Were you there? 120+ never-before-seen snaps from ‘04 Broncos-Cowboys epic

On this day, 20 years ago, the North Queensland Cowboys came of age by conquering the Broncos for the first time. Hear from the legends who made history as we flash back to 2004.

Nic Darveniza

@NicDarveniza

less than 2 min read

September 18, 2024 - 6:24PM

News Sport Network

1/122North Queensland Cowboys v Brisbane Broncos at Dairy Farmers Stadium,Townsville. Picture: Mark Evans

2/122North Queensland Cowboys v Brisbane Broncos at Dairy Farmers Stadium,Townsville. Picture: Mark Evans

3/122North Queensland Cowboys v Brisbane Broncos at Dairy Farmers Stadium,Townsville. Picture: Stewart McLean

4/122David Myles celebrates.

5/122Hannah Britton ,13. Pic Evan Morgan

6/122Luke O’Donnell and David Myles. Picture: Stewart Mclean

7/122Karmichael Hunt fails to get the ball out from behind the Broncos tryline as he is tackled by Travis Norton and Paul Bowman

8/122Karmichael Hunt fails to get the ball out from behind the Broncos tryline as he is tackled by Travis Norton and Paul Bowman

9/122‘Mad Dog.’ Picture: Lori Neilsen

10/122Luke O’Donnell and Glenn Morrison. Picture: Scott Radford-chisholm

11/122Cowboys celebrate.

12/122North Queensland Cowboys v Brisbane Broncos at Dairy Farmers Stadium,Townsville. Picture: Scott Radford-Chisholm

13/122Darren Barr with Dominique (6yrs), Jaydon (9yrs) and Belinda (sitting), from Douglas. Picture: Lori Neilsen

14/122North Queensland Cowboys v Brisbane Broncos at Dairy Farmers Stadium,Townsville. Picture: Stewart McLean

15/122Gary Tupou comes down without the ball from a bomb.

16/122Dane Carlaw gets tackled.

17/122Aaron Payne celebrates.

18/122Graham Murray celebrates

19/122North Queensland Cowboys v Brisbane Broncos at Dairy Farmers Stadium,Townsville. Picture: Stewart McLean

20/122North Queensland Cowboys v Brisbane Broncos at Dairy Farmers Stadium,Townsville. Picture: Mark Evans

21/122Annette Sampson..pic MARK EVANS

22/122Mad Dog. Picture: Lori Neilsen

23/122North Queensland Cowboys v Brisbane Broncos at Dairy Farmers Stadium,Townsville. Picture: Scott Radford-Chisholm

24/122North Queensland Cowboys v Brisbane Broncos at Dairy Farmers Stadium,Townsville. Picture: Scott Radford-Chisholm

25/122Killing Heidi performed at halftime

26/122Aaron Payne celebrates

27/122North Queensland Cowboys v Brisbane Broncos at Dairy Farmers Stadium,Townsville. Picture: Stewart McLean

28/122Mitchell Sargent thanking the crowd. Picture: Bryan Lynch

29/122Picture: Lori Neilsen

30/122Cowboys celebrate.

31/122North Queensland Cowboys v Brisbane Broncos at Dairy Farmers Stadium,Townsville. Picture: Stewart McLean

32/122North Queensland Cowboys v Brisbane Broncos at Dairy Farmers Stadium,Townsville. Picture: Mark Evans

33/122North Queensland Cowboys v Brisbane Broncos at Dairy Farmers Stadium,Townsville. Picture: Scott Radford-Chisholm

34/122Sandra and Jessie (2) McLecornu of Townsville

35/122Leigh McWilliams Picture: Scott Radford-chisholm

36/122Dominique Barr (6yrs) from Douglas. Picture: Lori Neilsen

37/122Tara Enchong (19yrs) from Kirwan. Picture: Lori Neilsen

38/122North Queensland Cowboys v Brisbane Broncos at Dairy Farmers Stadium,Townsville. Picture: Scott Radford-Chisholm

39/122Matt Bowen gets tackled by Brent Tate.

