The most promising sign out of Pride’s heavy trial loss

The most encouraging sign to come out of the wash-up of Northern Pride’s heavy trial loss to the Blackhawks was the attitude of the players in the aftermath.

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The most encouraging sign to come out of the wash-up of Northern Pride’s heavy trial loss to the Blackhawks was the attitude of the players.

The Pride were never in the game in Saturday’s 34-6 loss to Townsville, as the torrential conditions conspired with poor player discipline to keep the Barlow Park club well out of the contest.

But there were a few silver linings to come out of the loss.

Ill-discipline and a tendency to slip back into the “bad habits” that plagued last season came to the fore as the Northern Pride fell to the Townsville Blackhawks 34-6 at Barlow Park.

Posted by Rowan Sparkes on Sunday, 23 February 2020

Pride coach Ty Williams was happy with how his new halves combination of Matt Egan and Jack Campagnolo controlled parts of the game, while Nick Lui-Toso showed why he will be a leader of the club’s forward pack.

It was what came at Monday night’s video review session which had Williams most thrilled.

The players were engaged, “upbeat and honest” as they recognised the flaws in Saturday’s performance and identified areas of improvement.

“We’re a different playing group this year and I think the individual recognition of where we need to be better is spot on. the guys are accountable for their actions,” Williams said.

“The pleasing thing is we’re in February, not April, and we’re having these conversations.

“It’s not panic stations, just a process we’re going through at the moment.”

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Posted by Rowan Sparkes on Friday, 21 February 2020

Ahead of Saturday evening’s final trial against the PNG Hunters, Williams said the squad had to focus on improving the completion rate, which at 40 per cent was poor, even for pre-season standards, their line speed and discipline.

“Our line speed, we were a bit passive at times and I think that set the tone for us,” he said.

“That’s one of the areas that was brought up.

“Our ability and discipline was pretty poor, we were down 10-2 in the penalty count at half time, ends up being 15-4 or something, we were never really in the game.”

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Posted by Rowan Sparkes on Friday, 21 February 2020

Liu-Toso will be one to watch come next month’s season-opener against Tweed.

he came to the Pride in the off-season, and impressed Cowboys coaches during a train and trial period with the NRL club late last year.

With NRL coaches in attendance and their eyes firmly on the hulking second-rower, Lui-Toso was arguably the best performer for the home side as they struggled to gain momentum on the heavy track.

Williams also praised hooker Chris Ostwald, who was solid in his first outing for his new club.

Originally published as The most promising sign out of Pride’s heavy trial loss