Northern Pride RLFC

History

The Northern Pride was one of two expansion teams for the 2008 season of the QRL Wizard Queensland Cup, along with the Mackay Cutters, against whom they played their debut game.

Cairns was represented in the QRL State Competition from 1996 to 2000 by the Cairns Cyclones, but a lack of support resulted in their withdrawal.

Further representation in the competition was suggested in 2006 by a Cairns-based consortium of John O'Brien (owner of Pacific Toyota, Cairns), Denis Keeffe (chairman of Events Cairns and former CEO of the North Queensland Cowboys), Nigel Tillet (president of the CDRL) and John Moore (QRL Northern Division chairman), this time with the support of Peter Parr, CEO of the North Queensland Cowboys, and 9 of the 11 local CDRL clubs. Starter capital for the bid was provided by 40 local business people.

The team name and logo were unveiled in July 2007 at a 'Legends of Origin' lunch held at The Reef Hotel Casino. The Northern Pride bid was submitted to the QRL on 25 August 2007, and approved on 14 September 2007.

Northern Pride is a development club built around the phrase 'Born and Bred.' It was formed to create a regionally based talent development pathway for players, coaches and administrators. Prior to the creation of the club, talented Far North Queensland rugby league players were invariably forced to move away from the region to go to schools and/or join southern based state league and national league clubs. The Pride is a feeder club to the North Queensland Cowboys.

Competitions

The Northern Pride first grade side competes in the QRL State competition, the Queensland Cup, which for sponsorship reasons is called the Hostplus Cup (2023-), formerly the Intrust Super Cup (2010–2022) and the Wizard Queensland Cup (2008–2009).

The club also fields academy teams in the Auswide Bank Mal Meninga Cup U18 (2009–), and Cyril Connell Challenge U16 (2021–), and women's teams in the Harvey Norman U19 (2020–), Harvey Norman U17 (2024–), and from 2025 the BMD Premiership.

The club played in the former Hastings Deering Colts U20 Competition (2018–2020), Hastings Deering Colts U21 Competition (2021–2023), QRL Junior State Championships (2017–2020), and Cyril Connell Cup U16 (2009–2016).

Staff

Coach

The original coach was Adrian Lam, who arrived in Cairns in August 2007 during the bid process, but was released a month later to take up a coaching position at the Sydney Roosters. He was replaced by former NRL Canberra Raiders player Andrew Dunemann, with former North Queensland Cowboys player David Maiden, and Foley Shield coach Troy Cummings as Assistant Coaches. In their first year in the competition, the Pride finished in third place, and the following year they reached the Grand Final.

Dunemann resigned at the end of 2009 and Maiden was promoted to Head Coach with former Canberra Raiders and PNG international David Westley as Assistant Coach. In Maiden's first year, the Pride won the grand finals. Maido left at the end of 2012 season and was replaced by former Super League player Jason Demetriou as head coach with Ben Rauter as Assistant Coach.

Demetriou coached the Pride to a minor premiership in his first season, winning 17 of their 22 games and being awarded the 'Men of League Coach of the Year' award. In his second season he secured the minor premiership again, winning 20 games in 24 rounds, before taking out the premiership and the inaugural NRL State Championship. Demetriou resigned at the end of the 2014 season to further his career as a coach in the NRL. He was replaced by assistant coach Joe O'Callaghan, who coached the team during the 2015 and 2016 seasons with assistant coaches Shane O'Flanagan and Leon Hallie, and trainer Darren Ferricks.

Former North Queensland Cowboys and Queensland Origin winger Ty Williams was appointed coach in 2017, with assistant coaches Sam Obst and Shane O'Flanagan. Williams was named QRL 'Coach of the Year' for the 2018 season, and he signed several contract extensions which saw him coach until the end of the 2023 season.

