WITH the northern parts of the sunshine state still rocking after North Queensland's epic grand final win over the Brisbane Broncos last Sunday, down at Dubbo a foundation Cowboy took great delight in seeing the club he literally helped build taste its maiden success.
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Wayne Sing comes from one of Dubbo's most famous football families, the son of the legendary Noel Sing and the father of Dubbo CYMS premiership players Billy and Marshall.
But he had an esteemed career in his own right, spending time with Balmain and Eastern Suburbs before he and wife Julie made the trip north to be part of the Cowboys' inaugural side back in 1995.
Fast forward 20 years and the club now has something in its trophy cabinet after a thrilling 17-16 win over Brisbane in a match some are declaring as the best grand final of all time.
"We moved up there in the off-season between '94 and '95 and a lot of the players had jobs helping to finish the stadium," Sing said.
"Some were laying turf, some were doing some plumbing, whatever we could do to get the ground ready so we could play that first match.
"It was a big step jumping into the ARL, a lot of learning curves, but we did our best up there without much success in those first couple of years but that helped build the club to what it is now so I was pretty proud when they won on Sunday night.
"I follow them and the Tigers these days. When the two clubs played in the 2005 grand final I couldn't lose but this year I had more to celebrate with the Cowboys than I did with the Tigers."
North Queensland's inaugural team saw Sing line up in the second-row of a squad that featured the likes of Laurie Spina, Adrian Vowles, Dean Schifilitti and Martin Bella.
While they did not taste much success in a year that featured just two wins and a wooden spoon, the Sings stuck around in 2006 before moving to France where Wayne spent a season with Paris Saint-Germain.
"It was a great two years we had up there, and Billy, Marshall and Simone were all born while we were up there," he said.
"We didn't win a lot over those two seasons but I could always tell the club would build into something.
"It's a real football nursery up there. The people really get behind them and I think when we won our first match there was about 500 fans at the airport waiting for us when we got back to Townsville.
"I look back at it and it doesn't feel like it was 20 years ago, but we get old pretty quickly I suppose.
"You look at a club like Cronulla that hasn't won a competition and they've been around a lot longer than the Cowboys so for them to win a premiership in their 20th year is a pretty big achievement, and I know the whole area would be excited because the community up there loves the team and they get out and do so much work with their fans as well."
