2014 Northern Pride RLFC season

2014 was the seventh competitive season for the Cairns based Sea Swift Northern Pride Rugby League Football Club. They were one of 13 clubs that played in the nineteenth season of Queensland's top rugby league competition, QRL's Intrust Super Cup, with each team playing 12 home games and 12 away games over 26 weeks between March and August.

This season the competition expanded to the 13 teams with the inclusion of the PNG Hunters. The Hunters first game was a pre-season trial against the Pride in Cairns. The Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles returned to their original name (Sunshine Coast Falcons) and black and gold colour scheme now that their association with the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles had ended, and Souths Logan Magpies became the first QCup team to take advantage of a new rule permitting unselected players from NSW NRL clubs to be play for ISC teams under a secondary affiliation when they linked with the Canberra Raiders. The Pride gained a new naming rights sponsor, Sea Swift, a north Australian shipping company wholly owned by the Queensland Government Insurance Fund. The Pride made several changes to the game-day experience after surveying their 1,500 members and talking to the local NBL side, the Cairns Taipans. Annual memberships were offered for $110, entry prices were reduced, catering at the ground was cheaper, allocated seating for members was reinstated, there was a big screen showing the game action with replays, a bouncy castle for kids, fireworks, pyrotechnics, Pride Wildcat cheer leaders from Awesome Cheerleading Cairns, and a new mascot, 'Barlow the lion'. Barlow Park was called 'The Jungle'. Average crowds for the year was 2,300, with 4,390 people watching the Round 18 clash against the Hunters, a ground record for a QCup match. Based on the success of last year's Round 4 match, when the Tweed Heads Seagulls home game was moved to Innisfail with financial assistance from Cassowary Coast Regional Council, this year the Round 6 Norths Devils home game was moved to Innisfail with assistance from Innisfail Brothers Rugby League Football Club. The QCup match preceded a CDRL local game with a Pride connection between the KGC Innisfail Leprechauns captain-coached by Ty Williams and Cairns Brothers captain-coached by Chey Bird. This was the fifth time the Pride had played a QCup match in a regional area (2011 Round 20 in Bamaga, 2012 Round 17 Country Week in Mt Isa, 2013 Round 4 in Innisfail and Round 20 Country Week in Yarrabah.) The Pride won 20 games out of 24 in the regular season, finishing on top of the ladder as minor-premiers for the second time in their history. They played Easts Tigers four times this year, twice in the regular season, and, twice in the finals series. In the regular season the Pride's Round 7 home match against the Tigers was postponed due to Cyclone Ita. They beat the Tigers 44-20 in the Round 16 away match at Langlands Park, then lost to the Tigers 4-16 three weeks later in the postponed Round 7 match which was played at Davies Park Mareeba. The Pride had several young players in this game, having lost five experienced players and the coach to representative duties. The Pride got a bye in week one of the finals while the Tigers defeated Wynnum Manly. The major semi-final saw the Pride beat the Tigers 8-7 in a tight game. The victory earned the Pride another week off, while the Tigers eliminated Wynnum Manly in the Preliminary Final, setting up a rematch against the Pride in the Grand Final. This was played at Suncorp Stadium in front of a crowd of 7,135, with the Pride winning convincingly 36–4, their second premiership. The Pride went on to beat the Penrith Panthers in the first NRL State Championship at ANZ Stadium. Javid Bowen was named Man of the Match.

This season the Pride finalised a 12-month governance review led by chief executive Brock Schaefer, chairman Bob Fowler and consultant Andrew Griffiths, which recommended a new skills-driven board with specific portfolios of sponsorship, football, government, community, legal, financial and a chairman. A new board was appointed in May 2014.

Season - Sea Swift Northern Pride

Competition: Intrust Super Cup Sponsor: Sea Swift

Coaches/Trainers

Coach: Jason Demetriou Assistant coach: Joe O'Callaghan Mal Meninga Cup U-18s coach: Chey Bird (JCU Academy), Cameron 'Spilla' Miller Cyril Connell Cup U-16s coach: Shane O'Flanagan (JCU Academy) – won their first Grand Final in 2014. Strength and conditioning coach: Patrick Ranasinghe Physiotherapist: Tim Laycock Trainer: Deb Gallop

Captains

Co-Captains: Brett Anderson & Jason Roos.