Eric Smith was appointed coach for the 2024 season, with former Pride players Sam Obst and Will Bugden as assistant coaches. Smith coached the side to the minor-premiership, before resigning to coach at the Redcliffe Dolphins. He was replaced for the 2025 season by Russ Aitken. After a poor 2025 season, Aitken was removed as coach with former Canberra Raiders player Sam Williams announced to take over as coach for the 2026-27 seasons. Cameron 'Spiller' Miller was Assistant Coach and Ian Blake was Head of Performance.

Captain

The foundation captain of the Northern Pride was former North Queensland Cowboys and St. George Illawarra Dragons player Chris Sheppard. He was the first player signed to the team in July 2007, and was captain and operations manager for the first three seasons. Sheppard retired after leading the Pride to the 2010 Queensland Cup premiership.

Former North Queensland Cowboys player Ty Williams was captain for the next three seasons (2011–2013), before retiring to captain-coach the CDRL Innisfail Leprechauns. In 2014 Brett Anderson and Jason Roos were named as joint co-captains.

Ryan Ghietti was named as captain in 2016, with Jack Svendsen as vice-captain. Ghietti retired at the end of the 2018 season and Tom Hancock and Dave Murphy were named as joint co-captains for the 2019 season. Javid Bowen was named captain for the 2020 Season, but only one round was played before the season was cancelled due to COVID-19.

When matches restarted in 2021, Bowen re-signed with the Cowboys and Chris Ostwald and Jayden Hodges were named co-captains. Hodges left at the end of the 2022 season, and Ostwald was named captain for the 2023 season, with Ewan Moore as vice-captain. Newly signed hooker, Kyle Schneider was appointed captain for the 2024 season, with Ewan Moore and Evan Child as joint vice-captains.

For the 2025 season, prop Nick Lui-Toso was appointed captain, with Kenneth Fonoti and Campbell Duffy also serving as captains during the season.

Prop Kenneth Fonoti was appointed captain for the 2026 season under new head coach Sam Williams.

When the team captain has been unavailable due to injury or representative duties, they have been replaced by other team members, including Chey Bird, Ben Laity and Mark Cantoni. Other players have been named as captain for pre-season trials, including Warren Jensen, Ryan Stig, Sheldon Powe-Hobbs, Jordan Biondi-Odo and Tom Hancock.

CEO

The foundation Chief Executive Officer was Dennis Keeffe (former CEO of the North Queensland Cowboys), who held the position from 2007 to 2009. He was replaced in 2010 by QRL Northern Division chairman John Moore. From 2011 to 2013 former team captain Chris Sheppard was chief executive officer. In 2013–2014 Northern Pride business development manager, Brock Schaefer was CEO. Schaefer resigned at the end of the 2014 season to take up a role at South Sydney Rabbitohs, and was replaced by former Pride player Rod Jensen for the 2015 and 2016 seasons. Greg Dowling was CEO for the 2017 season, but resigned half-way through the 2018 season. He was replaced by Mark Quinn, who resigned at the end of the 2020 season. Paul Callaghan was CEO for the 2021 season, with Garreth Smith taking up the role in 2022.

Chairman and Board of Directors

The founding Northern Pride chairman was John O'Brien. He was replaced at the end of 2008 by Bob Fowler, who retired in December 2015. Terry Mackenroth acted as interim chairman until June 2016, when Cairns real-estate agent and club director, Tony Williamson, was appointed chairman. Williamson resigned at the end of the 2020 season, with Nigel Tillett acting as interim chairman until Terry Medhurst was appointed chairman at the start of the 2024 season.

The Northern Pride Board of Directors for the 2026 season is Kym McPhee-Smith (chair), Joel Riethmuller (player representative), Dean Payne (North Queensland Cowboys representative), Mark Whitnall, Stephen Devenish, Andrew Leith, Alannah Giuffrida and Brett Maloney-Carter.

