The SP Hunters coach has high hopes for the 2019 team.
For the first time, the coaching staff has decided to retain 31 players for the Intrust Super Cup competition.
They started off with 60 members in the train-on squad last year.
The team was eventually trimmed down to 32 players, who resumed pre-season training on January 7th.
Despite the initial announcement of further cutting down to a final squad of 25 or 26, coach Michael Marum opted instead to retain 31 players, which is by far the largest number since the club’s inception in 2014.
“A lot of these boys are willing to work really hard at training and do the right thing,” said Marum.
“We don’t want to look too far ahead, talking about how good we are this year and how the 2017 team was but there’s a lot of talent in there.
“They all deserve to be in the side. If we decide to let go anyone, we’ll probably make that call but there’s a couple of boys that are also studying so we’ll have to make a call on those guys to make sure they do not miss out in their education.
“We are excited about the full squad and we’re really looking forward to the kick-off.”
Meantime, the 14 team Intrust Super Cup 2019 competition kicks off on the weekend of March 9th with the SP Hunters playing Tweed Heads Seagulls away in Piggabeen Sports Complex in Brisbane.
The first SP Hunters home game at NFS is on the following Sunday, March 17th, against Northern Pride.
The team will play 12 games of the 23 rounds at Home.