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.[1] The Hunters first game was a pre-season trial against the Pride in Cairns.[2] 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.[3]
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.[4]
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.[5] 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.[6] 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.[7]
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.[8]
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).
2014 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.
Unavailable: Davin Crampton and Noel Underwood (both selected to play for the First Nation Goannas at Hunter Stadium on 8 February against Newcastle Knights).
NYC U20s North Queensland Cowboys: 1. Alex Grant, 2. Kurt Perry, 3. Hayden Crowley, 4. Scott Schulte, 5. Jonico Hardwick, 6. Aaron Solari, 7. James Redman, 8. David Munro, 9. Chris Law, 10. Jack Brock, 11. Bill Cullen, 12. Corey Jensen, 13. Kieran Quabba.
Interchange: 14. Sam Pau, 15. Dan Clarke, 16. Michael Barclay, 17. Ben Mathiou, 18. Andrew Niemoeller, 19. Yamba Bowie, 20. Bill Kikau.
Pre-season Trial 2 Sunday 9 February 2014 17:30 AEST (UTC+10)
Unavailable: Davin Crampton and Noel Underwood (both selected to play for the 'First Nation Goannas' at Hunter Stadium on 8 February against Newcastle Knights), Sam Obst (minor injury), Jared Allen (minor injury).
SP PNG Hunters: Adex Wera, Albert Patak, Adam Korave, Brandy Peter, David Loko, Edward Goma, Esau Siune, Garry Lo, George Benson, Gonzela Urakusie, Israel Eliab (c), Joe Bruno, Lawrence Tu'u, Noel Joel, Noel Zemming, Roger Laka, Sebastian Pandia, Thompson Teteh, Biuku (Tiger) Emere, Timothy Lomai, Wartovo Puara, William Minoga.
Absolute Enterprises Mackay Cutters: Liam Taylor, Chris Ulugia, Josh Benjamin, Michael Koko, Aaron Fairweather, Dan Murphy, Tom Rouse, Sam Hoare, Dave Petersen, Karl Davies, Dean Webster, Chris Gesch, Jason Schirnack, Doug Hewitt, Aleki Falipaini, Ashton Sims, Hayden Crockett, Glenn Hall, John Asiata, Dan Beasley, Mitch Day, James Uhatafe, Justin Tavae, Ryan Kinleyside, Rohan Ahern, Pulou Vaituutuu.
Unavailable: Lachlan Coote* (ACL injury at NRL Auckland Nines), Patrick Kaufusi* (pectoral), Hezron Murgha (knee), Aidan Smith (resigned to work in the mines in WA), Noel Underwood (signed with Newcastle Knights to play NSW Cup). Smith and Underwood were replaced by Brent Oosen and Jack Svendsen.
SC Falcons: 1. Kyle Van Klaveren 2. Samuel Wright 3. Callum Klein 4. Rowan Klein 5. Dale Middleton 6. Brett Doherty 7. David Oakes 8. Mitch Ebdon 9. Jay Lobwein 10. Ryan Hansen (c) 11. Rueben Baillie 12. Jacob Samoa 13. Kristian Wanka.
Interchange: 14. Kai Busiko 15. Brenton Stonier 16. Beau Walker 18. Dalton Harry 17. Travis Long.
Unavailable: Aidan Smith (resigned), Noel Underwood (signed with Newcastle Knights NSW Cup side), Lachlan Coote* (ACL injury at NRL Auckland Nines), Matthew Wright* (hand laceration).
CQ Capras: 1. Marlon Doak, 2. Mitch Zornig, 3. Marco Delapena, 4. Smith Samau, 5. Rhys Williams, 6. Mark Johnstone, 7. Theeran Pearson, 8. Arlin Paki, 9. Reece Baker, 10. Sebastien Martins, 11. Andrew Dale, 12. Guy Williams (c), 13. Peter Gallen.
Interchange: 14. Grant Rogers, 15. Brent Williams, 16. Sam Pierce, 17. John Clayton, 18. Liam Pickersgill, 19. Ha'ofanga Rabakewa, 20. Hayden Buckman, 21. Matt Mizzi, 22. Ian Webster.
SP PNG Hunters: 1. Adex Wera, 2. Garry Lo, 3. Thompson Teteh, 4. Albert Patak, 5. George Benson, 6. Israel Eliab (c), 7. Noel Zemming, 8. Joe Bruno, 9. Wartovo Puara, 10. Gonzela Urakusie, 11. David Loko, 12. Brandy Peter, 13. Sebastian Pandia.
Interchange: 14. Tiger Emere, 15. Willie Minoga, 16. Lawrence Tu'u, 17. Mark Mexico, 18. Edward Goma.