There have been six life members. The first three life memberships were awarded at a Round 22 pre-game luncheon at Barlow Park, 7 August 2016. John O'Brien and John Moore were founding board members of the Northern Pride and its predecessor the Cairns Cyclones, and Bob Fowler was Chairman of the Pride from 2009-2016. Nigel Tillett served as chairman at the Northern Pride for three years. Christine and Richard Muirhead were inducted as Life Members of the Northern Pride rugby league club at the club's presentation night in September 2025 as the club's ultimate super-fans.

Venues

Barlow Park

The Pride's home ground is Barlow Park, corner Scott & Severin St, Parramatta Park, in Cairns.

Barlow Park was opened in 1987 with a playing field 114 metres long (100 metres of field plus two 7-metre in-goal areas) by 68 metres wide. The 1987 grandstand was extended in 2003, giving a capacity of 15,000, which includes 1,700 seats (mostly undercover) in a stand on the northern side of the park. The facility was floodlit for night games with four towers providing 620 lux. The car park accommodated approximately 300 vehicles.

In 2012–2013 the Pride played 13 consecutive home games at Barlow Park without loss. In 2014 Barlow Park was renamed 'The Jungle' and the Pride won all 12 matches they played there.

Barlow Park is scheduled for a multi-million dollar redevelopment led by Architectus, HKS, and Indij Design to prepare for the 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic football preliminaries. Permanent seating capacity will increase from 1,700 to 5,000 (reaching up to 20,000 during the Games with temporary seating). In 2024 a $10.9 million project installed four LED towers which increased the lighting capacity to broadcast standard of 1800 lux, and also installed a large video screen for scoring and replays. Further upgrades are proposed to enable the venue to be used for preliminary soccer matches in the lead up to the 2032 Olympic games, with the 1987 grandstand due to be demolished at the end of 2026.

During the 2026-2028 Barlow Park redevelopment, the Pride will play their home games at the redeveloped FNQRL Cairns Brothers Stadium at Stan Williams Park, Manunda.

When Barlow Park was unavailable due to renovations, maintenance and conflicts with other events, the Pride played at nearby venues. They played three home games at CDRL Kangaroos' Vico Oval (two in 2010 and one in 2019), one home game at CDJRL Jones Park in 2018, and two home games at CDRL Brothers Cairns Stan Williams Park in 2018.

Inclement weather resulted in a change of venue in Round 7 2014, when the Pride home game against Easts Tigers was postponed by Cyclone Ita and later played at Davies Park, Mareeba, and Round 1 2018, when heavy rain closed Barlow Park, so the Pride's home game against Wynnum Manly Seagulls was played at Langlands Park, Brisbane.

Seasons

2008 – Inaugural Season – Preliminary Finalists

In their first year in the Queensland Cup the Northern Pride came third, losing the preliminary final in golden point extra-time to the Souths Logan Magpies, who went on to win the 2008 grand final.

The foundation coach was Andrew Dunemann, who had played first-grade in both the NRL and English Super League. The assistant coach was David Maiden, a rugby league international who had played in the NRL, English Super League, and Queensland Cup.

The foundation captain was Chris Sheppard, who had played for the North Queensland Cowboys and St. George Illawarra Dragons.

2009 – Runners Up

The Northern Pride followed up their impressive first season by finishing second and reaching the grand final. The Pride's first grand final appearance ended in a 32–18 loss to the Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles at Stockland Park. Coach Andrew Dunemann left at the end of the season to take up a position as assistant coach to Rick Stone at the Newcastle Knights.

2010 – Premiers

David Maiden took over as coach. Maiden played for the North Queensland Cowboys, Gateshead Thunder and Hull FC, as well as representing Scotland as an international in the 2000 Rugby League World Cup. The Northern Pride finished fourth and made the Grand Final, having won 11 matches in a row. They won their first premiership, beating Norths Devils 30–20 at Suncorp Stadium. Captain Chris Sheppard won the Duncan Hall Medal for his man-of-the-match performance, which was his last game before retirement.

