Classy debuts in Roos’ victory
Kangaroos debutants Latrell Heard and Gabriel Wood produced two of the “best Agrade debuts in some time” in the club’s 32-4 win against Mareeba Gladiators.
The duo were handed their first crack in the Mooroobool club’s A-grade side, with coach Jared Allen heaping praise on both men.
Heard could lay claim to being among the fastest men in the FNQRL, which he showcased with some blistering pace as he put his side in position to score points – and on two different occasions, he busted the line open but points went begging after a poor pass or kick.
Wood was defensively strong and a danger with the ball in hand, and a try capped an impressive debut.
“They’re two of the best A-grade debuts I’ve seen for the club in a long time,” Allen said.
“(Latrell) is a Ferrari, he’s exciting. We know if we can give him some ball in space, he’ll do some damage.
“He’s been training hard all pre-season and he finally gets a crack – he’s only 19.
“Gabe came off the bench, he’s only 18 but debuted and scored a try.
“He was awesome. He’s one of those players who can easily go to the next level.
“Teams from down south should be looking to sign him. He’s 18 but he’s already doing well in men’s footy.
“His defence is great, attack is good, plays good eyes-up footy – he’ll be exciting to watch into the future.
“We’ve got a few injuries at the moment so they came in for that, but the way they’re playing, they’ll get more A-grade games for sure. We’ll see how it pans out next week.”
Allen, while happy with the outcome built on a strong defensive effort, said his side should have scored more against the young Mareeba Gladiators squad.
“We let in a try in the first few minutes but from there the defence kept them to zero, I was very happy with that,” Allen said.
“We were probably in control the full game, I think we left a lot of points out there – we should’ve put 50 points on a team like that – but there were a few opportunities we didn’t take.”
For the Gladiators, who scored first through Richard Shave, it was an educational experience for a squad in which 15 players were aged 22 or under.
Young guns like Cain Hastie, Hubert Elu and Gabriel Tunimakubu showed they could mix it with the best, but coach Chris Sheppard conceded they still had plenty to learn in the game.
“First half we were really good,” Sheppard said.
“They’re one of the benchmarks of the comp but not only did we stick with them, I thought we dominated them in different periods.
“Second half, we killed ourselves. They played good footy and it is what it is.”
Mareeba players and staff were left bewildered when Robert Clarke was awarded Kangaroos’ first try.
The starting hooker was tackled on the line and got up celebrating a try while the Mareeba faithful were adamant he was short.
It was awarded, kicking off 32 unanswered points.
Tempers flared on several occasions, with Mareeba’s Cain Hastie and Eddie Daniel (Kangaroos) both sent to the sin bin in the second half.