Coach: Michael Marum
Note: This was the Pride's first overseas QCup game. This was Alex Starmer's 100th game for the Pride. He became the third Pride player to reach the 100 game milestone for the club, after Jason Roos (118 matches so far) and Ben Laity (117 matches so far).
Easts Tigers: POSTPONED - 1. Eddie Tautali, 2. Jarrod McInally, 3. Shane Neumann, 4. Hymel Hunt, 5. Richie Kennar, 6. Cody Walker, 7. Liam Tyson, 8. Steven Thorpe (c), 9. Tom Butterfield, 10. Felise Kaufusi, 11. Dane Hogan, 12. Troy Giess, 13. Jacob Ling.
Interchange: 14. Liam McDonald, 15. George Rose, 16. Foisa Peni, 17. Joel Romelo.
Coach: Craig Ingebrigtsen.
Note: Match postponed by QRL due to Cyclone Ita. QRL Competitions Manager Jamie O'Connor said "Although there was high anticipation for this match, Mother Nature has had other plans. Cyclone Ita is bearing down on the region and the decision was made to postpone the match until July 6. These decisions are never easy, we always try to consider all options with the safety and welfare of the clubs our first priority. One of those alternatives was bringing the Northern Pride to Brisbane this weekend, however we felt that it was more important for the players and coaching staff to remain with their families. The match will now be played on Sunday, July 6 at Barlow Park in Cairns, a bye round for all other clubs due to the annual Residents match between Queensland and New South Wales on July 9.
Note: The Pride had only played one game in the last three weeks because of the Bye and Postponed game. The Pride were 18-0 at half-time, but surrendered their lead in the second half to lose their first game of the year. This was the Pride debut for Jack Svendsen (Pride Player 102), and Menmuny Murgha, who came off injured with a head knock and could not remember much of the match (Pride Player 105). The game was called live on Phoenix Radio, Ipswich's only community based radio station.
Souths Logan Magpies: 1. Luke Archer, 2. Ramon Filipine, 3. Max Dudley, 4. Grant Cooke, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Jack Ahearn, 7. Rhys Jacks, 8. Zac Lemberg, 9. Kurt Baptiste, 10. Andrew Edwards, 11. Shane Duck, 12. Darcy Wright, 13. Phil Dennis (c).
Interchange: 14. Mitch Cronin, 15. Leon Panapa, 16. Rez Phillips, 17. Johnny Vuetibau, 18. Steve Liki.
Unavailable: Patrick Kaufusi* (pectoral), Hezron Murgha (knee).
Absolute Enterprises Mackay Cutters: 1. Zac Santo, 2. Liam Taylor, 3. Tyson Martin (c), 4. Josh Benjamin, 5. James Uhatafe, 6. Brent Warr, 7. Tom Rouse, 8. Sam Hoare, 9. Anthony Mitchell, 10. Karl Davies, 11. John Asiata, 12. Chris Gesch, 13. Kelvin Nielsen.
Interchange: 14. Aleki Falepaini, 15. Rohan Ahern, 16. Ryan Kinlyside, 17. Mitch Day, 18. Dave Petersen, 19. Doug Hewitt, 20. Andy Gay.
Coach: Kim Williams.
Note: The QCup match was played after the Cyril Connell Challenge Grand Final (1.45pm) and Mal Meninga Cup Grand Final (2:55pm) – the first time Academy Grand Finals had been held at Barlow Park. The Pride U-16s were the Club's first Academy side to make a Grand Final, and they beat the Townsville Stingers 14-12.
Tweed Heads Seagulls: 1. Jamal Fogarty, 2. Kalifa Faifai Loa, 3. Luke Dumas, 4. Blake Anderson, 5. Tom Merritt, 6. Sam Irwin, 7. Michael Burgess, 8. Damian Sironen, 9. Matt King (c), 10. Pele Peletelese, 11. Cody Nelson, 12. Cory Blair, 13. Tom Kingston.
Interchange: 14. Matt Srama, 15. Sam Saville, 16. Chris Piper, 17. Reg Saunders, 18. Caleb Binge.
Coach: Aaron Zimmerle.
Note: Broadcast live on Channel 9 with Matthew Thompson, Scott Sattler and Adrian Vowles as the commentary team. This was the Pride debut for Jared Allen (Pride Player 103).
Unavailable: The only Cowboys player available was Javid Bowen*. All the Cowboys allocation played in Townsville as Thurston, Tata, Tamou and Scott were selected for Origin I.
Wynnum Manly Seagulls: 1. Jeriah Goodrich, 2. Peter Gubb, 3. Matt Grieve, 4. Mitchell Buckett, 5. Jordan Kahu, 6. Ben Cronin, 7. Matt Seamark, 8. Ben Shea, 9. Mitchell Moore, 10. Tim Natusch (c), 11. Graham Clark, 12. John Te Reo, 13. Mitchell Frei.