2011 – Semi-finalists

The new captain was recently retired North Queensland Cowboys wing Ty Williams. Between Round 14 of the 2010 season and Round 5 of the 2011 season, the Northern Pride won 17 consecutive games, a Queensland Cup record. After a draw in Round 6 and a win in Round 7, the Pride were unbeaten after 19 matches. The Pride finished the 2011 season in second place, but were eliminated after losing the semi-final 26-20 to Tweed Heads Seagulls at Dolphin Oval, Redcliffe.

2012 season

In 2012, the club finished seventh to miss out on a finals appearance for the first time in their short history. At the end of the season, coach David Maiden resigned, while fullback Chey Bird, who scored 572 points in 94 appearances for the Pride, retired along with former North Queensland Cowboys star Rod Jensen, who scored 36 tries in 69 games for the club, second on the Pride's all-time try scorer list.

2013 – Minor Premiers

Former Super League player Jason Demetriou replaced David Maiden as coach, and Brock Schaefer replaced Chris Sheppard as CEO. The Pride finished first and won their first minor premiership. Head Coach Jason Demetriou was awarded the Men of League Coach of the Year. The Pride lost the major semi-final and the preliminary final, and missed out on a Grand Final appearance. At the end of the season Captain Ty Williams retired.

2014 – Minor Premiers, Premiers and NRL State Champions

Coach Jason Demetriou named Brett Anderson and Jason Roos as joint co-captains. Barlow Park was renamed 'The Jungle' and the Pride introduced a new mascot, Barlow the lion. The Pride won 20 of their 24 games (including all 11 home games at Barlow Park) and they took out the minor premiership for the second year in a row. The Pride won the grand final 36–4 against Easts Tigers and won the inaugural NRL State Championship against the New South Wales Cup premiers, Penrith Panthers. At the end of the season four of the Pride's players were offered NRL contracts and Demetriou left to take up the role of assistant coach at the North Queensland Cowboys.

2015 – Elimination Finals

The Northern Pride defended their premiership under new coach Joe O'Callaghan. This was the inaugural season of the Townsville Blackhawks in the Queensland Cup, who became the third feeder club of the North Queensland Cowboys. The Pride were eliminated 54–26 in the first week of the finals by the Ipswich Jets, who would go on to win the Queensland Cup. The Pride got off to a poor start, losing the first four rounds, but then began to string some wins together, climbing into the top eight by Round 9. They won 14 games this season, and finished in sixth place, but were eliminated in the first week of the finals, losing 26–54 to the Ipswich Jets, who would go on to win the Grand Final against the new Townsville side.

2016 season

The Pride lost a wealth of talent to retirement at the end of last season. In 2016 they fielded the youngest team so far, with an average age of 21. While the Pride had some memorable wins, they lost more home games than they won and finished eighth, missing out on the finals series for just the second time. At the end of the season coach Joe O'Callaghan resigned.

2017 season

Ty Williams succeeded Joe O'Callaghan as coach. The Pride struggled this year, winning only six games, and losing seventeen, including eight losses in a row from Round 11 to Round 19. The Pride, who previously had an unenviable record of wins at home, managed only two victories at Barlow Park. They finished in twelfth place, their worst season to date.

2018 – Elimination Finals

In their second year under coach Ty Williams the Pride won 13 games, an improvement on last year. They finished fourth and qualified for the finals, the first time since 2015. However they were eliminated in the first week of the finals by Easts Tigers. This game was played at Stan Williams Park, the home of Cairns Brothers, as Barlow Park was unavailable.

2019 season

The Pride's 2019 season was disappointing. While they started the season well, winning their first two games against tough opponents, they went on to lose the next 10 straight, a club record, and finished in twelfth place with just five wins from 23 games. They managed to finish the season in a competitive fashion, pulling off a thrilling comeback to defeat Easts Tigers 18-16 in their last home game, before narrowly falling to Tweed Seagulls 12-10 in the final round.

