Christian’s back home at the Pride
THE chance to come home to Far North Queensland has evolved into a shot at Queensland Cup redemption for Julian Christian, after he officially linked with the Northern Pride.
The dynamic playmaker started the year at Ipswich Jets, but returned to FNQ for family reasons midway through the season.
He didn’t intend to play footy but found the draw of playing the game he loves with mates too much to resist – and ended up steering Innisfail Leprechauns to the Cairns District Rugby League grand final.
“The Pride reached out when I got back and I wasn’t too keen,” Christian said.
“It wouldn’t be right for me to get the release (from Ipswich) then sign for another club.
“A few mates were at Innisfail and I thought I’d play some local footy. It’s worked out well.”
A former Edmonton Storm junior and Bentley Park College student, Christian left BPC after year 10 to be part of Kirwan State High School’s outstanding rugby league program.
He won a national championship with the Bears in 2015, then moved to Brisbane to be part of the Broncos’ U20s team.
“They scrapped the comp the year after that, and because I was allocated to Ipswich, I just thought I’d head there,” he said.
But now he’s back, and while he wants to make either the No.6 or No.7 jersey his own in 2022, Christian said he was happy to play where Pride coach Ty Williams wanted him on the field.
“It’s just good to be back with the Pride,” Christian said.
“I’m happy to be training with these guys, and a few mates. There’s a few guys here I’ve played with over the years, like Yaza Stephen, just won a comp at TI with Jayden Hodges and a few of the other boys.
“It’s good to be back.”