2016 was the ninth competitive season for the Sea Swift Northern Pride Rugby League Football Club based in Cairns, Queensland, Australia. They were one of 14 clubs that played in the twenty-first season of Queensland's top rugby league competition, QRL's Intrust Super Cup, with each team playing 12 home games and 11 away games over 25 weeks between March and August.
Five experienced players retired at the end of the 2015 season: Alex Starmer, Semi Tadulala and Sam Obst along with co-captains Brett Anderson and Jason Roos retired, and Hezron Murgha retired from the Cowboys and signed with the Blackhawks. Between them they had played almost 700 QCup games. The new squad for 2016 was much younger, with an average age of 21, the youngest squad the Pride ever had. The new captain was Ryan Ghietti, who had represented Italy at the 2013 Rugby League World Cup, had played 96 QCup games, and had joined the Pride from Redcliffe Dolphins in 2011. Jack Svendsen was vice-captain, with Luke George filling the role during pre-season trials. A new senior leadership group was selected with the captain and vice-captains joined by Justin Castellaro and Tom Hancock.
At the start of the season there was talk of offering a contract to Shaun Nona, the Tully player who made 25 appearances for the Pride in 2014 before heading to the Melbourne Storm. Nona eventually signed with Mackay Cutters, but then reneged and went to the Intrust Super Premiership NSW Illawarra Cutters, who were coached by former Pride coach Jason Demetriou.
Bob Fowler stood down as Chairman, a position he had held since 2009. He was replaced by interim chairman Terry Mackenroth, who had been Deputy Premier of Queensland and a former director of Queensland Rugby League and the Australian Rugby League.New model to strengthen Capras , QRL Media, QRL website, 21 November 2016, Retrieved 22 November 2016. Mackenroth restructured the club's corporate governance and changed the Pride from an incorporated association to a company limited by guarantee, which was one of the requirements of the NRL's elite pathways.
One of the changes suggested was to rename the Northern Pride. The introduction of the Townsville Blackhawks into the competition last year led some Board members to suggest the Pride should be rebranded to reflect the Cairns and Far North Queensland region. The idea was soon shouted down by players and fans.
In order to try and boost crowd numbers, home games were moved from Saturday evenings, to 3:00pm Sunday afternoons, in what the CEO thought was a more family friendly time slot.
In an effort the generate income (the Pride being one of only five QCup teams that are not supported by gambling revenue from a leagues club), the Pride offered businesses the opportunity to sponsor an individual player's jersey for $6,500. The concept had been introduced in the NRL, but was a first for the Intrust Super Cup.
The QRL reduced the number of interchanges this year, following the NRL, dropping interchanges from ten to eight per game. The Pride suffered from a raft of injuries at the end of last season, and so this year they introduced a 'High Performance Unit' made up of doctors, physios, dieticians and coaches who worked with the players to curb injuries and ensure player peaked at the right times. The club introduced GPS tracking for players to monitor workloads.
The Pride took one of their home games, Round 11 against Burleigh Bears up onto the Atherton Tablelands to Atherton Showground, and Country Week, Round 20 against Redcliffe Dolphins was played at Ravenshoe.
Although the Pride had some good wins, 48-0 against Tweed Heads in Round 6, and beat five of the top seven sides, consistency and defence were troublesome for the young side. The Pride won just 11 of their 23 matches and finished in eighth place, their worst season to date. For the first time they lost more home games than they won, and for the second time in their history they missed out on playing in the finals.
At the end of the season, coach Joe O'Callaghan resigned to take up an assistant coaching position at Wynnum-Manly. The players became increasingly unhappy with their options for next year, with some claiming they were offered reduced deals. Several players signed to other clubs. After the final round of the season, the board sacked CEO Rod Jensen. Former Pride player, Chey Bird, was appointed interim CEO.
