Hunters to become hunted
The Northern Pride didn’t celebrate their Hostplus Cup win over Ipswich for too long, turning their attention to the dominant force of PNG Hunters who they will face this Saturday.
The Pride dominated the Ipswich Jets on Sunday afternoon, claiming the club’s biggest victory in its history 56-12.
But the celebrations were short-lived as their opponents also manhandled Townsville Blackhawks in Townsville 52-16.
Pride coach Eric Smith said he was pleased with how his team responded to some pressure. “For the first probably 18 minutes the ball didn’t come out of our defensive half,” Smith said.
“The Jets came out firing and that is full credit to Crossy (Ben Cross). They knew they had to play a really hard contest and they did exactly that from the get go.
“But I was really proud of how our boys were able to maintain the pressure and turn it around to claim the win in the end.
“It was a great contest and one that hopefully builds them with some confidence especially travelling to PNG this weekend.”
The Hunters are 10th on the table compared to the Pride who sit on top, but Smith isn’t taking anything away from the rankings.
“What they did to Townsville is pretty rare, they aren’t usually the best team away from home and can be a dominant force at home,” he said.
“But to do what they did away makes us really focus on the job at hand now probably more than I think we thought as well.
“You can’t head over there thinking that we will walk away with the points because that is how you get seriously beaten.
“We respect them and what they bring and do not expect anything different from them.
“It will be a hard-fought contest and our defence will have to be ready to stand up again.”
The Pride had two club debutants in the win over the Jets and both Harrison Edward and Kaiden Lahrs will likely keep their spots against PNG.
“Harrison (Edwards) has played for the Bulldogs in the past and you can see his level as a player and what he brings,”
Smith said. “He only played 30 minutes but we probably could have kept him out there for a bit longer.
“Kaiden, it was probably a really good game to debut him in really. He played 18 minutes and will be better off for it in the long run and hopefully it helps him build.
“Both those players will come with us to PNG and it will be a good test for both of them.”
The round 9 match between PNG and Northern Pride kicks off at 3pm at Santos National Football Stadium in Port Moresby.