Townsville name squad for first trial against Pride

The Townsville and Districts Mendi Blackhawks have named their side for the first trial match of 2021.

The squad will host Northern Pride this Saturday, February 27, with the trial game to be played at Jack Manski Oval.

The squad features a mix of established names and young up-and-comers who will be looking forward to playing some football following the cancellation of the 2020 Intrust Super Cup season after only one round.

Centre Daejarn Asi, who last weekend played in the Maori side in the NRL All Stars match has been named in the squad alongside experienced backs Kalifa Faifai-Loa and Carlin Anderson, while the forwards will be led by Sione Lousi and hooker Josh Chudleigh.

North Queensland Cowboys young gun Griffin Neame has been named to start at in the front row, with the Junior Kiwi representative having starred in the Auswide Bank Mal Meninga Cup and Hastings Deering Colts for the club in 2019.

The Intrust Super Cup game will kick off at 6pm with the club's Hasting Deering Colts facing off at 4pm.

The Townsville Blackhawks will play their first round match in the Intrust Super Cup on Saturday, March 20 at Norths Ipswich Reserve.