2020 season

The season was cancelled after one round due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Pride played three pre-season trials, two of which attracted large crowds - the trial against the Blackhawks was a curtain-raiser to the Cowboys v Broncos pre-season trial, and the trial against the Hunters attracted a large ex-pat following. The only match in the regular season was an away game where the Pride lost to Tweed Heads Seagulls. In August and September a special four-team 'Lightning Challenge' competition was held to give the players and fans some rugby league in what was otherwise a very quiet year.

2021 season

The 2021 Intrust Super Cup was played over 19 rounds. The Northern Pride finished ninth and missed out playing in the finals.

2022 – Elimination Finals

The 2022 Hostplus Cup saw fourteen teams playing 20 rounds. The Northern Pride finished 8th and were knocked out of the finals series in week one, losing 30-22 to the Central Queensland Capras.

2023 – Elimination Finals

The 2023 Hostplus Cup was played over 22 rounds. The Northern Pride finished in seventh place, but were knocked out of the finals series in week one, losing 15-14 to Wynnum Manly Seagulls. Coach Ty Williams retired at the end of the season.

2024 – Minor Premiers

Eric Smith was appointed as coach. New signings included Lachlan West, Nat McGavin and Bacho Salam from the Brisbane Tigers, Dane Aukafolau (Newcastle Knights), Jensen Taumoepeau (Newtown Jets), Kyle Schneider (Mackay Cutters), Josh Allen (Canberra Raiders) and Ashton Galea (Innisfail Brothers).

The Pride finished on top of the table as Minor Premiers, winning 17 of their 20 matches, including all of their home games, scoring 660 points and conceding 308 for a points differential of +352. They went undefeated from Round 9 onwards and finished the regular season with 10 wins from 10 matches at Barlow Park. In the finals series, the Pride defeated the Sunshine Coast Falcons 38–0 in the qualifying final, but lost their home Preliminary Final 16–17 (after golden point extra time) to the Redcliffe Dolphins. Thomas Duffy was the team's top point-scorer with 142 points (3 tries, 65 goals), while Dane Aukafolau and Jensen Taumoepeau were joint top try-scorers with 10 tries each. Coach Smith resigned at the end of the season to coach the Redcliffe Dolphins.

2025 season

Russ Aitken was appointed as coach, replacing Eric Smith who departed for the Redcliffe Dolphins. Prop Nick Lui-Toso was appointed captain, with Kyle Schneider following Smith to Redcliffe. The Pride had a disappointing season, finishing 14th on the ladder with only 5 wins from 20 matches, winning 368 points and conceding 405. Dane Aukafolau was the top try-scorer with 11 tries, while Thomas Duffy remained the top point-scorer with 56 points. Aitken stepped away from his role as Head Coach at the end of the season.

2026 season

The 2026 Hostplus Cup is the 31st season of Queensland's top-level statewide rugby league competition run by the Queensland Rugby League. Fifteen teams play over 23 rounds between March and August, with the finals series played in September. Former Canberra Raiders halfback Sam Williams was announced as the new head coach for the 2026–27 seasons, replacing Russ Aitken. Williams had previously coached the Queanbeyan Roos to 3 Minor Premierships and 2 Premierships. Prop Kenneth Fonoti was appointed captain for the 2026 season.

The Pride launched their 2026 campaign in February with a trial match against the PNG Hunters at Stan Williams Park.

As of August 2026, the Pride are tenth on the Hostplus Cup ladder after recording mixed results. Top performers include Jack Boyling (leading tackler with 713 tackles), Zac Herdegen (leading point-scorer with 94 points), and Ronald Philitoga (leading try-scorer with 18 tries).

The Cowboys split their squad of NRL and development list players between their two feeder clubs, the Pride and Mackay Cutters, with players not required for that weekend's NRL fixture heading to their Queensland Cup team.

