ISC U20s Northern Pride v Easts Tigers
3.10pm Saturday, 1300SMILES Stadium
Tickets: ticketek.com.au
Three bright young talents from the North Queensland Toyota Cowboys' system and a wealth of rugby league potential will be on display at 1300SMILES Stadium on Saturday afternoon for the Round 6 NRL curtain-raiser.
North Queensland feeder club the Northern Pride will clash with Easts Tigers in the newly-formed Hastings Deerings Colts under-20s competition, with the match to entertain members and fans prior to the Cowboys v Bulldogs main event.
Cowboys development squad members Wiremu Greig, Connor Luhan and Peter Hola will line up for the undefeated Pride against the seventh-placed Tigers.
Kiwi-born prop Greig has been in sensational form in the early stages of 2018, the 18-year-old averaging a massive 135 running per game, a figure that ranks just outside of the top 10 in the competition.
His round 3 performance in the Pride’s 24-all draw against the Townsville Blackhawks was particularly impressive – aside from crossing for a crucial try in the dying stages of the match, Greig rumbled his way for 135 running metres, while also registering six tackle-breaks, a line-break and two offloads.
Greig’s front-row partner, Luhan has been limited to one game in 2018 after battling injury throughout the first five rounds, the 19-year-old producing a strong performance in his sole appearance for the Pride in 2018 in Round 2.
Starting from the bench, Luhan ran 102 metres from 10 carries, while also chipping in 18 tackles and two tackle breaks in 46 minutes on the field.
Eighteen-year-old Hola has made an instant impression during his first season with the Pride.
Playing at lock, the Marist Saints junior has topped both the 100 running-metre and 20 tackle marks in his previous two games.
Gates open at 3pm Saturday for the 3.10pm curtain-raiser kick off.
