JT farewells Townsville in style

LGIAsuper was proud to sponsor Cowboys’ legend Johnathan Thurston’s last ever match at 1300SMILES Stadium last Friday night. In front of a sell-out crowd, North Queensland romped home 44-6 over the Parramatta Eels.

The LGIAsuper Community Hub was buzzing pre-game, with new and returning members walking away with one of our iconic Howdy Hats. We were joined by the team from Townsville CityLibraries who shared information on Dads Read – an initiative that promotes family literacy and raises awareness of the important role fathers play in their children’s development.

Behind-the-scenes, our LGIAsuper competition winners enjoyed an Ultimate Cowboys Experience featuring a tour of the stadium and participation in the guard-of-honour, as well as corporate suite tickets.

Our Super Catch for Cash competition was also a huge success, with three lucky people taking home $100 for catching a high kick. Congratulations to Shane Armstrong, Karyn Manser and Warren Viero!

The pre-game buzz grew to fever pitch as the home side entered the field for Johnathan Thurston’s final match in Townsville. It was also Matt Scott’s 250th first grade game and Jake Granville’s 100th appearance for the club.

All three led from the front early, as the Cowboys streaked away to a 32-0 lead.

Ben Hampton scored first in the 5th minute after some hot potato football involving Kane Linnett, Gideon Gela-Mosby and Thurston. Hampton didn’t have to wait long for his second, slicing through the Eel’s pack to score after a neat inside pass from Thurston.

Winger Kyle Feldt then did his best to steal some of the attention from Thurston with two freakish efforts. The first was a spectacular leap over the top of opposite number George Jennings, while the second saw him successfully ground the ball in the right corner, despite having both feet in the air and outside the field of play.

Further tries to Gela-Mosby, Feldt (his third) and Gavin Cooper rounded out the scoring.

The Cowboys’ 38-point victory provided the perfect farewell for ‘the King of the North.’

LGIAsuper would like to pay tribute to Johnathan Thurston and congratulate him on a stellar career. All the best in retirement, JT!

Check out our Facebook page for more photos from the night.

We’d also like to thank everyone who visited the LGIAsuper Community Hub this season and showed their support for our visiting charities and community groups.

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