Before "Jimmy the Difference" — current star Timoci Tavatavanawai — there was just "Jimmy".
Cowan was an all-action halfback who squeezed out everything in his tireless pursuit of being the best rugby player to come out of Mataura since ... well, since another handy No9 called Justin Marshall.
Cowan was a fascinating mix of the old and the new.
He had a good pass and a clever boot, he was built Southland tough and could act like an extra loose forward with shuddering defence at times and he could play with emotion bordering on recklessness. But he became extremely smart at knowing what to do around the field.
There was a pleasant level of cunning about Cowan. Like all the best halfbacks, he knew when to make a snipe here, create some niggle there, influence the referee here, milk a penalty there.
His peak years with the Highlanders were 2007 to 2009, and it was some peak.
He was named New Zealand Super Rugby player of the year in 2007 — the Highlanders finished ninth, illustrating just how well their halfback played — and he captained the Highlanders for the first time in 2009.
Cowan also had a wonderful story of redemption to tell.
"He had become a cautionary tale. He was the talented rugby player with a taste for booze and an unfortunate inability to know when to say when. The result? Three arrests and two convictions for disorderly behaviour in the space of barely three months."
What followed was a great comeback yarn.
Cowan cleaned himself up, realised his rugby career was too important to throw away, and impressed pretty much everyone with how he matured and thrived and delivered on all his potential.
"I look back and realise that rugby was my saviour. It was the only way I could repay all the great people who had stuck by me. I went and played rugby to show my family, my friends and my coaches that I had learned my lesson."
Cowan remained underrated by many folk north of the Waitaki, but at one stage he started 18 tests out of 20 for the All Blacks, and he finished with 51 caps.
He became the second Highlander to reach 100 appearances for the club, and his name is rightly spoken with reverence at headquarters.
Cowan also reached 100 games for his beloved Southland, after which he had a spell in England before playing for Tasman and the Blues.
He is back in Invercargill and working in the oyster industry alongside former team-mate Tim Boys.
