Northern Pride legends weigh in Cairns Post’s top 50 players list
Two Northern Pride greats have weighed in on the Cairns Post’s list of the club’s top 50 players, saying a former teammate will be tough to beat for the top spot.
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Two Northern Pride greats have weighed in on the Cairns Post’s list of the club’s top 50 players, saying a former teammate will be tough to beat for the top spot.
Foundation fullback Chey Bird and former captain Ty Williams know what it takes to represent the Far North at the highest level, with more than 170 games for the Northern Pride between them.
PART 1: NORTHERN PRIDE’S BEST PLAYERS, #50-41
PART 2: NORTHERN PRIDE’S BEST PLAYERS, #40-31
PART 3: NORTHERN PRIDE’S BEST PLAYERS, #30-21
The pair, who are involved with the club today, as football operations manager and head coach, respectively, have been reading with interest the Cairns Post’s list of the best Pride players this week.
Since the Pride entered the Queensland Cup competition in 2008, 175 players have represented the club.
According to both Bird and Williams, there’s one man that stands out from the rest — inaugural and 2010 premiership-winning captain Chris Sheppard.
“Depending on what the criteria is, whether it’s on-field impact or the importance to the club on and off the field, it’d he hard to go past Shep in the club’s infancy,” Bird said.
“He was vital to our success on and off the paddock for a long time.”
Williams agreed.
“Every time he played for us, we knew we were going to win,” he said.
“If not, we were thereabouts in the race. I think he’s probably one of the best, if not the best.
“It’s going to be very interesting to see who finishes up the top there, just due to the fact that there’s been different eras, different football teams and different coaches that have come through.”
Bird said a number of players had left an indelible mark at the Pride over the years and ranking the club’s best would be a difficult task.
“The likes of Ben Spina, who was a multiple player of the year; Ty, who was captain; Ryan Ghietti, Jason Roos – it’s going to be a dogfight in that top ten,” he said.
The top players will be revealed online at cairnspost.com.au/sport on Friday night before being published in Saturday’s Weekend Post.
Originally published as Northern Pride legends weigh in Cairns Post’s top 50 players list