Northern Pride: Child gets halves chance as injury forces reshuffle
Northern Pride coach Ty Williams expects young playmaker Evan Child to make the most of his chance start in his preferred position in the halves this weekend.
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Northern Pride coach Ty Williams expects young playmaker Evan Child to make the most of his chance start in his preferred position in the halves this weekend.
Child has been named to start at halfback this Sunday against Redcliffe in the place of Matt Egan, who reinjured his shoulder in last week’s 34-12 loss to Tweed Seagulls.
The Cairns Brothers junior has made nine appearances for the Pride this season, eight of them at centre, but has had to bide his time in the halves pecking order behind Egan and Thomas Steadman.
Child started at halfback for the injured Egan against Wynnum Manly in round 12, but only got through 25 minutes before an HIA to Grant Anderson caused a reshuffle.
“It’s exciting for Ev to get a chance to play in the halves finally,” Williams said.
“We went to Wynnum and named him in the halves but we lost Grant pretty quickly and we had to make an adjustment there, so he hasn’t played a full game at six or seven for us yet (this season). Touch wood that this weekend he gets the opportunity.
Williams said Child had come on “leaps and bounds” this season.
“You got to remember two years ago, even last year, he was a Cairns Brothers A-grade player,” he said.
“Now he’s a permanent Intrust Super Cup player, which is good to see, and he gets his opportunity on the weekend, which will be awesome.”
Williams said he was excited to see Child and Steadman take the field together.
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“They trained together all week leading into the Wynnum game, and then during that period where we weren’t playing, they were still training together,” he said.
“They’ve worked on their combinations so it’s not as if it’s unusual for them. Hopefully they get to fulfil that out on the field this weekend.”
He said both players would likely be given free rein to play on both sides of the field.
“I’ll probably let both of them float,” he said.
“I think that’s probably a key area for us, and then obviously it gives (fullback Jayden) Corrigan a chance just to float through the middle.
“We’ll try and link them two up as good as possible, just because Tommy’s a very direct player, whereas Evan’s a ball-playing half, so we’ll try and utilise both their strengths on either side of the field.”
Williams said Corrigan and prop Nick Lui-Toso would be racing the clock to prove their fitness for Sunday’s clash.
“Corrigan needs to do what he has to do to get through, Nick Lui-Toso’s not far off, we’ll see how he goes at the back end of the week,” he said.
“They’re hopefully a couple of handy inclusions.”
Matt Musumeci is not available for selection after copping a nasty head knock at training last week, while Egan is not expected to be available until the first week of finals – if the Pride make it.
Pain for Pride as Egan injured in return game
A second-half fadeout wasn’t the only thing to put a dent in the Northern Pride’s finals hopes on Saturday night, with halfback Matt Egan’s season in doubt after he re-injured his shoulder in his return game against Tweed Seagulls.
Egan was playing his first match after sustaining an AC joint sprain in his shoulder in the Pride’s loss to PNG Hunters in round 14.
The playmaker was a late inclusion for the Seagulls clash after he proved his fitness during the week, but only lasted nine minutes before he was struck down in another cruel injury blow for the Pride.
“Losing Egan was a big one for us,” said coach Ty Williams.
“He was fine (before the game), there were no dramas and he got through this week with contact, the lot.
“He just engaged the line and when he got hit he landed flush on the same shoulder that he injured before and just couldn’t lift it anymore.
“He landed on his shoulder pretty bad and just couldn’t get it going again.”
The extent of the injury will be unknown until results from scans come back, but the outlook is not looking great for the Pride and Egan.
“We’ll do a scan and have a look at how it settles down on Monday,” he said.
“He’s probably going to be touch and go for the back end of the season.”
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Fullback Jayden Corrigan, who was expected to make his return from a troublesome quadricep injury against Tweed on Saturday, was a late exclusion after “twinging” the same quadricep during Friday night’s captain’s run.
“It’s the old injury, it’s just flared up a bit,” Williams said.
“He got through three solid sessions during the week so we thought he’d be right, but he just overstrided at training and we didn’t want to push it because we didn’t want to risk something long-term.”
The Pride held a 12-6 lead at halftime before the Seagulls went on a second-half blitz, scoring five unanswered tries to claim a 34-12 win.
“We just need to control the football, firstly – I think we completed two sets that second half – then we just made silly defensive movements, which was something we spoke about,” Williams said.
“We did very good for the first 40 minutes, but then we were very poor.
“We got left on the ground too much, and that’s not what we’re about.
“There’s a few deficiencies we need to work on.”
Despite the loss, the Pride remain one win ahead of the Sunshine Coast in eighth spot, after the Falcons lost to Wynnum Manly on the weekend.
The Pride will take on the fourth-placed Redcliffe Dolphins at Moreton Daily Stadium this Sunday.
Originally published as Northern Pride: Child gets halves chance as injury forces reshuffle
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