Sport
21 March, 2025
Pride aiming to bounce back
NORTHERN Pride have lost their first match of the Hostplus Cup against the Tweed Seagulls 20-16 but coach Russ Aitken said they’re hoping to gain momentum and take the win against the Townsville Blackhawks tomorrow.
The Hostplus Cup is finally on its way and Northern Pride has already met its first obstacle after losing a tight match against the Tweed Seagulls at home under very wet conditions.
Despite not being the start to the season they were expecting, Mr Aitken said there were strengths to highlight in last week’s match and that with more polishing he expected better results tomorrow.
“The weather conditions are no excuse because it’s the same for both teams,” he said.
“We missed the jump, we weren’t prepared to do the tough work early and deal with the physicality of the game that there was always going to be in the rain, so we missed the job there and took too long to get going.
“However, the fight and the effort of our boys was good and that was never in doubt, we just didn’t put or effort into the right places in the first half and when we did in the second half we looked a good team.
“I was happy with the second half performance and the fact that when we played our footy we looked strong but that doesn’t matter if it only goes for 40 minutes, we have to make sure that we put an 80-minute performance this week.”
Tomorrow Pride is taking on the Blackhawks, who come from a victory 27-20 against the Mackay Cutters, on their homeground in Townsville.
Mr Aitken says the team is going to have to establish dominance from the get-go in the match against a Blackhawks team that’s riding the high from their first win.
“We need to work on our start, that’s the priority, putting 80 minutes of our footy together,” he said.
“It’s also going to be another wet weekend which brings the game more into the middle, so it’s harder to break down teams on the edges, and it’s more physical, there’s more rain this week so I anticipate more of the same.
“We’ve got a few key things we want to work on but we have to start fast, Townsville is going to be up for the physical battle and they’ve got plenty of experience all across the park so they’re a smart team, we need to be up to the physical battle early.”
