Post by bazal on Sept 16, 2018 2:47:03 GMT
The once again renamed North QLD Devils have today announced their squad for the upcoming season, just weeks after their disappointing showing in the ASRL grand final. Playing last season as the Dolphins in an attempt to go back to their roots, the 2018 runners up have decided that given everyone called them the Devils anyway, they may as well re-adopt the newer name as part of an effort to revitalise the once-ailing club.
In his first public appearance since the loss, coach Nick Bailey was in no mood to speak to the press, leaving the announcement itself and any press interactions to captain Clint Gutherson and GM Football Peter Parry.
The Devils have gambled somewhat, naming a relatively small squad of 25 in comparison to some ASRL clubs who have over 40 players, but Parry and Gutherson expressed nothing but confidence in the group assembled.
The squad, as announced, is:
Josh ADDO-CARR (Wing)
Daniel ALVARO (Prop)
Jesse BROMWICH (Prop)
Nathan BROWN (Lock)
Kenny EDWARDS (Second Row)
Bureta FARAIMO (Wing)**
David FIFITA (Prop)
Ben GARCIA (Second Row)**
Blake GREEN (Half)**
Clint GUTHERSON (Utility Back)
Kerrod HOLLAND (Centre)
Konrad HURRELL (Centre)
George JENNINGS (Wing)**
Shaun KENNY-DOWALL (Centre)
BJ LEILUA (Centre)
Manu MA'U (Second Row)
Tepai MOEROA (Second Row)
Michael MORGAN (Half)**
Agnatius PAASI (Prop)
Kaysa PRITCHARD (Hooker)
Curtis RONA (Wing)
Billy SLATER (Fullback)
Martin TAUPAU (Second Row)
Peni TEREPO (Lock)**
Alex TWAL (Prop)
**indicates new to squad
The club has also revitalised the RSC squad, adding young guns Kurtis Dark, Haze Dunster, Stefano Utoikamanu, Oregon Kaufusi and Hayden Loughrey through the Mad Barry draft.
Most notable in the first grade squad are the additions of Blake Green and Michael Morgan to a side that lacked halves options in the 2018 season, and Parry believes their signings have set the Devils up for another good season.
"We were obviously all disappointed with the way the grand final went. We were ambushed, quite frankly, and we didn't have the organisers out there to combat it. But in the end we had a great season, we probably did better than we had any right to given the halves combinations we used over the year. So we went into the off season knowing we'd need at least one genuine half, and we wound up with two."
Gutherson believes the pair will bring much needed structure in attack, as well as helping steady the side mentally.
"I enjoy playing in the halves, but I wouldn't say it's my best position. Even just their kicking game will improve us in a big way, we definitely lacked that last season. I think having two guys there with real experience running a side around the park will be a big plus for us."
The Devils only bought two players in contract bidding, and one was the re-signed Manu Ma'u, but Parry believes that the coach has addressed the most pressing needs and is happy that many of the new faces came from internal promotions.
"We needed a half, and we traded in Morgz and bought Blake Green. We needed a strike back-rower and we won The Chairman (Ma'u) back for half price. We've promoted from within with guys like Ben Garcia, Peni Terepo and Bureta Faraimo, so that's nice to see. We've had some dark days in terms of the quality of our RSC squad and obviously there's no quick fix, but it's good to have a few promotions coming through and it's good to get some young blood in there. Stefano Utoikamanu, Oregon Kaufusi and Kurtis Dark in particular are incredibly promising players."
The club has also announced the extension of rampaging off-contract forward Marty Taupau for a further three years, solidifying the core of their pack for seasons to come.
"We had some extra cap space after contract bidding, it's tough to spread bids around when you don't have a lot of money and we wanted to target what we needed first. Once we got that, there wasn't much point just signing players for the sake of it. So we offered Marty an early extension and he signed it on the spot. I think that's a sign of the attitude in this squad, there's no doubt a guy like Marty would command huge money on the open market."
"It also means that the majority or our forward pack is here for the long term. Paasi and Twal are off-contract at the end of this year, Fifita has two years to go and then every other forward is here for three or four years. Stability like that is great for the club, especially up front where the platform is laid. Marty is probably second only to Taumololo when it comes to forwards in our game so having him commit for another three years is a big bonus."
Gutherson believes that the side is now genuinely lethal, provided they continue to play with the attitude that they brought to the 2018 season.
"We went into 2018 as a totally new side, almost, and we all wanted to bring something to the table. We fed off guys like Danny Alvaro and Nathan Brown, they're machines. They never stop and they gee the boys up through their work rate, I try and play that way too. Then you have guys like Marty and JAC and Billy who can do brilliant things off the back of that hard work, really the missing link was in the halves. Obviously a lot can happen in footy and we need to earn it, but we're happy with where we sit. Now that we've got two genuine halves, if we bring that same attitude and commitment we're confident we can turn the grand final loss into a win over the next couple of seasons."
