LIAM Capewell had his own fan club to cheer him on to the Intrust Super Cup grand final on Sunday…all the way from the Kimberley in Western Australia.
The QT found a nice spot on the balcony of the leagues club at Wynnum to watch the preliminary final between the Jets and PNG and a group of dudes from the Kimberley soon filed in.
It became apparent from the kick-off that every time Capewell got the ball the group became more animated.
In the second-half the amber fluid flowed freely and when Capewell, playing centre, burst clear down the right hand side to put Josh Cleeland over for a superb try the lads from Kununurra went ape.
Capewell worked in 2012 as head stockman at Argyle Downs and left a big impact on league in the Kimberley when he played for a local Kununurra side.
Matthew Young, president of the Kimberley Rugby League, was one of seven mates down to support Capewell during the Jets 28-12 win.
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He says league is now in its fifth season in AFL territory, thanks in no small part to Capewell’s contribution.
“Liam had a huge impact and was very influential in getting league started because when he was there we were in our infancy as a club,” Young said in the Jets sheds on Sunday.
“Liam played in the first representative league team to come out of the Kimberley.
“We are really happy that we made the effort to get here and he was pretty happy to see us.
“He played solid today too.”
Capewell was stoked to see his good mates make such a huge effort to watch him in action.
“It was very special,” Capewell grinned yesterday.
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“They were on their end of season trip to the Gold Coast and they jumped on a train and then a bus. I think they ended up getting an Uber (taxi) to get to the game but they got there after three hours travel.
“I knew they were going to be there but I didn’t see them until I came off the field and could see them on the balcony yahooing.
“It was really good to catch up with them after I hadn’t seen them for 18 months.
“I was up there in the Kimberley (in 2012) just working on a cattle station on Argyle Downs and they had just started up these two rugby league clubs in town, the Kununurra Thunder and the Kununurra Bulls, who played every second Friday.
“Every now and then I’d get a weekend off and I’d rush into town on a Friday night and pull on a jersey and have a run around.”
Capewell played his footy in town but when the rep team was picked he’d get to go away to Darwin for a weekend.
“It was a typical rugby league club where it was about mateship more than anything,” he said.
“It was one of those places where you run into people from similar background from all over the place.
“They have done a really good job of getting the Western Australian boys keen on the concept of rugby league and started to pull players away from the AFL comp, which is really strong up there.”
Capewell is stoked the Jets are into Sunday’s grand final against the Blackhawks.
“This is a special mix of boys and everyone has bought into what we are doing,” he said.
“We are going to have a really special week.”