CARNEY SIGNS
A PATHWAY to coaching has lured Todd Carney to play for the Northern Pride for the next three seasons.
The controversial halfback, who played for the Atherton Roosters in 2009, is being seen as the man to right the ship after the club’s worst season.
Northern Pride CEO Greg Dowling said he wanted to give the former NRL bad boy a chance to move forward from a troubled past and finish his onfield career with dignity and guide the next generation of rugby league players. Carney, 31, played in the English Super League for Salford this season.
“He’s looking to finish his career and wants to get into coaching and he’s going to get on to that pathway with us,” Dowling said. “With our under-18s and under-20s of course we’re going full time and at the moment we’re right, but you never know. He’ll be working with them a lot. When you’ve got someone of his calibre and experience you need have him involved and I know Ty (Williams, coach) is excited about working with him.”
Carney’s chequered history has included his 2008 sacking from the Raiders for several alcohol-related incidents, which ultimately led to him spending a season in the Cairns District Rugby League competition in 2009. His last NRL start was at the Sharks in 2014. Carney was sacked after a photo emerged of him appearing to urinate in his own mouth.
But Dowling was convinced the headline-grabber had “grown up a lot” during his time in England.
Carney will arrive in Cairns in mid-November.