New Toowoomba Resident Has His Inner-City Worldview Shattered By First Sunday Arvo Clydesdales Match

CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT

A newly arrived Toowoomba resident has this week been left questioning his fundamental interpretation of reality.

As a freelance interior design draftsman, Byron Rosalie (36) has been working from home for six years now.

And with his wife's easily transferable work as an emergency nurse with Queensland Health, the two of them decided to stop kidding themselves with the Brisbane property market - and have instead packed up their young family and moved up the range.

With the beautiful flowers and crisp Darling Downs air, Toowoomba was a no-brainer.

They've got an acre in the middle of town, and each of their two kids gets their own bedroom, plus they've got a couple spare for any visiting family members.

Byron's wife Tallow has realised it's a good time to be a nurse in Toowoomba - with a new 120 bed hospital set to open in the next couple years.

With nearly a quarter million residents, Toowoomba has shaken off the hillbilly backwater stereotype - and droves of new residents love the mix of cosmopolitan bustle and country charm.

However, it's not all tulips and petunias - as Byron and his family have discovered.

While Toowoomba is only 126 kilometres west of the cute workers cottage they used to rent in Spring Hill, Byron is starting to feel like it could be another planet he's landed on.

With two kids who were deeply inspired by the Matildas 2023 World Cup finals run, Byron and Tallow now make an effort to attend live sporting matches as much as they can.

And according to all of the placards they see zip-tied to street lights at every round-a-bout, there's only one team in this town.

The Western Clydesdales, formally known as the Toowoomba Clydesdales, are a historic Queensland rugby league that plays in the highly competitive state-wide QCup.

The club has been known as a breeding ground for future Brisbane Broncos, and has a reputation for playing extremely physical 'bush footy'

Aside from a few Origins at Suncorp during the 8-in-a-row streak, Byron has never watched much rugby league. He certainly hadn't ever watched it on a Sunday arvo in a suburban stadium.

But it was here that he witnessed the 'real Toowoomba'.

"My gosh" he said.

"They have cages on the bar of the canteen... And the crowd was really something else"

Byron says he and his wife are probably going to wait until the kids are bit older before they venture back to Clive Berghofer Stadium.

"I have never heard elderly women use that kind of language before... Let alone scream it"

"But... I kinda understand it, to be honest. I'm becoming a Toowoomba man"

"Sorry... T-Bar man"

"Carn the fucken Clydesdales"