BLACKHAWKS BACK PRICE FOR A FINALS SHOW
BLACKHAWKS forward Tom Hancock, who has played more than 100 games of Queensland Cup over the past decade, believes Riley Price is one of the toughest young forwards he has seen in action.
Hancock watched on from the sidelines as Price refused to lay down against Sunshine Coast despite breaking his collarbone in the game.
While he eventually had to be helped from the field by Blackhawks medicos, it came after Price had pulled himself from the canvas and made several try-saving tackles.
“He wouldn’t stop trying, he broke his collarbone and continued to make tackles on the try line against Sunny Coast, he is a pretty tough bugger,”
Hancock said. “I was watching a fair bit of his games before the break, I thought he had done a really good job.
“He has some scope moving forward.
“He looks like a solid trainer, I had to go into the Cowboys to do some testing on my own injury and he was in there on his day off. I think he has got the work ethic.”
Price, who will train with the Cowboys first grade squad in the offseason, is the son of Bulldogs and Maroons legend Steve Price.
While being the son of a legend can be an albatross around the neck of young players, Hancock believed it had been the opposite for Price.
“I reckon it means you have sizeable expectations to live up to, and he has taken that as he needs to work hard to achieve them,” he said.
Despite the shoulder injury he sustained against the Falcons, Price did enough to impress the Cowboys. He spent the back half of the year doing his rehab with the NRL squad.
He will be joined in the player development list next season by Jordan Lipp — who scored a hat-trick on debut for the Blackhawks this season — Tyreece Woods and Morgan Mcwhirter.
Price returned to the Blackhawks fold in the round 12 loss to Norths Devils, and will come into the elimination final against Souths Logan Magpies in fine form. Despite the 30-24 loss to Wynnum Manly at the weekend, he broke four tackles and scored a try in a performance which earned coach Aaron Payne’s praise.
After Price’s early appearances for the side before succumbing to injury,
Payne considered him their most consistent player.
Since returning he said there were areas of Price’s game they needed to address and the rising star’s work ethic had led to rapid improvements.
Payne said the diligence the Price had shown off the field would be what took him to the top of the game.
“Obviously he had that injury setback and it took him a couple of games to get his confidence back,” he said. “There were just a few things in his game that he needed to work on, and that’s why I talk about him as being such a fantastic kid.
“He’s really worked hard on those areas we were specific around him getting better at and he’s done it, he’s been one of our most consistent players. He certainly has a bright future.”