By William Crutcher
Norths Devils made Indigenous Round a celebration of culture and a display of grit as they capped a winning weekend against Northern Pride in the Hostplus Cup and BMD Premiership.
Declan Haydon’s 45th minute try sparked the Premiers’ Park crowd on a winter’s afternoon and ignited a famous Devils’ comeback for a 20-14 Hostplus Cup win. The Devils kept the third-placed Pride scoreless for the last 53 minutes of the game in one of Norths’ best performances of the season.
Earlier in the day, captain Grace Griffin steered her side to a fifth consecutive win as the Devils seized a share of top spot on the BMD Premiership ladder. The home team scored four tries in 19 minutes to claim a 28-18 win over the Pride. It was the Devils’ fifth consecutive win, extending their record to 6-1.
Both Devils teams wore their Indigenous jerseys, designed by fullback Matthew Milson with input from his teammates, and welcomed a group of students from Murgon State High School for the annual Deadly 1440 program.
The students saw more exciting attacking raids from a BMD Premiership team that had five tryscorers against the Pride.
Devils’ backrower, Ema Masi ran a great line off a short pass from five-eighth Tayla Sykes to pierce the Pride’s defence in the 46th minute as Norths dominated after the halftime break.
Devils’ BMD coach Meg Ward was pleased with her side’s performance to join Brisbane Tigers and Burleigh Bears in a three-way share of the competition lead.
“I was happy with how we played especially in the second half,” Ward said. “We used our opportunities well and it was an all-around good performance against a challenging opponent.”
The Devils are off to their best start since their grand final season in 2024. After a mid-season break, they will travel to Rockhampton on 8 August to meet the Capras.
Rohan Smith’s Hostplus Cup team followed its win against PNG Hunters six days earlier with a quality performance against the Pride who had lost only one of their nine previous matches.
Cowboys NRL coach Todd Payten was at the game to watch some of his squad members play for the Pride. All points came at the northern end of the ground as the Pride’s 14-0 halftime lead – built on tries in the 13th, 22nd and 27th minutes – became a 20-14 Devils’ win.
Five-eighth Jack Miers was pivotal with the boot converting all three tries and a penalty goal amid strong breezes that favoured the team running north.
Haydon replaced the injured Milson in the fullback spot, breaking the Pride defence after receiving an offload from Brody Tamarua and throwing a dummy where he scored from five metres out.
Four minutes later, centre Jacob Gagan, returning from injury, palmed a Pride defender for a 50-metre burst that finished two plays later with winger Tony Tumusa powering over in the left corner.
The work from the forwards in a fast-paced game broke the match open, building a foundation up the middle and creating opportunities for Norths.
Lachlan Lewis earnt a 58th minute penalty which enabled Norths’ to take the two points to level the game at 14-all.
Jack Ahearn’s shortside raid down the Pride’s right edge in the 65th minute led to quick passes from Tamarua and Haydon for winger Blayden Dodd to score the try that would win the game for Norths.
Captain Kierran Moseley put in a strong 80-minute performance making 45 tackles while Devils junior Tahrell Feaveai continued his good form off the bench.
Coach Smith was proud of his team’s effort to come back in the second half.
“We didn’t start the way we wanted but we had great composure in the second half to comeback and beat a good Pride side,” Smith said. “Our defence was solid in the second half and we had some moments of attack which went our way.”
Norths’ now look to Country round on Saturday as they take on the competition leaders Sunshine Coast Falcons at Gympie.
Photo by Alan Drinnen
HOSTPLUS CUP PREMIERSHIP: NORTHS DEVILS 20 (Declan Haydon, Tony Tumusa, Blayden Dodd tries, Jack Miers 3 goals, penalty goal) d NORTHERN PRIDE 14 (Ronald Philitoga, Jack Boyling, Seamus King-Smith tries, Zac Herdegen 1 goal) at Premiers’ Park, Brisbane.
BMD PREMIERSHIP: NORTHS DEVILS 28 (Roimata Amosa-Tiro, Tayla Sykes, Tianah Teo, Ema Masi, Jessica Nugent tries, Natalie Wright 4 goals) d NORTHERN PRIDE 18 (Autumn-Rain Stephens Daly 2, Megan Trezise, Shaniah Power tries, Nadia Windleborn goal) at Premiers’ Park.
