Cooktown Crocs pose for a group shot with Northern Pride and Wynnum Manly Seagulls players, coaching staff and Cooktown rugby league fans after the full-time siren sounded on Saturday afternoon. Photo: Lyndon Keane.
If there was ever any doubt which team the parochial John Street Oval crowd was barracking for in the Country Week clash on 27 July, it was put to rest when the Northern Pride crossed the line for four second-half tries in just 23 minutes to secure a 32-12 victory against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls.
Defence was brutal for the first 40 minutes of play on Saturday afternoon, with handling errors proving costly for both teams as the Pride went to the break with a 12-6 lead through four-pointers to playmaker Thomas Duffy and rampaging second-rower Dane Aukafolau.
It was a different Pride on the Cooktown paddock in the second half, with set plays starting to gel as the Hostplus Cup ladder leaders piled on 20 unanswered points until Seagulls captain Brendan Frei crashed across the chalk in the 79th minute of the game.
Halfback Duffy impressed for the victorious Pride with a 16-point contribution to the final scoreline, something coach Eric Smith told Cape York Weekly could have been greater were it not for a “lack of respect” for the ball.
Pride captain Kyle Schneider embraces Seagulls interchange Joshua Stuckey after the teams thrilled a vocal John Street Oval crowd during their round 19 battle. Photo: Lyndon Keane.
“The lack of respect we showed for the football was probably a little bit concerning for me,” he said.
“But the thing that gave me a lot of belief was our defence and our resilience, and that’s something we’ve built our whole season on.
“We put ourselves under a whole heap of unnecessary pressure today where we didn’t respect the football, and we had to do a lot of back-to-back sets and forced offloads.”
The Pride and Seagulls were hosted by the Cooktown District Junior Rugby League Club, with secretary Jacynta Hunt praising the teams and Country Week format.
“The crowd’s been great, and you just have to look at the kids’ faces to see how thrilled they are to be out of the field with the Hostplus Cup teams,” she said.
“It means so much to the community to bring this level of football to Cooktown, so I want to thank everyone involved, from our volunteers here to the [Queensland Rugby League] and the Pride and Seagulls.”
Pride captain Kyle Schneider echoed the sentiment and said the team was thrilled to have notched up a big win for the Cooktown fans.
“We had a focus this week on having a big one … so we’re happy to have a game here and get the job done,” he said.
Pride halfback Thomas Duffy finds the chalk for a 64th minute try. Photo: Lyndon Keane.
While the Pride now sit two points clear at the top of the 2024 Hostplus Cup premiership ladder, Smith said it was not something the team was spending too much time focusing on.
“We know we’re in a good position, but we don’t talk about sitting first on the ladder too often all,” he said.
“We’ve got a couple of goals that we want, that we set at the start of the year, where we want to be at the back end of the year and what we want to be doing, and, look, where we’re achieving most of those things.
“It’s nice to be in a good position and playing some good football.”
The Pride will tackle the 15th-placed Western Clydesdales in round 20 competition at Barlow Park in Cairns on 3 August.
Pride winger Jensen Taumoepeau looks for an offload as he is swamped by Seagulls jerseys. Photo: Lyndon Keane.
NORTHERN PRIDE 32 defeated WYNNUM MANLY SEAGULLS 12; tries: PRIDE Thomas Duffy 2, Dane Aukafolau, Braidon Burns, Ewan Moore, Will Partridge 1 SEAGULLS Harry Armstrong, Brendan Frei 1; conversions: PRIDE Thomas Duffy 4 SEAGULLS Bryce Donovan 2
