Carney stars in Pride trial
A NIPPLE nibble has marred Northern Pride’s first preseason match against Mackay Cutters as Todd Carney made a solid return to rugby league in Australia after four years.
Cutters backrower Lona Kaifoto claimed he was the victim of a bite in the second half of the Intrust Super Cup trial at Townsville Sports Reserve on Saturday night.
But Northern Pride coach Ty Williams said he was still in the dark about which of his players was placed on report in the 60th minute during the 28-22 defeat.
“I asked the touchie there and it supposedly was a biting allegation and I asked the question: ‘On which person?’
“They couldn’t identify the actual player, so we’ll have to have a look at the video, but I’m not sure what happened.”
Queensland Rugby League operations manager Dave Maiden said the referees did not identify the player on report. It means the potential for a charge could rest solely on video evidence, which the QRL match review committee will consider today.
Cutters coach Steve Sheppard said Kaifoto did not suffer any major injury and was also unsure which Pride player was cited.
“Lona’s a pretty tough player too mate so it must have been pretty serious for him to say something,” he said.
It was an otherwise highquality trial match, which surprised patrons with its intensity. Most of the fans were there to see Dally M medallist Todd Carney, who starred.
Williams described the performance of his high-profile recruit, who brushed off tonsillitis to take his place in the trial, as “solid”.
“He was good across the board, he’s just got to get used to the style of football,” he said.