Mackay connection for Thurston, Scott
Thursday 17 January 2013 3:50 PM
The North Queensland Toyota Cowboys have completed their allocation of players to their two Intrust Super Cup affiliates, Mackay Cutters and Northern Pride, for the 2013 season.
Cowboys’ squad members who do not play in the NRL competition each weekend are made available to the Cutters and Pride, as long as they are not on the injured list.
Mackay has gained three of the new Cowboys recruits this season – Clint Greenshields, Rory Kostjasyn and Curtis Rona – as well as NYC graduate Alex Elisala.
The Northern Pride’s list of Cowboys now includes Englishman Scott Moore and 2011 Toyota Cup grand finalists Kyle Feldt and Felise Kaufusi.
All up, 18 contracted Cowboys have been allocated to the Cutters and 17 to the Pride, with both feeder clubs aiming to improve on disappointing 2012 seasons that saw them miss out on the semi-finals.
Players with close ties to either team or region, such as Tully’s Joel Riethmuller with the Pride and Proserpine’s Tyson Martin with the Cutters, are allocated to that particular club.
“Our links with the Pride and Cutters are very important to us and the relationships are ones that continue to grow,” Cowboys general manager – football Peter Parr said.
“Our coaching staff closely monitors the performances of both teams, and especially the Cowboys contracted players, each weekend and we get constant feedback from the Pride and Cutters coaches.”
Both the Pride and Cutters will play North Queensland’s under-20s squad in pre-season trials, while the two clubs are set to meet in a trial in Ayr on 2 March.
The Cowboys contracted players are allocated as follows:
MACKAY CUTTERS: Antonio Winterstein, Kane Linnett, Brent Tate, Clint Greenshields, Curtis Rona, Michael Morgan, Johnathan Thurston, Alex Elisala, Anthony Mitchell, Rory Kostjasyn, Ashton Sims, Matthew Scott, Sam Hoare, Glenn Hall, Gavin Cooper, Tyson Martin, Jason Taumalolo, Chris Grevsmuhl.
NORTHERN PRIDE: Matthew Bowen, Ash Graham, Kalifa Faifai Loa, Wayne Ulugia, Kyle Feldt, Robert Lui, Ray Thompson, Blake Leary, Dallas Johnson, Joel Riethmuller, Ethan Lowe, Ricky Thorby, James Tamou, Scott Bolton, Felise Kaufusi, Scott Moore, Tariq Sims.