Home comfort
YOU don't have to be Einstein to work out the Northern Pride's goal for the remainder of the Queensland Cup season.
Having stormed into the finals and sealed a home playoff this Sunday on the back of nine consecutive wins, the Pride will refocus today when they gather to form a plan of attack for the playoffs.
The Pride head into the finals as the form team in the competition, having sealed their ninth successive victory with a clinical 54-6 win against Burleigh on the Gold Coast on Saturday.
But coach David Maiden said his side had to adjust to what was essentially "golden point" footy, with any stumble now ending their season.
That job has been made slightly easier with a home game assured, with Pride and local league officials working together to schedule the game in the middle of the Cairns District Rugby League finals on Sunday to ensure a bumper crowd.
The Pride faced a nervous wait yesterday, needing either Wynnum or Sunshine Coast to lose their games if they were to leapfrog one into a home finals position.
And there were plenty of smiles about 4.30pm when Pride officials found out Norths had beaten Wynnum, leaving the Seagulls facing a trip north this weekend.
"We’re a bit excited about it, that’s exactly the result we wanted," Maiden said.
"We’ve got a home final now and we want to make the most of it.
"We’re really looking forward to having good crowd support, I’m sure it will be a great day of footy."
It is the Pride’s third finals appearance in their three years in the Queensland Cup but Maiden said the club was not content just to have made the playoffs.
"Our goal was to get here. We’ve got here and we’ve got to redefine them and I think everyone knows what our goal is now."
Maiden said the Pride’s recent run meant little in a knockout situation, with the slate now wiped clean.
"Everyone’s got zero points and it’s golden point, you don’t get that second chance," he said.
"We’ve just got to make sure we maintain what we’ve been doing.
"It is one game at a time, but it's a three-game block we've got as our ultimate goal.
"We’re in a situation now where if we lose, she’s gone, game over.
"But we’re fully aware of that and we’ve been conditioned to that for the last two months."
And the Pride’s home final will serve up a smorgasbord of action for rugby league fans on Sunday.
While the scheduling is still subject to Queensland Rugby League approval of travel times for the Wynnum team, it is likely league fans will be the big winners with the Pride’s clash to be played in the middle of the Cairns District Rugby League semi-finals.
With their usual Saturday timeslot clashing with the Cairns Amateurs racing carnival, the Pride decided to move the game to accommodate fans.
"Obviously there’s going to be some concessions both sides make to have it happen but we’re looking at the bigger picture for rugby league," Pride captain and club operations manager Chris Sheppard said.
"Obviously you always want to play in front of your home crowd as many times as you can," Sheppard said.
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