Pride mates look to form winning combination
JAVID J Bowen would be the first to admit a he’s not your typical rugby league le club captain, but the new Northern N Pride skipper believes he and an vice-captain Rod Griffin can form fo a winning combination.
Bowen will make his debut as P Pride captain in tomorrow’s season op opener against the Tweed Seagulls at Piggabeen Sports Complex, with hi his right-hand man for the 2020 seaso son coming off the bench.
The former North Queensland C Cowboys flyer said the pair would work together in leading the club, with Griffin’s presence to help allev leviate the off-field responsibilities on the centre, as he focuses on the on-field leadership.
He said it was good to have someone like Griffin around to lean on.
“He’s been around for a long time,” Bowen said.
“He knows what to do and he’s got a lot of experience in more of the leadership type of role. We’ll both work together.”
The former NRL player, who notched up 36 games for the Cowboys over four seasons, said he would lead by his actions as captain.
“I don’t like letting anyone down, so I try to just build my game around that,” he said.
“You don’t want to go into the game and let your mate down, let the coaching staff down, let the club down – so every training session, every conditioning session, every contact session, I try to do it as best I can. Hopefully the young boys see that and start trying to mimic that in some way.”
While Griffin is also a man that likes to lead with his actions, the former PNG international will be “more of a talker” in the vice-captain’s role.
“He’s a bit of a quiet personality and he’s not really outspoken, but he leads in his actions,” Griffin said.
“He’s a brilliant player and he wears the passion on his sleeve when he’s playing for the Pride.
“I think we complement each other, in the sense that I’m fairly outspoken.”
Northern Pride coach Ty Williams said how the pair would work in tandem was something he considered when deciding who would lead the club into battle. “Roddy’s been through a fair walk of life in rugby league,” he said. “He started here at the Pride 12 years ago.
“The key thing with him is he’s a very good influencer with the way he talks and the way he delivers with the guys, whereas Javid is actions first, and then talk.
“But, something I’ve noticed over the last couple of months is when Javid has spoken, the boys have really pricked up and listened.
“I think his performances on the field get the respect that a leader deserves and obviously Roddy’s going to teach him a few things as well.
“If Javid was to hang around, he’s got an apprenticeship, a newborn, so we can see him being a long-term captain at the club.”