‘Silly not to look at it’: Cowboys’ top brass confirm discussions to move NRLW team to Cairns

Tight-lipped North Queensland Cowboys officials have finally tipped their hats, confirming plans are afoot to send the club’s Townsville-based NRLW team 350km north to Cairns.

Cowboys head of Football Micheal Luck at the announcement of Cowboys co-captain Michael Morgan's retirement from NRL. Picture: Shae Beplate.

Tight-lipped North Queensland Cowboys officials have finally tipped their hats, confirming plans are afoot to send the club’s Townsville-based NRLW team 350km north to Cairns in a bombshell move that could transform rugby league across the region.

But one of the game’s pioneering stars has flagged that players’ welfare must come first with development, recovery and access to a high performance facility highlighted as key issues for the squad.

The Cairns Post first reported the NRL powerhouse planned to relocate the women’s team to the Far North by 2026 in July, with team bosses already in discussions with Cairns Regional Council and the Queensland government.

A hastily arranged crisis meeting with Cowboys’ NRLW players, who had yet to be informed of the plans, was held soon after with “an advanced relocation proposal” tabled to the playing group, sparking criticism from the league’s players union.

The Cowboys’ NRLW team defeated the Gold Coast Titans 11-10 at Queensland Country Bank Stadium at the weekend. Image: Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images

The club had refused to comment for the last three weeks but in a scheduled appearance on ABC Grandstand at the weekend, general manager Micheal Luck acknowledged discussions were underway to head north.

“We want to make sure that our footprint, which is from Sarina all the way north to the Cape, is well and truly covered,” Mr Luck said.

“If there’s opportunity there for one of our teams to have a better facility in an environment that’s purpose built for them then we’d be silly not to look at it.”

After inspecting Jones Park in Westcourt as a possible home base for the women’s program, it’s understood team officials are committed to playing at Barlow Park, subject to a major upgrade of facilities.

“We’ve looked at what our footprint looks like with facilities and with the Olympics coming to Brisbane in 2032 there is state and federal money available for elite sport and development,” Mr Luck said.

“When there’s something to tell, I’m sure that (CEO Jeff Reibel) ‘Reibs’ and (chair) Lewis (Ramsay) will get on the front foot and be open and transparent about it.”

Heather Ballinger of Australia in action during the Trans-Tasman showdown Test match between the Australian Jillaroos and the Kiwi Ferns at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland, Saturday, 13 October 2018. Image: AAP Image/David Rowland

Heather Ballinger was a Queensland stalwart throughout her professional career, playing 11 games for the Maroons. Image: AAP Image/Craig Golding

NRLW legend Heather Ballinger, who started playing rugby league in Cairns, said she hoped the game’s power brokers had considered the challenges a standalone women’s team would face in the Far North.

“The first couple of years is going to be hard because there’s not much in Cairns,” Ms Ballinger, who won a premiership with the Brisbane Broncos in 2018, said.

“It’s a tourism town. When you think about moving the girls to Cairns, they’ve got a $40m high performance centre and Cairns hasn’t got all that.

“Barlow Park would be small (compared to Queensland Country Bank Stadium).

“Then you’ve potentially got to ship the whole family. Some (players) may have kids. You’d be asking, ‘What’s the education system like?’”

Master Builders Sporting Facilities and Cowboys Community Training and High Performance Centre. Image: Supplied.

Access to medical staff and coaches would also come into consideration for the players, the legendary Jillaroos and Maroons prop said.

“One of the biggest things for me when I started was they didn’t just sign us up for the sake of having a women’s team and that they would look after us,” Ms Ballinger, who is currently managing a pool in Longreach, said.

“When I was at the Broncos we had the old changing rooms and we did our workouts with all their old gear. Their priority was the blokes.”

Heather Ballinger in action during the Australian Jillaroos V Kiwi Ferns rugby league test match at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane in 2015. Image: Adam Head

Ms Ballinger recalled touring the Broncos’ men’s state of the art training facility at Red Hill, just across the road from the NRL team’s spiritual home where the women were based.

“I just thought, ‘Geez, these boys are so lucky,’” she said.

“I don’t know what other clubs offered their girls. I was just very grateful for the opportunity.

“It was never about the money. It was about playing for the Broncos.”

Mr Luck said the Cowboys’ women’s team would retain its name, even if it is based in Cairns.

When contacted Cairns Regional Council and the Cowboys refused to comment.

It’s understood that the council’s interim CEO John Andrejic has grown increasingly frustrated with information related to council matters being reported on publicly.

Originally published as ‘Silly not to look at it’: Cowboys’ top brass confirm discussions to move NRLW team to Cairns