Pride is on the line for place in history K passes test for Wallabies
FORMER Northern Pride players are counting down to the party of all parties and, whether they make the Team of the Decade or not, there’s plenty to celebrate from the last 10 years.
The club will pause on Friday for a gala ball to recognise those who helped make the club great, most notably players such as former captain Jason Roos.
The Old Boys ringleader is one of 36 players nominated to make up the 17 in the club’s Team of the Decade, subject to hefty discussions from six selectors who know the club inside and out.
Roos said it would have been a tough job “splitting hairs” to pick the team, which he expected to largely be made up of 2010 and 2014 premiership players.
“It would not have been an easy job,” he said. “I don’t know how they would have done it.”
“Naturally, when we won the first title, I was a bit younger at the time and a lot of the boys there had been together the first few years and played with each other for a while.
“In 2014, we obviously went on and won the national title and we had a really good team there, too.”
Roos said that particularly at the start, the desire to take the new pathway seriously and help local players forge a rugby league career was the driving factor for a culture of success.
If it wasn’t for the Pride launching into the state competition, the most-capped player may have been lost to the region.
“Most of the boys there felt that they had to make the most of it.
“You didn’t want to let yourself down, or your teammates, and that’s how the success started,” Roos said.
“To be honest, I think if the Pride didn’t start up, I would have moved away or just done an apprenticeship or something.
“I think the Pride meant a lot to us because of the pathway.”
Roos said he was fortunate to have players like Chris Sheppard, Ben Laity, Joel Riethmuller and Mark Cantoni guide him in his early years at the club and expected them all to feature in the Team of the Decade. KARMICHAEL Hunt’s strong Test initiation will trigger a new $1 million contract through to the 2019 World Cup now the Wallabies are convinced of his value.
Negotiations on any fresh two-year deal with the Queensland Reds were on pause until he could be judged in the Test arena and it became clearer how it would be funded.
The Queensland Rugby Union paid the bulk of the $1.5 million-plus, three-year deal to hook the code-collector for the 2015 season because he was a Reds’ pet project.
Now he’s proven himself a player of national interest, the Australian Rugby Union should kick in for a bigger slice.
Any salary cap money freed up for the Reds inches them closer to being able to move on Wallabies halfback Will Genia.
Hunt’s timing has been perfect for his form spike at fullback for the Reds and his adaptability to perform at inside centre for the Wallabies.
Questions existed on whether he was too injury prone, would be too body-weary at 32 in 2019, and might not be worthy of a Test starting spot.
All have been kicked into touch by Wallabies boss Michael Cheika, who feels he’s blooded a hardened professional who could start in three different positions.
“He’s a seasoned campaigner, a smart player with good chat on the field and he showed it,” Cheika said of Hunt’s three-Test lift-off this month.
Just as importantly, teammates like Israel Folau, who has played 55 Tests, feel like they are playing with a peer, not a pup.
“I’m really enjoying playing with K, we all are. He’s already a senior player within the team with the way he leads around the field and being pretty vocal,” Folau said.