The Devils effort to go one better kicks off with an away game against the enigmatic Oilers. Renowned slow starters, North QLD will be itching to get an early win on the board and start putting the grand final ambush behind them.
In his first public appearance since the loss, coach Nick Bailey was in no mood to speak to the press, leaving the announcement itself and any press interactions to captain Clint Gutherson and GM Football Peter Parry.
The Devils have gambled somewhat, naming a relatively small squad of 25 in comparison to some ASRL clubs who have over 40 players, but Parry and Gutherson expressed nothing but confidence in the group assembled.
The squad, as announced, is:
Josh ADDO-CARR (Wing)
Daniel ALVARO (Prop)
Jesse BROMWICH (Prop)
Nathan BROWN (Lock)
Kenny EDWARDS (Second Row)
Bureta FARAIMO (Wing)**
David FIFITA (Prop)
Ben GARCIA (Second Row)**
Blake GREEN (Half)**
Clint GUTHERSON (Utility Back)
Kerrod HOLLAND (Centre)
Konrad HURRELL (Centre)
George JENNINGS (Wing)**
Shaun KENNY-DOWALL (Centre)
BJ LEILUA (Centre)
Manu MA'U (Second Row)
Tepai MOEROA (Second Row)
Michael MORGAN (Half)**
Agnatius PAASI (Prop)
Kaysa PRITCHARD (Hooker)
Curtis RONA (Wing)
Billy SLATER (Fullback)
Martin TAUPAU (Second Row)
Peni TEREPO (Lock)**
Alex TWAL (Prop)
**indicates new to squad
The club has also revitalised the RSC squad, adding young guns Kurtis Dark, Haze Dunster, Stefano Utoikamanu, Oregon Kaufusi and Hayden Loughrey through the Mad Barry draft.
Most notable in the first grade squad are the additions of Blake Green and Michael Morgan to a side that lacked halves options in the 2018 season, and Parry believes their signings have set the Devils up for another good season.
"We were obviously all disappointed with the way the grand final went. We were ambushed, quite frankly, and we didn't have the organisers out there to combat it. But in the end we had a great season, we probably did better than we had any right to given the halves combinations we used over the year. So we went into the off season knowing we'd need at least one genuine half, and we wound up with two."
Gutherson believes the pair will bring much needed structure in attack, as well as helping steady the side mentally.
"I enjoy playing in the halves, but I wouldn't say it's my best position. Even just their kicking game will improve us in a big way, we definitely lacked that last season. I think having two guys there with real experience running a side around the park will be a big plus for us."
The Devils only bought two players in contract bidding, and one was the re-signed Manu Ma'u, but Parry believes that the coach has addressed the most pressing needs and is happy that many of the new faces came from internal promotions.
"We needed a half, and we traded in Morgz and bought Blake Green. We needed a strike back-rower and we won The Chairman (Ma'u) back for half price. We've promoted from within with guys like Ben Garcia, Peni Terepo and Bureta Faraimo, so that's nice to see. We've had some dark days in terms of the quality of our RSC squad and obviously there's no quick fix, but it's good to have a few promotions coming through and it's good to get some young blood in there. Stefano Utoikamanu, Oregon Kaufusi and Kurtis Dark in particular are incredibly promising players."
The club has also announced the extension of rampaging off-contract forward Marty Taupau for a further three years, solidifying the core of their pack for seasons to come.
"We had some extra cap space after contract bidding, it's tough to spread bids around when you don't have a lot of money and we wanted to target what we needed first. Once we got that, there wasn't much point just signing players for the sake of it. So we offered Marty an early extension and he signed it on the spot. I think that's a sign of the attitude in this squad, there's no doubt a guy like Marty would command huge money on the open market."
"It also means that the majority or our forward pack is here for the long term. Paasi and Twal are off-contract at the end of this year, Fifita has two years to go and then every other forward is here for three or four years. Stability like that is great for the club, especially up front where the platform is laid. Marty is probably second only to Taumololo when it comes to forwards in our game so having him commit for another three years is a big bonus."
Gutherson believes that the side is now genuinely lethal, provided they continue to play with the attitude that they brought to the 2018 season.
"We went into 2018 as a totally new side, almost, and we all wanted to bring something to the table. We fed off guys like Danny Alvaro and Nathan Brown, they're machines. They never stop and they gee the boys up through their work rate, I try and play that way too. Then you have guys like Marty and JAC and Billy who can do brilliant things off the back of that hard work, really the missing link was in the halves. Obviously a lot can happen in footy and we need to earn it, but we're happy with where we sit. Now that we've got two genuine halves, if we bring that same attitude and commitment we're confident we can turn the grand final loss into a win over the next couple of seasons."
The Devils effort to go one better kicks off with an away game against the enigmatic Oilers. Renowned slow starters, North QLD will be itching to get an early win on the board and start putting the grand final ambush behind them.