Managers

Team manager: Rob White Club captain: Development Officer: Blake Leary Administration Manager: Kerri Neil 'Take Pride' Program Manager: Rod Jensen Mascot: Barlow the Lion (Peter Spooner) Chief executive: Brock Schaefer Chairman: Bob Fowler Board of Directors: Re/Max Cairns owner Tony Williamson (sponsorship), Moore Developments director John Moore, Families and Responsibilities Commission registrar Rob White (football), Sergeant Stephen Tillett (community), Sea Swift chief executive Fred White (government), Omega lawyers principal Anthony Mirotsos (legal), NQEA financial controller Gail Andrejic (finance).

Squad

The Pride used 33 players this season. Sixteen players from last year signed with the club again, and five of the Cowboys allocation players from last year were assigned to the Pride again this year. Twelve new players made their debut this season; eight were new signings (Ben Jeffries, Jack Svendsen, Jared Allen, Latu Fifita, Linc Port, Menmuny Murgha, PJ Webb and Tyrone McCarthy), and four were new Cowboys allocation players (Cameron King*, Javid Bowen*, Matthew Wright* and Patrick Kaufusi*). Blake Leary was released by the Cowboys and signed with the Pride.

season launch

Cairns induction day: 16 November 2013. Pre-season training: 18 November 2013. Pre-Season Boot Camp: Lake Tinaroo, Atherton Tablelands, 21–23 February 2014, and training with the Atherton Roosters at Atherton Stadium. 2014 Season Launch: ?

player awards

8 October 2014, Brothers World of Entertainment, Manunda

Sea Swift Northern Pride Player of the Year: Ben Spina Sea Swift Players' Player: Blake Leary Sea Swift Members' Player of the Year: Sam Obst Sea Swift Most improved player: Sheldon Powe-Hobbs Sea Swift Best Back: Sam Obst Sea Swift Best Forward: Tyrone McCarthy John O'Brien Perpetual Club Person of the Year: Pat Bailey (CDRL)

player records

Most Games: Sam Obst (27), Tyrone McCarthy (27).. Most Tries: Davin Crampton (17). Most Points: Shaun Nona (206).

Queensland Residents team

Blake Leary Davin Crampton Shaun Nona Ben Spina Javid Bowen.

Sponsors

Naming rights sponsor: Sea Swift Jersey sponsor (back of jersey): Sea Swift, Brothers Leagues Club, Emu Sportswear. Sleeve sponsor: Skytrans Finals Series sleeve sponsor: Rivers Insurance Brokers Shorts sponsor: Brothers Leagues Club, Cairns Regional Council, Fuller Sports, Intrust Super, Cairns Hardware, EMU Sportswear. Shirt manufacturer: EMU Sportswear. Other sponsors: Castlemaine XXXX; Pacific Toyota; Cairns District Rugby League; Calanna Pharmacy; Tropic Wings; GATA Plastering; All Seasons Cairns Colonial Club; Cairns Plan Printing; Yalumba Winery. Media partners: Sea FM; WIN Television; Cairns Post.

Northern Pride (regular season 2014)

Win = 20 (11 of 12 home games, 9 of 12 away games) Loss = 4 (1 of 12 home games, 3 of 12 away games)

Grand Final

The Northern Pride dominated the regular season, winning 16 games as they won their second consecutive minor premiership. They defeated Easts 8–7 in the major semi final to qualify for their third Grand Final. Easts, who finished third, defeated Wynnum Manly in the first week of the finals before their one-point loss to the Pride. A week later, they again faced Wynnum Manly, winning 30–12 to qualify for their second consecutive Grand Final and their fourth overall.

First half

The Northern Pride opened the scoring in the 15th minute when centre Kyle Feldt crossed after a set play to the right. They added another try five minutes later when Hezron Murgha sent Javid Bowen over with a short ball. They went into the half time break with an 18–0 lead after Davin Crampton scored next to the posts in the 35th minute.

