Rabbitohs, Cowboys, to face off in NRL pre-season trial in Cairns
The best rising stars and new recruits from the South Sydney Rabbitohs and North Queensland Cowboys will take centre stage at Barlow Park. HOW TO GET TICKETS >>>
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THE best rising stars and new recruits from the South Sydney Rabbitohs and North Queensland Cowboys will take centre stage at Barlow Park when they meet in their first pre-season trials on Saturday, February 19.
The Rabbitohs will return to Far North Queensland for the first time since 2018 when they host the Cowboys, who faced the Broncos in a trial in 2020.
It means Jason Demetriou’s first game in charge of the Rabbitohs will be played at the home ground of the club he led to the inaugural NRL State Championship.
Demetriou coached the Northern Pride for two seasons, winning the minor premiership in 2013 before leading the Cairns club to historic glory in 2014.
The Pride won the Queensland Cup grand final that year, then backed up that effort a week later to topple the highly-fancied Penrith Panthers in the inaugural NRL State Championship.
That was Demetriou’s last game in charge, and is the most recent time both the Pride and Rabbitohs won their respective premierships.
Tickets to the hottest show in February will go on sale at noon on Thursday, and while neither team has committed to bringing their top-line stars, it will be an opportunity for fans to see the next generation of stars from both clubs.
The Rabbitohs will use the trial to test some of the club’s best up-and-coming stars and new recruits, as they take
“This will be an important game for our squad as players show their wares leading into the early rounds of the competition,” Demetriou said.
“I spent many seasons at the Northern Pride and understand how passionate the people of Cairns and the surrounding districts are about their Rugby League.
“This will be a great chance for them to come out and show their support for the Rabbitohs which was built over those six previous seasons, as well as the local club in the Cowboys.
“We’re looking forward to getting up there into camp and then putting on a show for the people of Cairns.”
South Sydney has a long association with FNQ, bringing one premiership game per year between 2013 and 2018 - winning three.
The 21-20 triumph against the Cowboys in 2018, in front of 7195 people, was the last time a NRL premiership game was played in Cairns, and the last time Souths have played at Barlow Park.
The Cowboys have also confirmed the club’s more established players will not feature in the trial match, but they will travel to Cairns to participate in school and hospital visits.
Cowboys general manager of football Micheal Luck said the club was excited to visit.
“Cairns is an extremely important region for our club and has produced some of the finest players ever to pull on a Cowboys jersey,” Luck said.
“The latest batch to come through our Cairns academy in Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, Heilum Luki and Jeremiah Nanai are three of the best young juniors in the game
The Rabbitohs’ ticketed members can redeem a free ticket, while members of both clubs can access a 20 per cent discount for general admission entry.
Tickets start at $25 for adults, $10 for juniors and $60 for a family pass.
Click here to purchase tickets.
DEMETRIOU RETURNS TO CAIRNS FOR NRL TRIAL
JASON Demetriou’s first game in charge of South Sydney Rabbitohs will be played at the home ground of the club he led to the inaugural NRL State Championship.
Cairns was overlooked as a venue when Queensland saved the NRL this year, as regional centres like Mackay, Rockhampton and Toowoomba welcomed NRL premiership games.
But 2022 will be the year Far North Queensland gets to see their rugby league heroes in the flesh, with the Rabbitohs primed to return to Cairns for the first time since 2018.
South Sydney have a long association with FNQ, bringing one premiership game per year between 2013 and 2018 - winning three.
The 21-20 triumph against the Cowboys in 2018, played in front of 7195 people, was the last time a NRL premiership game was played in Cairns, and the last time Souths have played at Barlow Park.
The Bunnies will return to Barlow Park on February 19, when the 2021 grand finalists are set to take on the North Queensland Cowboys.
It will be the first NRL trial game in Cairns since the Cowboys took on Brisbane Broncos on February 22, 2020, just months before the coronavirus pandemic changed the world.
South Sydney declined to comment, but it’s understood the NRL have engaged local rugby league officials to prepare for the event.
The Rabbitohs, who will host the trial, will remain in the Far North for a week, as they prepare for the eagerly anticipated debut season of Demetriou as a NRL head coach.
Demetriou is the most successful coach in Pride history, with a winning rate of more than 80 per cent over two seasons.
He coached the Pride to the Queensland Cup minor premiership in 2013, when the club crashed out of the finals in straight sets.
The Pride made amends the following year.
They embarked on an incredible 13-game winning run in the back half of the season, smashed Easts Tigers 36-4 in the grand final before they pipped the heavily favoured Penrith Panthers 32-28 in the first NRL State Championship at Stadium Australia.
Demetriou was then an assistant coach at the Cowboys when they beat the Broncos in the unforgettable 2015 grand final, and an assistant at St George Illawarra in 2016.
He then moved to Brisbane in 2017 to as learn from arguably the greatest rugby league coach of all time, Wayne Bennett, as one of his assistants, and followed the supercoach to Redfern at the end of 2018.
Taking over from Bennett, 45-year-old Demetriou may be among the most under pressure coaches when that first whistle sounds to start the new campaign.
Starting that year in FNQ, where he called home and enjoyed incredible success in a short amount of time, might just be the perfect start.
matthew.mcinerney1@news.com.au
Originally published as Rabbitohs, Cowboys, to face off in NRL pre-season trial in Cairns
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