Northern Pride: Young Cowboy Connelly Lemuelu impresses in trial
Northern Pride coach Ty Williams has no doubt Cowboys strike weapon Connelly Lemuelu would provide invaluable service for his Intrust Super Cup side this season — so long as he doesn’t have bigger fish to fry in the NRL.
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Northern Pride coach Ty Williams has no doubt Cowboys strike weapon Connelly Lemuelu would provide invaluable service for his Intrust Super Cup side this season — so long as he doesn’t have bigger fish to fry in the NRL.
The North Queensland flyer, who made his NRL debut last year, lined up for the Pride in their pre-season trial against the Townsville Blackhawks at Jack Manski Oval on Saturday night and was the standout player in the side’s 34-6 victory.
While Williams would love to have the hard-running outside back at his disposal for the entire season, he said, with performances like his on the weekend, it would be only a matter of time before he returned to the big leagues.
“He was outstanding at left centre,” Williams said.
“He was probably our best on ground; carrying out of yardage, troubling them with his footwork, and also the talk he brought to the team, he found a really good voice on the night.
“He showcased that he’s ready to go back up to the NRL.”
Williams said he was impressed with the side’s Cowboys contingent as a whole, which also included Maori All Stars prop Wiremu Greig and Cairns juniors Jeremiah Nanai and Heilum Luki.
“I thought the way that our Cowboys boys fitted into our squad was probably the best balance that we’ve had for a long time,” he said.
“Jeremiah and Heilum played on the edge and I thought they were really good off the bench, and obviously Wiremu through the middle, you can see he’s got a bit of a bounce in his step coming off the Maori All Stars the week before.”
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The Pride’s 34-6 victory was a far cry from the 60-6 thrashing they copped when they last met the Blackhawks in the Intrust Super Cup, in Round 17, 2019.
But while Williams praised his side’s defensive efforts, he said he wouldn’t be reading too much into the scoreline.
“Early on we were a bit scrappy — I think both teams were a bit excited and enthusiastic to be back out there playing football — but I thought after 20 minutes we sort of knuckled down to what we’ve been working on defensively,” he said.
“We got stung a few times with the six-again rule, we gave one away in the first set of the game, but we adjusted accordingly, just with the understanding that we need to hang in there and make sure that defensively we’re all good.
“(Blackhawks’ Josh) Chudleigh scores under the posts late in the game but defensively really happy with the lads, and we’ve worked pretty hard on that.
“But, as I said to the guys after the game, this is only the start for us.”
Pride hooker Chris Ostwald took on the captaincy duties on the night; however, Williams said a captain for the season had not yet been appointed.
In the under-21s curtain-raiser, the Blackhawks defeated the Pride 44-16.
Originally published as Northern Pride: Young Cowboy Connelly Lemuelu impresses in trial
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