2016 Season - Sea Swift Northern Pride
Competition: Intrust Super Cup Sponsor: Sea Swift
Staff
Coaches/Trainers Coach: Joe O'Callaghan. Assistant coach (defence): Shane O'Flanagan Assistant coach (attack): Leon Hallie Mal Meninga Cup U-18s coaches: Benjamin Fielding, Robbie O'Kane, Bevan Walker Cyril Connell Cup U-16s coach: Head trainer (Positional/CDRL Allocation Players): Darren Ferricks Head first aid officer: Deb Gallop Medical (Away crew): Max Conroy Welfare officer: Michael White Mascot: Barlow the Lion (Peter Spooner)
High Performance Unit Club Sports Science Consultant: Dr Stephen Bird High Performance Manager: Matt Di Salvo Strength and conditioning Coach: Scott Sudale Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach: Peter Nash Rehab Coordinator: Megan Harding Physiotherapist: Tim Lowcock Sports Dietician: Mitchell Smith Mental Edge Coach: Robert Gronbeck
Captains Ryan Ghietti Tom Hancock (Trial Match) Vice-captain: Luke George Vice-captain: Jack Svendsen Senior leadership group: Ryan Ghietti, Luke George, Justin Castellaro, Jack Svendsen, Tom Hancock.
Managers Administration Manager: Kerri Neil Team manager: Alan Marsh Assistant manager (Home): Kev Anderson Assistant manager (Away): Murray Stalley Chief executive: Rod Jensen. Chairman: Terry Mackenroth. Board of Directors: Tony Williamson (sponsorship), Colin Moore (CDRL chairman), Ian Lydiard (CDJRL president), Troy McGuane, (Cairns Post sales manager), Gail Andrejic (finance), Stephen Tillett, Rob White (football), Eleanor Scott (government).
Squad The Pride used just 27 players this season. Fourteen players from last year signed with the club again, and three of the Cowboys allocation players from last year were assigned to the Pride again this year. Ten new players made their debut this season; eight were new signings (Akeripa Tia-Kilifi, Ben Reuter, Brayden Torpy, Khan Ahwang and Rajan Opetaia-Halls, with Colin Wilkie, Fred Koraba and Greg Miglio signed to the Club via the Pride's CDRL Portability Program), and two were new Cowboys allocation players (Coen Hess* and Shaun Hudson*).
Allocated but did not play for the Pride in 2016:
2016 player gains
Player From League From Club Brayden Torpy NRL Under-20s Gold Coast Titans Akeripa Tia Kilifi NRL Under-20s North Queensland Cowboys Rajan Opetaia-Halls Intrust Super Cup Central Queensland Capras Khan Ahwang Intrust Super Cup Burleigh Bears Ben Reuter CDRL Innisfail Leprechauns. Colin Wilkie CDRL Innisfail Leprechauns Frederick Koraba CDRL Innisfail Leprechauns Greg Miglio CDRL Tully Tigers
Pride Portability Program Player League Club Ned Blackman CDRL Atherton Rooster Ben Schell CDRL Brothers Cairns Luke La Rosa CDRL Brothers Cairns Broski Emery-Hunia CDRL Brothers Cairns Daniel Tatipata CDRL Edmonton Storm Jared Verney CDRL Ivanhoe Knights Sam Pau CDRL Kangaroos Patrick Lewis CDRL Kangaroos Ian King CDRL Mareeba Gladiators Shaun Bowen CDRL Mossman-Port Douglas Sharks Jack Brock CDRL Southern Suburbs Aidan Day CDRL Southern Suburbs Menmuny Murgha CDRL Yarrabah Seahawks
Player losses after 2015 season
Player To League To Club Graham Clark NRL Telstra Premiership Canterbury Bulldogs Codey Kennedy Intrust Super Cup Tweed Heads Seagulls Regan Verney Intrust Super Cup Mackay Cutters Brett Anderson retired. Jason Roos retired. Alex Starmer retired. Semi Tadulala retired. Sam Obst retired. Maddie Oosen released. Dean McGilvray released. Jared Verney uncontracted. PJ Webb released (personal reasons). Nathan Wales released (to go traveling). Travis Peeters released (work commitments). Bradley Stephen released (work commitments). Brent Oosen released (work commitments).
