RANKED: Northern Pride’s best players, #6-10
The Cairns Post’s rugby league writer Rowan Sparkes is taking a stroll down memory lane to rank the top 50 footballers to play for the Northern Pride since they entered the competition.
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The Northern Pride will not strap on the boots again in 2020 after the cancellation of the Intrust Super Cup.
With that competition on hold, the Cairns Post’s rugby league writer Rowan Sparkes is taking a stroll down memory lane to rank the top 50 footballers to play for the Northern Pride since they entered the competition in 2008.
The players are ranked primarily on what they did in a Northern Pride jersey.
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
PART 4: NORTHERN PRIDE’S BEST PLAYERS, #11-20
10. Hezron Murgha
Murgha was a foundation player at the Pride and one of three Yarrabah Seahawks, alongside Noel Underwood and Farran Willett, signed to the club for their Queensland Cup debut in 2008.
The young speedster quickly found a place on the Pride flank, where he lined up 19 times in their inaugural campaign, earning the club’s Most Improved Player award, and 16 times in 2009.
But, just as Murgha was on the rise and looked ready for a breakout Queensland Cup season in 2010, he was ruled out for the season to undergo knee surgery.
He made his return in 2011, notching up another 11 games for the Pride, before a tough 2012, where he only managed seven appearances.
Murgha would make up for it the following season, coming into his own in the fullback position vacated at by the retiring Chey Bird, and picking up club awards for Players’ Player, Members’ Player and People’s Choice, as well as an NRL contract with the Cowboys.
After coming back from another knee injury midway through the 2014 season, Murgha started where he left off in the Pride’s No.1 jumper, going on to play in the club’s Queensland Cup premiership and NRL State Championship wins.
He played for the Townsville Blackhawks in 2016, before returning the Yarrabah Seahawks for the club’s maiden CDRL title in 2017.
In 2017, he was named on the wing in the Pride’s Team of the Decade (2008-2017).
9. Ty Williams
The Innisfail product burst onto the scene as a fleet-footed try-scoring machine with his hometown Leprechauns in the CDRL, scoring 42 tries in the 2001 season — a league record that still stands nearly 20 years later.
His performance piqued the interest of the North Queensland Cowboys, where Williams would go on to play 151 first-grade games from 2002-10, scoring 85 tries.
Williams career with the Pride started in 2008, as a Cowboys allocated player. At the time, he was still among the Cowboys’ top wingers, but played seven games in Pride colours that season as he battled niggling injuries.
He would play just five games for the Pride in 2009, before suiting up 14 times in 2010; however, he would miss the finals series and the club’s inaugural premiership after being ruled out at the last minute with a knee injury.
Williams retired from the NRL at the end of the 2010 season, taking up a full-time contract with the Pride in 2011 and taking over from foundation player Chris Sheppard as captain.
He captained the side to a minor premiership in 2013, before going back to where it all began as captain-coach of the Innisfail Leprechauns.
Williams took on the Pride’s head coaching job ahead of the 2017 season. He was named at centre in the club’s Team of the Decade (2008-2017) in 2017.
8. Ben Laity
An Upper Ross Rams junior, Laity joined the North Queensland Cowboys as a teenager, playing for their feeder club, the North Queensland Cowboys Young Guns, in the Queensland Cup.
He made his NRL debut for the club as an 18-year-old in 2002 and, during the season, was selected in the Queensland Residents side.
Laity was released by the Cowboys at the end of the 2004 NRL season, having not made any more appearances in first grade.
In 2007, Laity joined the Easts Tigers, playing one season for the club before returning north to join the Northern Pride for their first season in the Queensland Cup in 2008.
During Laity’s six seasons at the club, he played 117 games, including starting at prop in the 2009 grand final loss and 2010’s grand final victory, and was named their Players’ Player in 2010.
He retired at the end of the 2013 season. Laity was named at prop in the Northern Pride’s Team of the Decade (2008-2017) in 2017.
7. Sam Obst
Obst’s made his Queensland Cup debut with the Redcliffe Dolphins in 1999 and was signed to the Sydney Roosters the following season.
He made his NRL debut for the club in 2001 and played seven games before joining English Championship side Whitehaven Warriors in 2004, where he was voted the competition’s Player of the Year.
Obst signed with Super League side Wakefield Trinity Wildcats in 2005 and would go on to play 137 games for the club over the next six seasons, receiving the club’s best player gong in 2008 and 2009.
He played a season with Hull FC in 2011 and the Championship’s Keighley Cougars in 2012, linking up with former Wildcats teammate and Cougars’ player-coach Jason Demetriou.
The pair, along with Semi Tadulala, would all come to the Far North with the Northern Pride in 2013.
Obst played 74 matches for the Pride and was the starting halfback in 2014’s Queensland Cup premiership and NRL State Championship wins.
He was named Best Back in 2013 and 2014 and Members’ Player of the Year in 2014 and 2015, and was the starting halfback in the Pride’s Team of the Decade (2008-2017).
6. Joel Riethmuller
The Tully-born tackling machine returned to his home region to link up with the Northern Pride for their inaugural Queensland Cup season in 2008, but only managed six games before a knee injury spelled an early end to his season.
While he would miss the opening round of the 2009 season with dengue fever, Riethmuller returned the following week and went on to play 24 games for the Pride as they surged to their first Queensland Cup grand final, which they would lose to the Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles.
In 2010, he played 21 games for the club, including their 30-20 grand final win over Norths Devils to claim their maiden Queensland Cup premiership, and was named the club’s Player of the Year for his tireless work in the middle.
Before the start of the 2011 season, Riethmuller was signed to the North Queensland Cowboys. He went on to play 31 NRL games with the club over the next three seasons.
When he wasn’t suiting up for the Cowboys, Riethmuller would drop back and play with the Pride and played in the club’s second Queensland Cup premiership in 2014.
Riethmuller retired at the end of the 2014 season, but would return for another season with the Pride in 2017.
He played for Italy on 12 occasions and, in 2017, was named at lock in the Pride’s Team of the Decade (2008-2017).
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
PART 4: NORTHERN PRIDE’S BEST PLAYERS, #11-20
Originally published as RANKED: Northern Pride’s best players, #6-10