltering 30-degree plus days, but Tropical Cyclone Kirrily which wreaked havoc in Townsville last month.

North Queensland have endured six consecutive seasons of sluggish starts and there is a view it could be related to the brutal summer heat taking a mental and physical toll on Cowboys players.

The Cowboys will complete their pre-season in NSW. Picture: Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images

Football boss Micheal Luck said the Cowboys are hoping some southern comfort can reinvigorate their squad ahead of their round 1 clash against the Dolphins at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday, March 9.

“We have decided on a camp in Kiama,” Luck said.

“The heat and humidity up here has been brutal.

“We’ll play Canberra on Sunday, then we go to Kiama the next day and we’ll stay there the rest of the week.

“We’re trying something different ... we’ll see how it affects the team.”

North Queensland’s seasonal starts in recent years have been worrying.

The Cowboys during an army boot camp. Picture: CPL Brandon Grey/Army Media

The Cowboys won one of their first six games in 2018, one of their first five the following year and just two of their first six matches of the 2020 season.

In 2021, they lost their first four games and last season, Todd Payten’s troops won just twice in the opening nine rounds as the Cowboys’ finals hopes hit crisis point by May.

Even in their fairytale season of 2022, when the Cowboys stunned the league to qualify for the top four, they won just two of their first five games before embarking on a brilliant surge to the preliminary final.

The stifling Townsville heat is traditionally seen as a major trump card for the Cowboys, but Luck argues it can be a hindrance.

“We think the heat can be disadvantageous,” he said.

“People say you should be used to the weather when southern teams come up here, but they are only in it for 80 minutes, our boys are in it for weeks and months at a time.

“The last five or six years we have started seasons slow and then we tend to get better as the year goes on and it gets cooler.

“There’s a school of thought that there’s a detrimental effect of being in this (hot and humid) weather for months on end.

“We’re asking our guys to train in extreme heat twice a day and it’s not easy.

“There can be an accumulative toll on their bodies, so we feel getting away to a camp in a cooler place can be a good freshen-up for the guys.”

The Cowboys were accused of complacency in their slide to 11th last season, but coach Payten is adamant his class of 2024 has the talent and hunger to challenge for the title.

“Absolutely we can (win the premiership),” Payten said.

“I was disappointed with last year but we have moved past it and we are looking forward.

“I’m very confident with the squad that we’ve got. I have seen a look in their eye and a desire to get better day after day.

“It’s an enjoyable place to be at the moment. I can assure you everyone is motivated.”