Sport
8 June, 2026
Gladiators on the climb
THE Mareeba Gladiators are looking golden after extending their winning streak to five-in-a-row following a win in Tully at the weekend, while the Atherton Roosters were delivered their second loss of the season by the Ivanhoe Knights.
The Gladiators have been all gas, no brakes since Round 6 and have now finished Round 10 with their fifth win in a row after defeating the Tully Tigers 26-20. Meanwhile in Atherton, the Roosters were kept scoreless as the Knights put 32 points on the home side.
GLADIATORS vs TIGERS
THE Gladiators have managed another win on the road after a cold night at the Tully Showgrounds on Saturday.
It was hard-fought battle for Mareeba, with both sides scoring four tries apiece. Gladiators halfback Izaak Toby proved useful with the boot once again after he slotted 4/4 conversions as well as a penalty goal, which gave the Gladiators their six-point buffer to come away with the win.
Try scorers for the Gladiators included dummy halves Bailey Aldridge and Alphonse Bulkua, and a double for acting captain and lock, Ryan Flegler.
Captain-coach Trent Barnard said it was a cold and close one down in Tully, but he was more than happy to come away with the two competition points.
“It was absolutely freezing down there and then the game was delayed a bit, so it just got colder,” he said.
“It was a bit of an ugly win, but we’ll take the points. We were just coming up with errors at the wrong periods of the game and trying to score points all the time instead of being patient – that we’ve been doing well over the last month or so.
“But it was tough, Tully are a physical side with some big boys in the middle, and they kept coming at us. They got us in Mareeba not long ago, just in the last few minutes, so it was good to get one back over them in Tully.”
Barnard praised his side for managing to find wins through a difficult injury period.
“Obviously it feels great for me, but it’s the boys who I congratulate,” he said.
“They’ve worked pretty hard since the start of the year and we’ve lost a couple of close games against some Top 3-Top 4 sides before going through just a really bad injury crisis.
“But that sort of started that five-game winning streak, so obviously the belief’s there with the boys and the culture seems to be going in the right direction too.
“Our depth has been tested a fair bit, but it’s just a great reward for the boys – winning some footy games.”
The Under 19s did not fare as well, going down 52-14, while the Reserves celebrated a 24-16 win.
This Saturday the Gladiators will host the Mossman Sharks at Davies Park, Mareeba, with the Reserve Grade kicking off at 4.30pm, followed by A Grade at 6pm.
ROOSTERS vs KNIGHTS
THE Atherton Roosters were left stunned by the sixth-placed Ivanhoe Knights in Atherton at the weekend, with the visitors coming away with an emphatic 32-0 win.
The Knights put points on the board early, with front rower Scott Cobb crashing over in the fifth minute. The visitors then went on to score two more tries before halftime to take an 18-0 lead at the break.
The Roosters put up more of a defensive effort in the second half and managed to hold out the Knights until the 57 minute before they went over for their fourth try of the match.
Ivanhoes crossed the line again in the 69th and 79th minutes to finish with a 32-0 win over the second-placed Roosters.
The Roosters Women also took a loss, going down 22-14 to the Ivanhoe Maidens, while the Reserve Grade and Under 19s were more fortunate, finding 50-18 and 24-8 wins respectively.
This Saturday, the Roosters will travel to Cairns to take on the Kangaroos at Vico Oval. The Under 19s will get things underway from 1.30pm, followed by Reserve Grade at 3pm, the Women at 4.30pm, and A Grade at 6pm.
