Stephen Howard, right, sings the USA national anthem before their first World Cup match. Photo: Getty Images
HE EARNS $100 a win playing park football with Tuggeranong Bushrangers, but Stephen Howard has pledged to ''stick it up'' the USA's critics by helping them to a dream World Cup quarter-final clash with Australia.
The Tomahawks are shaping as the World Cup's cinderella story after upsetting Cook Islands, putting them in a strong position to win their pool and square off against the Kangaroos.
Howard wasn't named for the Tomahawks' clash with Wales early Monday morning (Canberra time), but teamed up with elder brother Danny to help USA to its first World Cup win.
Dismissed as a novelty by many pre-tournament, they have their sights set on a match-up against the likes of Cameron Smith, Billy Slater and Johnathan Thurston.
Not bad for a back-rower who normally plays for loose change at a club with a $40,000-a-year player budget.
''It was a really proud moment, it's astounding how much interest we've had,'' Stephen said from their Widnes base. ''When we take the team bus people are wanting to take photos left, right and centre. It's a bit surreal for a Tuggeranong Bushrangers players getting asked for autographs.''
Stephen and Danny, who plays for NSW Cup side Wentworthville, were born in Los Angeles while their parents were working in the US, but then moved to Canberra.
Stephen said they had drawn inspiration from their detractors after being dismissed by many as ''easybeats''. ''We do draw inspiration from people calling us the easybeats and we don't have a chance, it's been really satisfying to stick it up those people,'' he said. ''People have tried to say we're a laughing stock, but on the other hand, there's been plenty of positive reaction from both Australia and America and we'd like to focus more on that.
''We're proud to say we're from America, we've just lived a lot of our lives in Australia.
''We've had people yelling at us to give Wales a hiding, there's a lot of support here and everyone loves an underdog.''
Danny admitted even his expectations were set very low pre-tournament, but reassessed them after USA's warm-up game win over France. He rates the next few weeks as a huge chance for rugby league to grab a better foothold in the US.
''If we knock over Wales there's every opportunity to play Australia, that's pretty surreal,'' Danny said. ''I think even ourselves came to the World Cup not expecting to win anything, and if we win a game that'd be great. The further we go, the bigger it's going to be back home and the better it will be for the game in the USA.''
Tuggeranong president Bernie Brophy joked Stephen may return expecting a pay rise after bursting on to the international scene.
''He's one of the lucky ones, he gets $100 a win, plus we bought all his gear,'' he said. ''He's our first international, hopefully he doesn't expect a bonus.''
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