Global Information2012 Northern Pride RLFC season information
| Club information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Northern Pride Rugby League Football Club | ||
| Nickname(s) | The Pride | ||
| Colours |  Teal, Gold | ||
| Founded | 2007 | ||
| Website | northernpride.com.au | ||
| Current details | |||
| Ground(s) |
| ||
| CEO | Chris Sheppard (2011-2013) | ||
| Coach | David Maiden (2010-2012) | ||
| Captain | Ty Williams (2011-2013) | ||
| Competition | Intrust Super Cup | ||
| 2012 | 7th | ||
| |||
| Records | |||
| Premierships | 2 (2010/2014) | ||
| Runners-up | 1 (2009) | ||
| Minor premierships | 2 (2013/2014) | ||
2012 was the fifth competitive season for the Cairns based Skill360 Northern Pride Rugby League Football Club. They were one of 12 clubs that played in the seventeenth season of Queensland's top rugby league competition, QRL's Intrust Super Cup, with each team playing 11 home games and 11 away games over 26 weeks between March and September. In 2012 the Central Comets were renamed the CQ Capras.
A new feature in this season's draw was 'Country Week', which was introduced after the Pride successfully staged a fixture against Souths Logan in the remote Cape York community of Bamaga last year.[1] This year's Country Week fixture was Round 17, held at Alec Inch Oval in the north-western mining town of Mt Isa.
The QRL scrapped the six-team finals series in favour of a five-team qualifying format.[2]
Channel 9 gained the television broadcast rights, and they agreed to broadcast one game from each of the regional clubs in Cairns, Mackay and Rockhampton.[3] Former broadcast partner, ABC had been unable (or unwilling) to broadcast games from locations outside south-east Queensland, resulting in the relocation of two of the Pride's home semi-finals to Brisbane, where the games were played in front of small crowds at a neutral venue, which disadvantaged the Pride, as well as costing the club a substantial amount of game-day revenue.[4]
The Pride continued to find new ways to interact with fans and the Far North community. The Sea Swift 'Take Pride' program visited remote and regional schools promoting junior rugby league through fun-based rugby league activities and educational presentations.[5] Home games were live-streamed via the Pride website, and from Round 5, away games were streamed as well. Commentary was provided by U-18s coach, Cameron 'Spilla' Miller and WIN TV's Adam Jackson. Pre-game interviews with the coach, half-time interviews with special guests, and post-match wrap-ups with the captain were posted on YouTube under the title 'Pride TV'. A e-newsletter was produced, called 'Pride Pulse' and Brett Anderson wrote a weekly column for the Cairns Post titled 'Pride Insider'.
The Pride had a shaky start to the season, with four straight losses in the first six rounds. One of their problems was the halves combination, having tried Robert Lui with Shaun Nona, then Ryan Ghietti with Nona, then Ghietti with Mitch Seri, and finally Ghietti with Ty Williams.[6] Moving Williams to five-eighth and taking Rod Jensen opff the bench and starting him at centre helped the Pride win ten of the next sixteen rounds. However poor ball handling, a poor completion rate and poor execution saw them lose matches to lower placed teams. In Round 18 they lost to bottom placed Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles who had only won two games so far. Despite a few good wins in the last few rounds, the Pride finished the season in seventh place, missing out on a finals appearance for the first time in their short history.
At the end of the season, Head Coach David Maiden resigned, while fullback Chey Bird, who scored 572 points in 94 appearances for the Pride, retired along with former North Queensland Cowboys star Rod Jensen, who scored 36 tries in 69 games for the club, second on the Pride's all-time try scorer list.
- Northern Pride 2012 ISC video highlights (7 videos).
- ^ Piva, Andrew (21 January 2012). "Jet the hostilities resume". Cairns Post. Cairns.
- ^ Flynn, Joe (23 February 2012). "Queensland Cup finals rejig". Cairns Post. Cairns.
- ^ "New TV deal for Cup". Cairns Post. Cairns. 22 February 2012.
- ^ "TV switch for 2012 Intrust Super Cup coverage". The Queensland Times. Ipswich. 22 February 2012.
- ^ "School visits aim to boost participation". Cairns Sun. Cairns. 15 February 2012.
- ^ Flynn, Joe (16 April 2012). "Pride fightback gives Maiden a ray of hope". Cairns Post. Cairns.