Players Pride will want to hang on to
IN THE weeks leading up to the 2021 Intrust Super Cup pre-season, the Northern Pride will be reviewing its roster to formulate a plan of attack for the new campaign.
The club worked hard on recruitment for this year’s season, bringing in a host of former NRL-contracted players, but the side was only able to play one round of the state competition before it was cancelled due to the global coronavirus pandemic.
Pride coach Ty Williams said he would sit down with players and discuss their futures over the next month, but he was confident the club’s big names would return for the pre-season.
“We’re pretty confident that 95 per cent of the boys will stay,” he said.
With squad announcements expected in the coming months, here are the top six players Williams and the Pride coaching staff will be desperate to retain.
JAVID BOWEN
The rangy outside back joined the Northern Pride for the 2020 season and brought a wealth of experience to the club, having spent the previous four seasons with the North Queensland Cowboys’ NRL side.
Bowen’s ability to create opportunities for the players around him on the field, and to inspire and show them the way off the field, make him a key ingredient for the Pride’s next campaign.
NICK LUI-TOSO
There was plenty of excitement when the former Penrith Panthers contracted player arrived at Barlow Park last pre-season.
The powerhouse prop comes from the back fence with every effort and, as a result, forms a crucial part of William’s front row rotation.
Lui-Toso was selected to take part in a three-week training stint with the Cowboys’ NRL squad last November, impressing coaching staff with his raw strength in the club’s one-on-one wrestling drills.
CHRIS OSTWALD
The experienced rake is one of the most influential players for the Pride’s attack and his ability to control the game’s tempo from dummyhalf makes retaining his services a top priority.
Despite limited opportunities to get on the field this year, Ostwald has been dynamic every time he’s donned the Pride jersey, running his forwards on to the ball and using his effectiveness out of dummy-half to get his side over the advantage line.
JOSH STUCKEY
The workhorse backrower provides a genuine attacking threat on an edge, not just with his ability to run a good line and hit a gap, but with his ball-playing ability.
Stuckey has played only a handful games since joining the club, but brings big-game pedigree after he claimed the
Bradley Clyde Medal for a man-of-the-match performance in the Queanbeyan Blues’ 2019 Canberra Raiders Cup grand final victory.
BERNARD LEWIS
The star of the Sydney Roosters’ 2017 Auckland Nines triumph looked destined for big things before an anterior cruciate ligament injury ruled him out for the entire 2018 season.
He signed with the club’s NRL side in 2019, but a topgrade debut eluded him as he spent the season playing for feeder club the North Sydney Bears in the NSW Cup.
He returned home to Cairns in 2020 to take up a spot on the Pride flank and has all the experience to become a strike weapon next season.
GIDEON GELA-MOSBY
Another standout from the 2017 Auckland Nines, where he scored six tries and was named in the Team of the Tournament, Gela-Mosby played 11 NRL games for the Cowboys during a three-year stint at the club.
The fleet-footed flyer’s ability to create something out of nothing is up there with some of the best in the statewide competition, and his blinding pace makes him a massive threat for opposition defences.