PRIDE RETURN TO THE FIELD FOR TRIAL
SOLID performances from Northern Pride’s off-season recruits and young rookies have not made coach Ty Williams’ selection headaches any easier following the club’s first pre-season trial at the weekend.
However, the coach left Edmonton’s Petersen Park feeling content Saturday evening after his charges outlasted a combined Cairns side 32-16 in their first hitout of the pre-season.
While there was sloppy handling on occasions and some defensive lapses, Williams said he was pleased with the performance.
“When you play this sort of stuff it’s not about winning or losing, it’s just making sure that the processes we’ve put in place in the pre-season are working for us,” he said.
“Defensively, I thought we were pretty solid, especially on our goal line – there were a couple of little tries there but that’s just judgment, it’s not structural, which is a good thing.
“These guys have worked pretty hard so far, but it’s just knowing the fact that we need to keep moving forward.
“It’s a process. We need to make sure that we’re ticking the right boxes and I think we ticked a few today and we’ll just build on that platform.”
Starting props Matolu Laumea and Taulata Fakalelu were a formidable combination up front, while Cephas Chinfat staked his claim to retain the No.1 jersey with an eye-catching stint at fullback.
Jack Campagnolo and Matthew Egan went one step closer to locking down the halves jerseys, impressing in their first outing together, while the Pride’s new-look right edge of
Josh Stuckey, Steven Tatipata and Bernard Lewis was onsong early, the trio scoring a try each in the first 20 minutes.
Hooker Patrick Gallen said, while it was only the first trial game, the right side’s triple threat was a promising sign.
“It looks like it’s going to be a nice side to go down for the rest of the season,” he said. “They’re very good footballers and very good in their attack, so hopefully something good comes of that this year.”
Williams said many players impressed at different times as he rotated the 22-man squad throughout the game.
“We had four or five 18 and 19-year-olds in there that will play under-20s at some stage over the next few weeks,” he said. “I thought they were all good. It’s going to be a bit tough in the next few weeks trying to select a team.”
The Pride are likely to make changes to their team ahead of Saturday’s trial against Intrust Super Cup rivals Townsville Blackhawks, which will be played as the curtain-raiser to the Cowboys and Broncos NRL trial at Barlow Park.
Terrence Casey-Douglas was the only casualty at the weekend. The hard-running forward went off for an HIA and required seven stitches after a head knock.