Pride kick off 2020 campaign with first pre-season session

The Northern Pride were all smiles as they kicked off their 2020 Queensland Cup campaign on Monday night, but they could be wearing different expressions by the end of the week.

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The Northern Pride were all smiles as they kicked off their 2020 Queensland Cup campaign with their first pre-season training session on Monday night, but they could be wearing different expressions by the end of the week.

It has been a longer off-season than the Pride would have liked, after the club failed to reach the finals for just the fourth time in their 12-year history.

Northern Pride 2020 recruits Gideon Gela-Mosby and Javid Bowen. Pic: Facebook

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But, after a two-month break, players and coaching staff were in jovial spirits as they took their first steps into the 2020 season at West Barlow Park, following an afternoon weights session.

Excited by the prospect of a fresh start and a new-look playing group, coach Ty Williams said it was good to be back.

The boys are back!

Posted by Northern Pride on Monday, 4 November 2019

“The boys are excited – and a bit nervous,” he said.

“I think they were expecting to get a bit of a flogging.

“We’ll ease them in for the next few sessions and then we’ll give them a bit of a touch up on Friday, just to see where they’re at.”

“The lads did skinfolds at the induction on Saturday morning and there’s a couple that are a bit over, but majority of them have come back in good shape.”

The coach said the first block of the pre-season, which will take place over the next seven weeks before players get a well-earned break over the Christmas period, was about laying the foundations for a big 2020.

“We’ve learned a lot as a club over the last six to eight months and I think we’re in better shape moving forward and we’ve recruited in the right areas,” he said.

“We’ve approached a lot of things differently this year, with our training loads first and foremost, but also breaking up our training sessions.”

New recruits Gideon Gela-Mosby, Javid Bowen, Rod Griffin, Matthew Egan, Bernard Lewis and Joshua Stuckey were all in attendance, while former Penrith Panthers-contracted forward Nick Lui-Toso will miss the first weeks of pre-season to take up a train and trial opportunity with the North Queensland Cowboys.

Originally published as Pride kick off 2020 campaign with first pre-season session