40/122David Myles Picture: Scott Radford-chisholm

41/122Corey Parker and Shane Webcke tackle Luke O’Donnell

42/122Kasey White 18mths and mother Ann-Maree

43/122A pitch invader. Picture: Stewart Mclean

44/122Broncos vs Nth Qld Cowboys at Dairy Farmers Stadium T’ville . NRL - 18.9.04

45/122North Queensland Cowboys v Brisbane Broncos at Dairy Farmers Stadium,Townsville. Picture: Stewart McLean

46/122Picture: Lori Neilsen

47/122Picture: Lori Neilsen

48/122Cowboys supporter Ashleigh Kepper (21yrs, Garbutt) and Broncos supporter Shirley Holcombe (21yrs, Douglas). Picture: Lori Neilsen

49/122Peter Coventry of Townsville in the big blue hat and Matt Sullivan of Brisbane in the Broncos colours

50/122Cowboys coach Graham Murray.pic MARK EVANS

51/122North Queensland Cowboys v Brisbane Broncos at Dairy Farmers Stadium,Townsville. Picture: Scott Radford-Chisholm

Regina Coleman, Isaac Coleman (12yrs), Brayden Grogan (9yrs) and Liela Murison. Front left to right Taylah (3yrs) and Kelvin Coleman (9yrs). Picture: Lori Neilsen

52/122Regina Coleman, Isaac Coleman (12yrs), Brayden Grogan (9yrs) and Liela Murison. Front left to right Taylah (3yrs) and Kelvin Coleman (9yrs). Picture: Lori Neilsen

53/122Mad Dog cheers on the crowd at the Cowboys V Broncos NRL Football Semi- Final at Dairy Farmers Stadium Picture: Bryan Lynch

54/122The ground invader. Picture: Stewart Mclean

55/122Chris Nagy and Anthony Yarrow of Townsville

56/122Cowboys - Queues outside training at Dairy Farmers stadium

57/122North Queensland Cowboys v Brisbane Broncos at Dairy Farmers Stadium,Townsville. Picture: Scott Radford-Chisholm

58/122Picture: Lori Neilsen

59/122Brothers Ben (7yrs) and Nathan Abbey (10yrs) from Mareeba. Picture: Lori Neilsen

60/122Cowboys supporter Coral Gard. Picture: Lori Neilsen

61/122Dane Carlaw and Matt Sing

62/122Fans wait in line to buy tickets Cowboys - training at Dairy Farmers stadium

63/122The XBOX honies. Picture: Scott Radford-chisholm

Paul Bowman celebrates. North Queensland Cowboys v Brisbane Broncos at Dairy Farmers Stadium,Townsville. Picture: Scott Radford-Chisholm

64/122Paul Bowman celebrates. North Queensland Cowboys v Brisbane Broncos at Dairy Farmers Stadium,Townsville. Picture: Scott Radford-Chisholm

65/122David Myles scoring the only try in the game. Picture: Stewart Mclean

66/122Paul Rauhihi gets the pass away as he gets tackled by Petero Civoniceva.

67/122Jade Wetzel at the Cowboys V Broncos NRL Football Semi- Final at Dairy Farmers Stadium Picture: Bryan Lynch

68/122Bruce Wooton from Kirwan celebrates the win. Pic Evan Morgan

69/122Anastasia Johnson and Julie Marshall. Picture: Lori Neilsen

70/122Mitchell Fogarty ,8, from Condon. Pic Evan Morgan

71/122Mitchell Sargent thanking the crowd after the Cowboys V Broncos NRL Football Semi- Final at Dairy Farmers Stadium Picture: Bryan Lynch

72/122Winning players celebrate following North Queensland Cowboys v Brisbane NRL semi-final game at Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville.

73/122Matt Bowen and Leigh McWilliams

74/122Pic Evan Morgan

75/122Ty Williams trys to get past Shane Webcke.

