PRIDE OUT TO
Revenge the tonic for battling outfit
REDEMPTION starts here for the Northern Pride as they look to hit the midway point of the season with a bang on Saturday, eager to claim a big scalp to get their season rolling.
Easts embarrassed the Far North squad in the corresponding Round 4 fixture and Pride coach Williams said it would motivate his side to fight harder for the two points.
“In Round 4 we played them and they gave us a bit of a touch-up on TV, so we’ll go in there, refocus on ourselves, have a bit of a look at Easts on Thursday and then go from there,” he said.
Williams wasn’t concerned about trash talk between the players and former Pride boys Linc Port and David Murphy detracting from the performance the player had to produce to win.
“Obviously the lads still stay in contact with the boys and that and they went on to different clubs to get NRL opportunities and they all come back on Saturday night so there should be some trash talk getting done before the game but I think once they cross the strip it’s enemy versus enemy, mate versus mate,” he said.
Williams has made three adjustments to the team beaten 10-4 against the Capras last week and said the team had done well to deal with injury and suspension disruptions in the past month.
“It’s been a massive learning experience, not only for the boys, but for myself over the last 12 weeks and we know that,” he said.
“Obviously, this is one of our better sides and stronger sides we field so we know this week we need to get the win.”
Williams has retained Bradley Stephen at fullback after switching him to the custodian role against the Capras, rather than return Jared Allen to the No.1 jersey.
Allen, who has recovered from a knee injury, will instead partner Jordan Biondi-Odo in the halves just as they lined up to start the season.
Joel Riethmuller will return from a knee injury at lock, while Gideon Gela-Mosby is back from suspension and fellow Cowboys allocation Javid Bowen could play if Justin O’Neill backs up from Origin.