Players have to step up

Pride coach wants more

NORTHERN Pride must adapt the “next man up” mentality if they are to overcome a growing casualty ward and snap a two-game losing streak at Barlow Park on Saturday.

The Pride were left reeling by the loss of prop Paea Pua to a torn pectoral muscle, the bustling front-rower and leader of this group looking at 10 weeks on the sidelines after undergoing surgery.

Pua, who joined the Pride from Penrith in 2021, has become one of the on-field leaders of the club’s forward pack, and was one of a select group of senior players to undergo extensive leadership training during the off-season.

It is that impact – his leadership – which coach Ty Williams said the Pride would miss, but he’s hopeful he will have Pua primed and ready to unleash for the run to the top eight.

“We lose a lot on the field, but a lot off it with the way he guides and talks to the boys,” Williams said.

“We’re looking at 10 weeks with that pec tear that’s been surgically repaired. We’ll get him rested up over the next few weeks and hopefully have him at the back end of the season when the whips are cracking.”

Pone Tongia comes into the side to replace Pua, with Williams opting for the recent debutant’s leg speed over his other available options.

“The different key for us with Pone was a bit more leg speed over a period of time, he offers that to us,” Williams said.

“There’s some defensive areas we need to fix with him but we’ll work on that this week.”

Pua is one of the more recent additions to the casualty ward, which has blown up over the past few weeks.

First choice five-eighth or halfback Matt Egan is yet to play a game this season since he suffered a torn pec, Seamus King-Smith is yet to play due to his own injury woes, Denzel King was ruled out late last week due to a hamstring issue, winger Daniel Woodhouse suffered a shoulder injury and is nearing a return and Zane Knowles remains unavailable.

Ash Little was initially named but does not appear on the team listed on the QRL website as he awaits clearance after he failed a head injury assessment against WynnumManly on April 22.

As bad as Saturday’s 48-0 flogging by Norths Devils was to endure, one of the only positives was that no one else joined the injury list during that forgettable 80 minutes.

“That’s probably the only positive, we got through unscathed,” Williams said.

“The injury list became even bigger over the past few days with Paea getting a pec tear that required surgery.

“That’s not ideal for us, but that gives someone else an opportunity. Hopefully we’ll get Ash Little cleared this week, that will be confirmed hopefully later in the week.

“There’s a few guys out, but our mindset needs to be next person up. On the weekend we missed that task.”

The Pride hosts Mackay on Saturday. Kick-off is at 5.30pm.