The NRLW Cowboys will run out in their first home game of the 2024 Telstra Women’s Premiership at Queensland Country Bank Stadium on Sunday with a little extra motivation.
The team has been presented with personalised artworks by students from the NRL Cowboys House Girls Campus which symbolise the personal values each player has taken with them into this year’s campaign.
Cowboys Head of NRLW and Women’s Elite Pathways Anita Creenaune said it was a special surprise led by our Wellbeing Manager for the players as they prepare for Round 2.
“During pre-season our NRLW squad completed a values project where we asked them to each nominate their one key value they would carry with them into the 2024 season and why,” she said.
“We shared those values with the team at NRL Cowboys House and the students have found their own personal connection either with a player or their nominated value, and they have created special artworks which represent that connection.
“The art pieces are of a smaller size to allow our athletes to keep them in their lockers or even travel with them to reflect and draw upon as they prepare to take the field, and really act as a reminder of why they do what they do, and who they do it for.”
NRL Cowboys house is a culturally-safe boarding facility for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and women which removes distance as a barrier to quality secondary education.
Managed by the Cowboys Community Foundation, NRL Cowboys House is home to Indigenous students from some of Australia’s most remote and geographically disadvantaged communities.
Cowboys Community Foundation CEO Fiona Pelling said it was inspiring to see the genuine connections forged between the students and the players.
“For many of our students, art is a representation of their connection to culture and it’s something meaningful and personal which they also love to do,” Fiona said.
“It is wonderful to see the effort, thought and care our young people put into creating these pieces and to know they have connected with the values of our players who they look up to as role models,” she said.
“The Cowboys are, at our heart, a community club and it’s moments like these that highlight that no matter the result on the field, our athletes are inspiring our young people and making a real difference in our community.”
Managed by the Cowboys Community Foundation, the charity arm of the North Queensland Toyota Cowboys, NRL Cowboys House is a joint initiative between the National Rugby League, North Queensland Cowboys, the Queensland Government and the Australian Government.
The NRLW Cowboys play the St George Illawarra Dragons at Queensland Country Bank Stadium on Sunday, kick-off is 6.10pm. Buy your tickets here.
