Gladiators to fight on after slow start

As players return, Mareeba expects big improvement

They have started the year 0-4 but coach Chris Sheppard is adamant the club isn’t hitting the panic button.

Mareeba Gladiators have an average losing margin of 28.5 points per game over the first four rounds.

Sheppard said it was similar to how they started in 2023.

“We have a few players in the Mal Meninga Cup that would be playing A grade for us,” Sheppard said.

“We aren’t too worried as the start of last year we had one win from the first five games. “Once we get those players back, it will be helpful especially because we have had a bad run of injury as well.

“We lost two players with ACL injuries and another three players who are out for eight to 12 weeks.”

The Gladiators finished sixth last year after starting with a 1-4 record from the first five rounds of 2023.

They started off the year with a massive 56-26 win over Edmonton Storm in 2023.

This year, they struggled against Ivanhoe Knights in the 46-4 round 1 loss before the Atherton Roosters 32-12 loss in round 2.

“I wasn’t really happy with our efforts in the first two weeks,” Sheppard said.

“It wasn’t to the standard I know we can play at.

“But we have turned a page over the last two weeks which is getting back to the type of football we want to play.

“We aren’t quite there yet but we are getting better.”

Prop Caleb Dally and youngster Reece Boyle have been the two stand outs for the start of the season for the Gladiators.

Northern Pride is on the cusp of playing finals in the Mal Meninga Cup.

This scenario could mean the Gladiators are without their stars until late May if they make it through to the grand final.

“It would just depend how they would go with finals,” Sheppard said.

“The Pride boys are sitting eighth, equal sixth but also equal 10th.

“Just depending how they finish out their last two games and where they go and if they don’t make the finals, how far they go in that.

“It is a little bit unknown for us but we just need to get out and get the job done before that.”

Without their young guns who have come in and the injury toll ripping through the Gladiators, Sheppard said it has opened doors for other players to step up.

“It has created a good opportunity for young players or other players to get these games into them,” Sheppard said.

“We are big on the younger development and push for those games into the kids.

“But you need the level of leadership from older heads as well … we have a really good mix of older and younger players and will look to continue to develop the kids as well for the growth of the club.”

Mareeba return home for the next two games, taking on Yarrabah Sea Hawks on Sunday April 21 before hosting fellow winless team Southern Suburbs on Saturday April 27.