Pride upbeat despite uncertainty over half
NORTHERN Pride playmaker Jack Campagnolo will almost certainly miss Saturday’s preliminary final against Townsville after succumbing to a knee injury.
The star halfback played out the match in Sunday’s under-20s semi-final win against the Victoria Thunderbolts, but pulled up sore, coach David Scott said.
“He’s going to get an MRI (today) and that will tell us more,” he said.
“At this stage, he won’t be going to Townsville.”
If the Northern Pride can beat the Blackhawks at Jack Manski Oval this Saturday, they will earn a grand final berth against Norths Devils at Suncorp Stadium.
Scott said Campagnolo’s injury was far from ideal, but backed his side to get the job done.
“We’ve played without him and won without him when he was up playing for the ISC side,” the coach said.
“He’ll be missed, but we think we can still get the job done.”
The Pride will be hoping to replicate their fast start from Sunday
They led 14-0 early and a repeat of that would put some negative thoughts into the minds of the Townsville side, Scott said.
“The pressure is all on them. They finished the season on top and now they have lost three of their last five games,” he said.
“We think we’re good enough to beat them. We drew with them once in the season and they beat us in Atherton, but we were right in that game.
“We have some momentum up and I think we’re a big chance.”
Scott had hoped to have the game played in Cairns as a curtain-raiser to the CDRL preliminary final on Sunday, but instead it will be played in front against the Blackhawks. of a small crowd as a standalone contest in Townsville.
“It’s disappointing because the Townsville junior finals are being played at the same time at another venue,” he said.
“I don’t think there will be much of a crowd or atmosphere at the game.”
The Pride will travel to Townsville by bus, leaving Cairns at 10am on Friday.
“We’ll have a training session at West Barlow Park on Thursday night and then have a short run in Townsville on Friday night,” Scott said.
“I think we’ll be well-prepared, even with the short turnaround.”
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