Footy returns for the Norths Devils tomorrow night when the opening trial match against Wynnum Manly ends a drought of almost 12 months off the field for some players.
Some Devils will take the field for the first time since March 14 2020 when a win in the opening round of the Intrust Super Cup was followed by a COVID cancellation of the season.
While some Norths players participated in the Brisbane Rugby League season, others took the year away from football and returned among a motivated group for pre-season training in November.
That training has the group ready to take on the Seagulls on a busy Saturday at Bishop Park with four matches to herald the unofficial start to the season. The Under 16 trial match against Wynnum Manly will begin the day at 2.30pm before Under 18s and Colts (Under 21s) also play the Seagulls ahead of the Cup teams meeting at 7pm.
Coach Rohan Smith said trial matches across the next three weekends would prepare his team for the March 20 season-opener against Easts Tigers.
“These next three weekends will be good for us to get back out there especially for those players who missed most of last year,” Smith said.
“There’s always excitement around this time of year and that’s no different. We’ll look to provide game-time across our squad.”
The Devils are unlikely to take on Wynnum’s frontline players, who will meet the Brisbane Broncos tonight in a trial match.
Three Devils will play for the Broncos tonight – Brendan Frei, Calum Gahan and Leivaha Pulu were named in a Broncos team that cannot feature players who featured in more than 12 NRL matches last year due to COVID reasons.
