With Cowboys fever gripping the region in the wake of their injury-hit team's giant-killing run in the finals, Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill proudly announced the island's temporary rebranding yesterday, in what she believed was a fitting tribute.
Locations on the island have also been renamed after prominent members of the Cowboys team, including the resort which has been renamed Jason Taumalolo Island Paradise.
Hill said the plan was to keep the names for a week but she wasn't ruling anything out if North Queensland defied the odds again to claim their second title in three years in Sydney this weekend.
"It could be forever if they win the competition," she said. "In north Queensland we do things a bit differently but we value the culture of this club and we want to do something special.
"This team has shown the rest of Australia the true spirit of north Queensland."
Backpackers appeared confused when met with "Cowboys Island" signage at Townsville's ferry terminal to Magnetic Island yesterday.
But Hill believed everyone would embrace the change as grand final delirium with the north Queensland community already widely sporting blue, yellow and grey.
"A lot of Magnetic Island residents are major fans," Hill said. "And tourists are getting right behind the initiative; people want to be a part of it [the NRL grand final]."
Hill hoped other north Queensland regions would follow.
Hill believed a wager with Melbourne Mayor Robert Doyle was called for - although wasn't quite sure what it might be.
Doyle may have to brace himself as Hill called for frenzied Cowboys fans to come up with suggestions.
"I am very happy to take the Cowboys flag so that they fly it from Melbourne Town Hall," she said. "But I want north Queensland to think of a way of challenging Melbourne and show them that we have a bit more guts and spirit than what they have down there."
- AAP
