Northern Pride: Why coach Ty Williams is confident ahead of the new season

Northern Pride coach Ty Williams will enter his fifth season at the helm with more confidence in his playing group than ever before.

Northern Pride coach Ty Williams will enter his fifth season at the helm with more confidence in his playing group than ever before.

The Pride had their first major litmus test of their 2021 Intrust Super Cup campaign last weekend, defeating traditional rivals the Townsville Blackhawks 34-6 in a pre-season trial at Jack Manski Oval.

Williams took plenty of positives from the hitout and believed there were early signs his side could succeed this year, saying there were no weak links in the squad.

“To tell you the truth, I don’t think there was a poor player within the group, just due to the fact that we’ve concentrated pretty hard this pre-season on making sure that everything we do, we do together,” he said.

QRL; Pre-season trial – Townsville Blackhawks Vs Northern Pride at Jack Manski Oval. Chris Ostwald. Picture: Alix Sweeney

“There was no big standout where you thought ‘this is their game’, but across the board I was pretty happy with everyone’s performance.

“It’s a really good platform for us to launch into the season now.”

Williams said it had been the first time since he was appointed in the head coaching role at the end of 2016 that he had been given complete control of the Pride’s Intrust Super Cup squad list, including player recruitment and retention needs.

While the funds weren’t there in the past for Williams to go as hard on recruitment as he would have liked, the coach has this season been blessed by the work of outgoing CEO Mark Quinn, who helped return the club to a strong financial position before announcing his resignation last week.

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“Since I’ve been at the club, this has been our best pre-season,” Williams said.

“We’re very happy with squad that we’ve been able to assemble.

“We just need to make sure that we implement the stuff that we have been doing over the pre-season and the platform we laid on Saturday night, I think we just got to continue doing that.”

Williams said players would have another chance to push their case for a starting jersey at an in-house trial in the coming weeks.

QRL; Pre-season trial – Townsville Blackhawks Vs Northern Pride at Jack Manski Oval. Wiremu Greig. Picture: Alix Sweeney

“There’s still a fair few positions available so I’m just hoping the lads take it with both hands because that’s what it’s going to come down to, who performs well in this in-house trial,” William said.

“It will be interesting to see how it unfolds at the end of the week.”

Williams led the Pride to just six wins in his debut coaching season in 2017.

The former North Queensland Cowboys and Queensland Maroons flyer coached the side to a shock finals berth in his follow-up campaign in 2018, but much of the club’s success that year could be attributed to the breakout season of rookie Cowboys playmaker and Tully junior Jake Clifford.

With Williams at the helm for a third season in 2019, the Pride endured their worst season in club history, finishing 12th and winning just five games.

The Pride looked destined for greater success in 2020, at least on paper and trial form, before their season of redemption was cut short after one round due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Pride will kick off their new campaign against the Falcons at Sunshine Coast Stadium on March 20.

Originally published as Northern Pride: Why coach Ty Williams is confident ahead of the new season