Cowboys no longer allocated to the Pride Player To League To Club Cameron King* NRL Telstra Premiership Parramatta Eels Hezron Murgha* Intrust Super Cup Townsville Blackhawks Lachlan Coote* North Queensland Cowboys Matthew Wright* North Queensland Cowboys
2016 season launch Cairns Induction Day: 31 October 2015. Pre-season training: 2 November 2015. Pre-season boot camp: 23-24 January 2016, Etty Bay Surf Life Saving Club and Callendar Park, Innisfail. 2016 Corporate Launch: 2016 ISC Season Launch: Friday, 4 March 2016 at the Treasury Casino's Hotel Courtyard, Brisbane, hosted by Channel 9 commentators Scott Sattler and Peter Psaltis, guests heard from QRL Managing Director Robert Moore, Chairman Peter Betros and Intrust Super CEO Brendan O'Farrell.
2016 player awards 28 August 2016, Brothers World of Entertainment, Manunda Sea Swift Northern Pride Player of the Year: David Murphy Sea Swift Players' Player: Sheldon Powe-Hobbs Sea Swift Members' Player of the year: Sheldon Powe-Hobbs Sea Swift Most improved player: Jared Allen Sea Swift Best Back: Justin Castellaro Sea Swift Best Forward: Tom Hancock John O'Brien Perpetual Club Person of the Year: Gordon Greaves (photographer)
2016 player records Most Games: Khan Ahwang (23), Ryan Ghietti (23), Linc Port (23). Most Tries: Khan Ahwang (13) Most Points: Khan Ahwang (206)
2016 representative players Ryan Ghietti Jordan Biondi-Odo Justin Castellaro Colin Wilkie Played for Italy Azzurri in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup qualification
2016 Queensland Residents team Linc Port Jack Svendsen David Murphy
Northern Pride Life Memberships The first life memberships were awarded at a pre-game luncheon, Round 22, 7 August 2016, Barlow Park. John O'Brien AM John Moore Bob Fowler
Sponsors Naming rights sponsor: Sea Swift Jersey sponsor: Sea Swift, Castlemaine XXXX, Emu Sportswear. Sponsorship of individual players available from $6,500 Sleeve sponsor: Rivers Insurance Brokers & LJ Hooker Shorts sponsor: Cairns Regional Council, Intrust Super Playing strip manufacturer: EMU Sportswear Other sponsors: Brothers World of Entertainment; Calanna Pharmacy; BDO; James Cook University; CDRL; hm Health Management; Queensland Country Credit Union; Phoenix Dynamic Sports Entertainment; Cairns Colonial Club Resort; First Response; ASN; Cairns Sports Performance Clinic; Kennards Hire; Proarch Podiatry; Brilliant Technologies; Cairns Total Physio; Queensland Country Health Fund; Pacific Toyota; Ransom Specialty Coffee Roasters; Cairns Hardware; Visual Imaging; Devenish Law. Media partners: Sea FM; WIN Television; Cairns Post.
Jerseys
Trial matches
Round Opponent Score Date VenueTrial 1 Townsville Blackhawks1022Saturday, 6 February 2016Jack Manski Oval, TownsvilleTrial 2 CDRL Indigenous All Stars4222Friday, 12 February 2016Stan Williams Park, CairnsEdmonton Super 9s CDRL Edmonton Storm437Weekend 13-14 February 2016Barlow Park, CairnsTrial 3 NYC NQ Cowboys U-20s2018Saturday 20 February 2016Vico Oval, Cairns
Sea Swift Northern Pride: Unlimited Interchange: Unavailable: Jordan Biondi-Odo (ankle), Menmuny Murgha (fractured jaw), Akeripa Tia Kilifi (ankle), Sheldon Powe-Hobbs & Linc Port (selected to play for the North Queensland Cowboys trial match against the Brisbane Broncos in Bundaberg). Townsville and District Mendi Blackhawks: 1. Jonathon Reuben, 2. Lenny Magey, 3. Connor Carey, 4. Delouise Hoeter, 5. Samsen O'Neill, 6. Sam Foster, 7. Michael Parker-Walshe, 8. Daniel Beasley, 9. Anthony Mitchell, 10. Corey Jensen, 11. Lorenzo Ma'afu, 12. Noel Underwood, 13. Glenn Hall. Interchange: 14. Nathan Norford, 15. Andrew Niemoeller, 16. Willie Minoga, 17. Temone Power. Coach: Kristian Woolf