76/122Pic Evan Morgan

77/122Doug Vetter, who is adding lists to his jacket after each game. Picture: Scott Radford-chisholm

78/122North Queensland Cowboys v Brisbane Broncos at Dairy Farmers Stadium,Townsville. Picture: Scott Radford-Chisholm

79/122North Queensland Cowboys v Brisbane Broncos at Dairy Farmers Stadium,Townsville. Picture: Scott Radford-Chisholm

80/122Bradley, Gabrielle, Gloria and Neil Ace from Annandale. Picture: Scott Radford-Chisholm

81/122North Queensland Cowboys v Brisbane Broncos at Dairy Farmers Stadium,Townsville. Picture: Mark Evans

82/122North Queensland Cowboys v Brisbane Broncos at Dairy Farmers Stadium,Townsville. Picture: Mark Evans

83/122The crowd after the Cowboys V Broncos NRL Football Semi- Final at Dairy Farmers Stadium Picture: Bryan Lynch

84/122The crowd after the Cowboys V Broncos NRL Football Semi- Final at Dairy Farmers Stadium Picture: Bryan Lynch

85/122Shaun Berrigan gets tackled by Paul Rauhihi

86/122Daniel ‘ Modda’ Philpot and Rachael Thorne both of Townsville

87/122and Killing Heidi. Picture: Stewart Mclean

88/122North Queensland Cowboys v Brisbane Broncos at Dairy Farmers Stadium,Townsville. Picture: Stewart McLean

89/122David Myles celebrates with fans

90/122One of the signs in the crowd. Picture: Bryan Lynch

91/122Phillipa and Robert Cole. Pic Evan Morgan

92/122Mad Dog in the crowd after the game. Pic Evan Morgan

93/122North Queensland Cowboys v Brisbane Broncos at Dairy Farmers Stadium,Townsville. Picture: Scott Radford-Chisholm

94/122Paul Rauhihi celebrates victory

95/122Luke O’Donnell, David Myles and Josh Hanna. Picture: Scott Radford-Chisholm

96/122Luke O’Donnell, David Myles and Josh Hannay

97/122North Queensland Cowboys v Brisbane Broncos at Dairy Farmers Stadium,Townsville. Picture: Scott Radford-Chisholm

98/122Aaron Payne celebrates.

99/122North Queensland Cowboys v Brisbane Broncos at Dairy Farmers Stadium,Townsville. Picture: Stewart McLean

100/122North Queensland Cowboys v Brisbane Broncos at Dairy Farmers Stadium,Townsville. Picture: Scott Radford-Chisholm

101/122Tara Enchong.pic MARK EVANS

102/122pic MARK EVANS

103/122Trina Morgan with Mitchell ,21 months. Pic Evan Morgan

104/122Victoria Page and Jeremy Fahey. Pic Evan Morgan

105/122Aaron Wehlow from Aitkenvale. Picture: Lori Neilsen

106/122Paul Riddett from Sydney. Picture: Lori Neilsen

107/122North Queensland Cowboys v Brisbane Broncos at Dairy Farmers Stadium,Townsville. Picture: Stewart McLean

108/122Dane Carlaw tackles Luke O’Donnell as he lines up Darren Lockyer.

109/122Paul Bowman celebrates with fans.

110/122North Queensland Cowboys v Brisbane Broncos at Dairy Farmers Stadium,Townsville. Picture: Scott Radford-Chisholm

111/122Margaret Purdon. Pic Evan Morgan

112/122Sheree Hodgetts, 6yrs from Cranbrook. Picture: Bryan Lynch

113/122Linda Coyle (14yrs), Kristen Hess (21), Kayla Hess (14yrs), Zaviah Leedie (11 mths) and Yazzie English (14yrs). Picture: Lori Neilsen

Heather Taylor with Allanah Griffiths, Cameron Griffith, Seimon Griffiths and Jason Griffith, all into the spirit of the Cowboys win. Pic Evan Morgan

114/122Heather Taylor with Allanah Griffiths, Cameron Griffith, Seimon Griffiths and Jason Griffith, all into the spirit of the Cowboys win. Pic Evan Morgan