Second half

The Pride started the second half as they ended the first, when Shaun Nona caught his own rebounded kick and found his captain Brett Anderson, who scored in the corner. The lead jumped to 30 in the 51st minute when Ryan Ghietti scored thanks to a Blake Leary line break. After 65 minutes, the Tigers finally got on the scoreboard after winger Jarrod McInally scored a consolation try. The Pride wrapped up the win with their sixth try of the game, after Bowen crossed out wide for his second in the 79th minute. Shaun Nona converted to bring the final score to 36–4, the biggest winning margin in a Queensland Cup Grand Final (as of 2019). Nona was awarded the Duncan Hall Medal for man of the match. North Queensland Cowboys-contracted Pride players Kyle Feldt and Ethan Lowe would go onto to play in the Cowboys' 2015 NRL Grand Final win over the Brisbane Broncos, while Pride head coach Jason Demetriou joined the Cowboys as an assistant coach in 2015 and was on the coaching staff for the Grand Final win.

NRL State Championship

Penrith Panthers (NSW) v Northern Pride (QLD).

Penrith were minor premiers in the New South Wales Cup, with only four losses out of 21 games this season. They won all their matches in the finals series, defeating the Newcastle Knights 48–12 in the Grand Final. The Pride were minor premiers in the Queensland Cup, with only four losses games out of 24 this season. They also won all their matches in the finals series, beating Easts Tigers 36–4 in the Grand Final. Former Brisbane Broncos and Queensland State of Origin player Justin Hodges had endorsed the Northern Pride in a Cairns Post article before the match, stating, "They may be a Cowboys feeder team but everyone knows they are a Cairns team and a Queensland team. They are a strong side and are a classy side that is coached very well. They have been the benchmark of the Queensland competition for years so I know they'll go well. There is only them and the Broncos U-20s from up here playing on grand final day. So I reckon everyone in Queensland will be cheering them on."

Channel Nine

In August 2012 as part of the historic $1 billion five-year broadcasting agreement with Nine and Fox Sports, the Australian Rugby League Commission confirmed that Intrust Super Cup matches would be televised by Channel 9 until 2018. One match a week was shown live across Queensland at 2.00pm (AEST) on Sunday afternoons on Channel 9 (or GEM), on WIN Television (RTQ) in regional areas and on Imparja Television in remote areas. The match was also broadcast in Papua New Guinea on Kundu 2 TV. The 2014 commentary team was Peter Psaltis, Scott Sattler and Mathew Thompson. In 2014 the Pride appeared in five televised games

Round 11: Northern Pride lost to Tweed Heads Seagulls 26-29 at Piggabeen Sports Complex, Tweed Heads West. Round 16: Northern Pride beat Easts Tigers 44-20 at Langlands Park, Stones Corner, Brisbane. Round 18: Northern Pride beat SP PNG Hunters 36-18 at Barlow Park, Cairns. Round 22: Northern Pride beat Tweed Heads Seagulls 22-18 (played at 12.30 pm and delayed telecast at 2.00 pm) from Barlow Park, Cairns. Grand Final: Northern Pride beat Easts Tigers at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane. The inaugural NRL State Championship was shown nationally on the Nine Network with Matthew Thompson, Scott Sattler and Adrian Vowles as the commentary team. The game was immediately followed by the NRL Telstra Premiership grand final between Souths and the Bulldogs. commentary team.

1: Northern Pride won the inaugural NRL State Championship 32-28: Sunday, 5 October 2014 against Penrith Panthers 2.30 pm from ANZ Stadium, Sydney.

Live Streaming

From Round 1 2012 the Pride began live streaming their home games free to members via their website ($5 for non-members). From Round 5 2012 away games were streamed through the website as well (Free to members, $5 to non-members). In 2013, all matches (including pre-season trials but excluding matches broadcast live by Channel Nine) were streamed live through the Pride website, with access granted exclusively to Pride members. Video production was by Studio Productions and the commentary team was Adam Jackson and Northern Pride Under-18s coach, Cameron 'Spiller' Miller.