DIEHARD
18-02-10, 12:37 AM
Ridge secures a spot
Simply getting the chance to run out against a beefed-up South Sydney outfit at Coffs Habour on Saturday night will be a triumph of sorts for Gold Coast rookie Ben Ridge.
Ridge, the son of former Toowoomba Clydesdales forward Les Ridge, was in line to play NRL football in 2009 before a horrific leg injury in under-20s against the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium in Round 10 ended his season.
He made his comeback against a mainly under-20s Broncos side at Ipswich last Friday and yesterday learnt he had been selected for a full-scale NRL hit-out against the Rabbitohs.
"Benny us a natural leader, a very tough kid and a strong hitter in defence," coach John Cartwright said.
"He may have had a crack last year except for injury,"
"We're not expecting too much of him because it was an horrific break. It was probably up there with (prop) Michael Henderson's and it has taken Hendo two years to get over it."
Ridge feels the same way.
"It was hard to take knowing I could have made my NRL debut last year," he said.
"Honestly, I just want to get out there and play good footy and get as many minutes as I can."
Ridge grew up on a cattle property near Roma where a neighbour was former hard-hitting South Sydney forward Charlie Frith, who was know as "The Hitman".
"My dad played footy with and against Charlie," Ridge said.
"Dad also played against Wally Lewis, but had to give footy away because of the farm,"
"I boarded at St Brendan's at Yeppoon in Year 11 and 12 and it was the best thing I ever did. I played for Australian Schoolboys and got a Titans contract."
Giant Souths forward David Taylor is another St Brendan's graduate and has been named in the Rabbitohs squad for the Coffs Habour trial.
Cartwright said he hoped to play Scott Prince and new signing Greg Bird in the halves so they could finetune their combination before the round 1 home match against the New Zealand Warriors at Skilled Park on March 14.
But Prince (hamstring), Bird (back)and fullback Preston Campbell (ankle) are carrying injuries from Saturday's All-Stars game at Skilled Park.
"They're all jarring injuries and I think it was due to the ground being more ready for soccer than footy," Cartwright said.
"I don't want to go into round one without Scott and Greg having a run. We want to give them a chance of getting some sort of combination going.
Source: http://www.thecouriermail.com.au
Simply getting the chance to run out against a beefed-up South Sydney outfit at Coffs Habour on Saturday night will be a triumph of sorts for Gold Coast rookie Ben Ridge.
Ridge, the son of former Toowoomba Clydesdales forward Les Ridge, was in line to play NRL football in 2009 before a horrific leg injury in under-20s against the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium in Round 10 ended his season.
He made his comeback against a mainly under-20s Broncos side at Ipswich last Friday and yesterday learnt he had been selected for a full-scale NRL hit-out against the Rabbitohs.
"Benny us a natural leader, a very tough kid and a strong hitter in defence," coach John Cartwright said.
"He may have had a crack last year except for injury,"
"We're not expecting too much of him because it was an horrific break. It was probably up there with (prop) Michael Henderson's and it has taken Hendo two years to get over it."
Ridge feels the same way.
"It was hard to take knowing I could have made my NRL debut last year," he said.
"Honestly, I just want to get out there and play good footy and get as many minutes as I can."
Ridge grew up on a cattle property near Roma where a neighbour was former hard-hitting South Sydney forward Charlie Frith, who was know as "The Hitman".
"My dad played footy with and against Charlie," Ridge said.
"Dad also played against Wally Lewis, but had to give footy away because of the farm,"
"I boarded at St Brendan's at Yeppoon in Year 11 and 12 and it was the best thing I ever did. I played for Australian Schoolboys and got a Titans contract."
Giant Souths forward David Taylor is another St Brendan's graduate and has been named in the Rabbitohs squad for the Coffs Habour trial.
Cartwright said he hoped to play Scott Prince and new signing Greg Bird in the halves so they could finetune their combination before the round 1 home match against the New Zealand Warriors at Skilled Park on March 14.
But Prince (hamstring), Bird (back)and fullback Preston Campbell (ankle) are carrying injuries from Saturday's All-Stars game at Skilled Park.
"They're all jarring injuries and I think it was due to the ground being more ready for soccer than footy," Cartwright said.
"I don't want to go into round one without Scott and Greg having a run. We want to give them a chance of getting some sort of combination going.
Source: http://www.thecouriermail.com.au