Interchange: 14. Jon Grieve, 15. Stephen Coombe, 16. Tanu Wulf, 17. Dylan Smith.
Redcliffe Dolphins: 1. Paul Byrnes, 2. Oliver Regan, 3. Aaron Whitchurch, 4. Marty Hatfield (c), 5. Liam Georgetown, 6. Zach Strasser, 7. Adrian Davis, 8. Martin Cordwell, 9. Cameron Cullen, 10. Jon Green (c), 11. Sarafu Fatiaki, 12. Joe Bradley, 13. James Ackerman.
Interchange: 14. Tom Rowles, 16. Tom Geraghty, 17. Caleb Hoffman.
Coach: Troy Lindsay.
Note: Semi Tadulala's 100th QCup game, having played for the Pride, Townsville, Wests and North. Tadulala's first QCup game was in 1998, and he is the second oldest player in the competition (after the Dolphin's Petero Civoniceva).
Easts Tigers: 1. Eddie Tautali, 2. Dane Chang, 3. Shane Neumann, 4. Donald Malone, 5. Jarrod McInally, 6. Jacob Fauid, 7. Grant Giess, 8. Steven Thorpe (c), 9. Tom Butterfield, 10. Matthew Zgrajewski, 11. Dane Hogan, 12. Troy Giess, 13. Jacob Ling.
Easts Tigers: 1. Cameron Munster, 2. Eddie Tautali, 3. Jarrod McInally, 4. Donald Malone, 5. Marika Koroibete, 6. Jacob Fauid, 7. Liam Tyson, 8. Steven Thorpe (c), 9. Tom Butterfield, 10. Kenny Bromwich, 11. Tim Glasby, 12. Troy Giess, 13. Jacob Ling.
Interchange: 14. Liam McDonald, 15. Foisa Peni, 16. Matthew Zgrajewski, 17. Joel Romelo.
Coach: Craig Ingebrigtsen.
Note: This Round 7 match was due to be played on Saturday, 12 April 2014 at 5.30pm, but was postponed due to Cyclone Ita. This was the Pride debut for PJ Webb (Pride Player 104).
Tweed Heads Seagulls: 1. Jamal Fogarty, 2. Blake Anderson, 3. Luke Dumas, 4. James Wood (c), 5. Tom Merritt, 6. Sam Irwin, 7. Michael Burgess, 8. Pele Peletelese, 9. Matt King (c), 10. Damian Sironen, 11. Cory Blair, 12. Tom Kingston, 13. Sam Saville.
Souths Logan Magpies: 1. Ihaka Watene, 2. Luke Archer, 3. Dallas Anderson, 4. Tim Brooks, 5. Ramon Filipine, 6. Phil Dennis (c), 7. Ben Jackson, 8. Luke Page, 9. Mitch Cronin, 10. Andrew Edwards, 11. Darcy Wright, 12. Patrick Mago, 13. Luke Bateman.
Interchange: 14. Herschel Gideon, 15. Leon Panapa, 16. Rez Phillips, 17. Zac Lemberg.
Coach: Josh Hannay.
Note: Pride won this match to secure the Minor-Premiership for the second time in two years. The Pride join Redcliffe Dolphins (1999–2000), Burleigh Bears (2003–2004) and Souths Logan (2009–2010), as the only successive Minor-Premiers. Coach Jason Demetriou became just the second QCup coach – after Rick Stone with the Bears in 2003–2004 – to claim back-to-back Minor-Premierships. This was the Pride's second game at Mareeba this year, and the seventh game played in a regional town in FNQ (Bamaga, Mt Isa, Yarrabah, 2 x Innisfail and 2 x Mareeba).
Note: This victory meant the Pride had beaten all twelve QCup sides this season. This was the Pride debut for North Queensland Cowboys allocation player Patrick Kaufusi* (Pride Player 108).
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).[19] Nona was awarded the Duncan Hall Medal for man of the match.[20]
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.[21]
Former Brisbane Broncos and QueenslandState 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."[22]
ANZ Stadium (Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney NSW) Referee: Adam Cassidy Touch Judges: Liam Nichols and Clayton Sharpe Video Referees: Steve Chiddy and Henry Perenara Player of the Match: Javid Bowen*
Note: This match was played as the curtain raiser to the NRL grand final. Broadcast live on Channel 9 with Matthew Thompson, Scott Sattler and Adrian Vowles as the commentary team.
From Round 1 2012 the Pride began live streaming their home games free to members via their website ($5 for non-members).[23] From Round 5 2012 away games were streamed through the website as well (Free to members, $5 to non-members).[24] 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.[25] Video production was by Studio Productions and the commentary team was Adam Jackson and Northern Pride Under-18s coach, Cameron 'Spiller' Miller.
