IF there had been a pre-season book run on the likely Cairns District Rugby League  
wooden-spooners in 2010, Mareeba would have been among the hot favourites.

The Gladiators were decimated by an off-season exodus and were still without a coach little more than a week from the start of fixtures.

But a commitment to rebuild has seen the Tableland club surprise many as it surged through the second round to become a genuine finals contender.

Strong results from the top five and a couple of late losses put paid to the Gladiators’ chances this season, but captain-coach Dave Edwards is already excited at the prospects ahead.

Edwards, who has already re-signed with Mareeba for next season, was a satisfied man after the Gladiators’ final game of the season on Sunday, a 38-24 loss to Kangaroos in which the minor premiers were made to fight hard for victory.

"I was very glad with the effort from the boys, they aimed up.

"The past few weeks have been tough at training because blokes start to drop off but I’ve been impressed with the effort of the boys for the past three weeks," Edwards said of the effort from his players since finals became a mathematical impossibility.

"They’ve been probably the best games we’ve played all year and we’ve been short on numbers, so I’m really happy with the boys.

"Things are looking good for next year."

While they signed hooker Edwards as captain-coach, the Gladiators have had a focus on developing local talent and taking pride in representing their region.

That is likely to remain the case next season after the performance of several youngsters in their maiden senior campaigns.

"We’ve got three or four 18-year-olds that I’ve blooded this year that are all coming up to play," Edwards said.

"We’ve signed most of the side that was on the field (in the final game of the season).

"We just need to find another couple of players to fill some positions and things are looking really good.

"We had our sponsors night on Friday night and the general consensus was they’re all happy to sponsor again because it’s a local team and they want to see the local boys do well."

Having turned their form around so comprehensively in the second-half of the
season, there will be some sombre reflection for
Mareeba.

"There were probably two or three games we should have won and we’d be in the semis if we had’ve won those," Edwards said.

"You can’t dwell too much on those ‘what ifs’."

But continuity will help Mareeba’s case next year.

"Just to keep the nucleus of our team, if we have a couple of months’ break and then get back into it, it’s going to be easier."

Share this article