An influx of Northern Territory Football League stars will bolster Port Douglas when they run out for the first time at home against Souths Cutters today. The Crocs have picked up NTFL talents Brenton Bading, Victor Rhodes, Tim Karpany and Relton Roberts in a massive boost for the side that fell to Saints in last year’s AFL Cairns decider. All four were members of the Wanderers team that took out the NTFL grand final two weeks ago. Karpany and Roberts won’t play this weekend, but Bading and Rhodes, alongside South Australian newcomer Dale Penny and the promoted Max Petrack and Ben Herbert, will all be fresh faces for the Crocs. Coach Andy Viola was trying his best to hide his excitement this week and could not wait to see his new charges in full flight. Brenton Bading, in particular, caught the eye of may during the season in Darwin and his ability in the back pocket will only benefit the Crocs. “The way he runs the ball out of defence is something else. We’ve heard good things about all these guys, so now it’s time to produce,” Viola said. They face Souths Cutters – last year’s wooden spooners – who showed vast improvement under new coach Chris Adams despite a tight loss last weekend to Centrals Trinity. “We had blokes out at all the games and the feedback was that they definitely showed something,” Viola said of Souths.
Courtesy of The Cairns Post
Last Modified on 11/05/2011 12:02