Cowboys allocated to the Pride in 2025

Braidon Burns – CE

Emarly Bitungane – PR

Harrison Edwards – LK, SR

Henry Teutau* – PR

Jack Gosiewski – SR

Jake Clifford – FE

Jodeci Baker-Tiraha – CE

Kaiden Lahrs – PR

Mason Kira* – SR

Robert Derby* – WG

Team of the Decade, 2008–2017

In 2017, to mark the ten-year anniversary of the Northern Pride, a 'Team of the Decade' was selected. Eligible players had to have played 30 matches for the Pride. The selection panel was Brett Allen, Rhys O'Neill, Pat Bailey, Greg Dowling, Rob White and Bob Fowler. The Team was announced at a Gala Anniversary Dinner on 30 June 2017.

Club records

Most appearances: Jason Roos, 163 (2008–2015).

Most points scored for the club: Chey Bird, 574 points (23 tries, 226 goals).

Most points scored in a season: Chey Bird, 216 points (5 tries, 97 goals) 2011 season; Khan Ahwang 206 points in 23 games in the 2016 season (13 tries, 76 goals).

Most points in a game: Tom Humble 34 points (4 tries, 9 goals) against Redcliffe in Round 18, 2009.

Most tries scored for the club: Brett Anderson, 61 tries.

Most tries scored in a season: Linc Port, 26 tries in 25 games in the 2015 season.

Most tries in a game: 4 tries each by Brett Anderson (2008 v Mackay and again in 2011 v Easts); Tom Humble (2009 v Redcliffe); Linc Port (2015 v Capras).

Most goals for the club: Chey Bird, 226 goals.

Most goals in a season: Chey Bird, 97 goals, 2011 season.

Most field-goals: Chris Sheppard, 3 field-goals.

Jerseys

Special playing strips

2010: NAIDOC Week black jersey designed by Kevin Edmondston (Aboriginal) and Joey Laifoo (Torres Strait Islander) and worn in Round 16, Friday 9 July 2010 at Barlow Park for the game against the Ipswich Jets.

2011: NAIDOC Week green jersey worn in Round 15, Friday 8 July 2011 at Barlow Park for the game against the Burleigh Bears.

2011: Special Northern Peninsula Area (NPA) Indigenous jersey designed by Mario Assan for the Round 20 game played on Saturday 20 August 2011 at Yusia Ginau Oval, Bamaga, Queensland against Souths Logan Magpies. The design incorporates:

The five communities of the NPA Region: Injinoo, Umagico, Bamaga, New Mapoon and Seisia, the communities are represented on the five dots on the boomerang.

The five tribes the traditional owners of the NPA Anggamuthi, Atambaya, Wuthati, Yadhaykenu and Gudang. The tribes are depicted through the five rivers that stream from the bottom of the boomerang.

The main centrepiece of the design the Torres Strait Headress (Dhari) traditionally known as a Dhibal, is from Saibai Island, which makes up the majority of the TSI population in the NPA which migrated to the NPA throughout the 1940s. The Dhari as a significant importance in TSI culture, the initiation of young men into warriors, celebrated through dance and ceremonies.

The boomerang represents the Aboriginal peoples of the NPA, used in hunting and gathering and significant ceremonies.

2012: Pink socks and pink bootlaces for the Breast Cancer Foundation and Women in League Round, Round 15 played on Saturday 23 June 2012 at Barlow Park against Tweed Heads Seagulls.

2012: Orange jersey for the Round 17 game played on Saturday 14 July 2012 at Alec Inch Oval, Mt Isa against Souths Logan Magpies.

Sponsors

2008–2013: CRGT / Skill360

2014–2017: Sea Swift

2018–2019: Mount Peter (Kenfrost Homes) (The Pride started the 2018 season without a major sponsor)

2020– : Kenfrost Homes

Jersey sponsor: Sea Swift, Brothers Leagues Club, Queensland Country Credit Union.

