Pride U20 coach stays

Contract extended after successful tenure

ROWAN.SPARKES@NEWS.COM.AU HE MAY be from the north of England but Northern Pride under-20s coach Dave Scott says he feels at home developing the Far North’s rising rugby league talent.

And it’s a good thing because the Hull product has had his coaching contract extended for a further 12 months, which will see him remain at Barlow Park until the end of the 2020 season.

Scott said he was thrilled to be at the club for another year.

“It’s a huge privilege for me to be a part of the development of the region’s juniors and hopefully turn them into ISC and NRL players,” he said.

“Hopefully we can get some new faces in and continue to develop the young players which we’ve had this year.”

Scott’s involvement with the Pride began in 2015, when he took up a volunteer strength and conditioning position with the Pride Academy’s high performance squads.

He coached the Pride’s U16 Cyril Connell Cup side in 2016 and U18 Mal Meninga Cup side in 2017, while simultaneously coaching Tully Tigers’ A-grade side in the Cairns District Rugby League.

Before the 2018 season, when the QRL announced a statewide U20 competition would run alongside the senior Queensland Cup, Scott was offered the full-time head coaching gig with the Pride’s Hastings Deering Colts side.

In his first year with the Pride U20, Scott led his young charges to third on the ladder, with the team missing out on a grand final berth after a 26-22 loss to Townsville Blackhawks in the preliminary final.

This year, they just missed out on finals, finishing one win outside the top eight.

Despite winning the first seven games of the season, the Pride U20 won just two of their last 13, with inconsistencies in the line-up taking its toll.

Scott said he was most proud of the development of individual players.

“Beau Berg has come on as a leader this year, whereas he was more of a fringe squad player last year,” he said.

“That’s the most pleasing thing – seeing guys like him and Joshtel (Charlie) learning how to acquit themselves in a semi-pro environment.”

In a testament to Scott’s coaching prowess, two of his U20 players at the start of the season, Ewan Moore and Tom McGrath, went on to make their Queensland Cup debuts for the Pride later in the year.

Pride Queensland Cup coach Ty Williams said he was looking forward to working with Scott again in 2020.

“He’s done an outstanding job on and off the field with the implementing of players coming up into the ISC,” he said.

“We’ve seen it this year, with guys moving from either the 20s into development roles with the ISC, or players that have come through the 20s going on to play ISC.”