Gladstone teen meets Cowboys legend namesake

FIFTEEN years ago Gladstone couple David Bowen and his wife Nicole were looking for a name for their newborn son, they settled on Matthew - after rugby league legend Matt Bowen.

Yesterday the Bowen family got the chance to meet their son's namesake for the first time.

The former Cowboys fullback was lunching with fellow 'Legends of League' at the Central Lane Hotel in Gladstone when the Bowens arrived.

Nicole, a North Queensland girl, has always barracked for the Cowboys and was delighted to meet one of her idols.

"When the Cowboys started in 1995 I was at a good age to really get into it," she said.

"Footy was around me, the footy culture - I just thought 'Oh wow, I've never noticed a new team enter the league', and it's been fun watching their journey," she said.

The former North Queensland star shook hands with young Matt and asked him if he still followed the football.

Matt used to be a keen Cowboys fan, and played for the Calliope Roosters until a serious wrist injury sidelined him.

"He's swapped footy for play station," Nicole laughed.

She and David still love their footy and bought tickets for the Legends of League match that took place last night.

Bowen the senior said he'd never met anyone named after him before.

"It's pretty special," he said.

"It's a privilege to see some fans (who are) right into their footy. It'll be good to play in front of them tonight."

Nicole said it was David who'd pushed for their son to be called Matthew.

"I wanted Theodore Jeremiah," she said.

"My husband said that's too weird, too out there."

The Bowens two other children are also named after celebrities.

Eldest son Ethan is named for Ethan Embry of cult film Empire Records famem while their youngest child Dani was named for Dani Sutherland, a character on long-running soap Home and Away in the early 2000s.