Sleeve sponsor: NQ X-Ray (2008–2010), Skytrans (2011–2014), Rivers Insurance Brokers (2015), Rivers Insurance Brokers & LJ Hooker (2016)

Shorts sponsor: Brothers Leagues Club, Cairns Regional Council, Fuller Sports, Intrust Super, Cairns Hardware.

Playing strip manufacturer: EMU Sportswear

Other sponsors: XXXX; Gilligans Backpacker Hotel and Resort; Pacific Toyota; Cairns District Rugby League; Calanna Pharmacy; Tropic Wings; GATA Plastering; All Seasons Cairns Colonial Club; Cairns Plan Printing; Yalumba Winery.

Sea FM; Zinc 102.7; Triple M; WIN Television; Cairns Post.

Players

Venues

Between 2008 and 2023 the Pride played at 56 different venues across Queensland, New South Wales and Papua New Guinea.

Televised games

Between 2008 and 2011, one Queensland Cup match per round was televised free-to-air by ABC TV, with the game shown live across Queensland on ABC1 on Saturday afternoons at 2:00pm (AEST). The commentary team was Gerry Collins, Warren Boland and David Wright. The Pride had 20 matches televised by the ABC.

In 2012, the Nine Entertainment Network and Fox Sports acquired the broadcast rights. They continued to show one Q Cup game per round, live and free-to-air across Queensland on Channel 9 or GEM in south-east Queensland, on WIN Television (RTQ) in regional areas, and on Imparja Television in remote areas. From 2013 matches were also broadcast in Papua New Guinea on Kundu 2 TV.

The weekly televised match was played on Sunday afternoons at 2:00pm (AEST). In 2018, the match was rescheduled to 1:00pm (AEST) on Saturday afternoon, but this time slot was unpopular and ratings fell, and so in 2019 the televised match returned to a 2:00pm (AEST) Sunday time-slot. From 2021 Channel 9 only broadcast finals matches, with the weekly featured match shown on-demand on 9Now, and from 2022 on QPlus.TV and Kayo Free.

The Channel 9 commentary team included Andrew Voss, Ben Ikin, Nick Curry, Paul Green, Matthew Thompson, Scott Sattler, Adrian Vowles, Taylor Brown, Warren Boland, Drury Forbes, and Adam Jackson.

Between 2012 and 2018, the Pride had 29 matches televised by Channel 9, with eight of these matched being home games. The first game broadcast from Barlow Park, Cairns was Round 13, Sunday 10 June 2012 against the Pride's traditional rivals Mackay Cutters.

Live streaming

In 2011 the Pride began live-streaming their home games, starting with the last home game of the season (Round 22 against Tweed Heads). For the 2012 season, home games were live-streamed via the Pride website using video distribution service Rivus TV Ltd. Games were free for members to watch, and $5 per game for non-members. From Round 5 2012 away games were streamed through the website as well.

From 2013 to 2016, all matches (including pre-season trials but excluding matches broadcast live by Channel Nine) were streamed live through the Pride website, with access granted exclusively to Pride members. Video production was by Studio Productions and the commentary team was Adam Jackson and Northern Pride Under-18s coach, Cameron 'Spiller' Miller.

In 2022 Sydney based Cluch.tv gained exclusive rights for live-streaming all QRL games; Hostplus Cup, BMD Premiership, Auswide Bank Mal Meninga Cup, Cyril Connell Challenge, Harvey Norman U19, and Harvey Norman U17. The subscription service operated under the website name Qplus.TV, with Cluch selling a subscription to all games for $4.99 a week or $49.99 a season. In September 2023 Cluch Pty. Ltd. entered voluntary administration with the QRL owed $233,000.

QRL relaunched QPlus.TV at the start of the 2024 season with the same subscription deal. The match of the round is shown free on QPlus, 9Now and Kayo Free.