Norths coach Rohan Smith has named 10 new Devils in a squad of 20 players for Saturday night’s opening Intrust Super Cup clash with the Brisbane Tigers at Totally Workwear Stadium.
High-profile recruits Jon Reuben, Danny Levi, Leivaha Pulu, Piki Rogers, Jerome Veve and Rashaun Denny have been named in the extended squad.
Other new faces include youthful Broncos contingent Reece Walsh, Tyson Gamble, Brendan Piakura and Xavier Willison.
Michael Molo and Broncos centre Dale Copley return to the Devils, with Molo to join recruits Levi and Pulu in the front row.
Captain Jack Ahearn will wear the No.7 jersey, partnering Gamble in the halves, while 18-year-olds Walsh (fullback) and Piakura (backrow) will make their senior football debuts.
Smith settled on this squad after a competitive pre-season during which the recruits mixed it with some familiar faces to Devils fans during three trial matches.
Returning Devils Brendan Frei, Michael Sio, Calum Gahan and Moses Noovao-McGreal are named in the squad along with Tony Tumusa and Harry Freebairn who made their Norths debuts in last year’s first-round win over Mackay Cutters.
That was the only round played in the Intrust Super Cup last year before the competition was cancelled due to COVID-19.
Molo played for the Cutters in that match before returning to Brisbane when the competition was called off, rejoining the Devils teammates he had left only a few months earlier.
Norths will allocate historical Devils player numbers to the new faces in alphabetical order once the final squad of 17 is confirmed.
1 Reece Walsh, 2 Tony Tumusa, 3 Dale Copley, 4 Connor Broadhurst, 5 Jon Reuben, 6 Tyson Gamble, 7 Jack Ahearn ©, 8 Michael Molo, 9 Danny Levi, 10 Leivaha Pulu, 11 Brendan Piakura, 12 Brendan Frei, 13 Michael Sio. Interchange: 14 Harry Freebairn, 15 Moses Noovao-McGreal, 16 Piki Rogers, 17 Jerome Veve, 18 Xavier Willison, 19 Calum Gahan, 20 Rashaun Denny.