Sport
9 November, 2025
Cooper back for Crocs
AFTER the Port Douglas Crocs last two seasons ended in disappointing finishes, the club has made a monumental move bringing back six-times premiership-winning coach Brad Cooper as their 2026 senior men’s head coach.
It’s undeniable that the Crocs as a team bleed success, winning six premiership flags in the last decade with five of those being under Brad Cooper as coach.
The Crocs have still showed plenty of dominance over the last two seasons, making the postseason in both the 2024 and 2025 season, but unfortunately fell short of another AFL Cairns grand final appearance.
After senior coach Nick Salter stood down at 2025 season end, the Crocs wasted no time getting their man back and reappointing premiership player and coach Brad Cooper as the 2026 head coach.
The good news for the Crocs doesn’t end there, as they’ve also been able to re-sign an abundance of players for season 2026.
Key names like captains Ben and Caity McPhee have both put pen to paper for season 2026, likewise has legend Kye Chapple.
They have retained their young talent, with Luca Roulstone and Sophie Jeffery back to their senior women’s side, while the senior men’s team has the signatures of young guns Zayne Moore and Cayden Stabenow.
The Crocs as a whole are very eager to get underway for season 2026 as they are very optimistic about returning to the top of the AFL Cairns mountaintop.
While all the players are currently enjoying their offseason, they are still putting in plenty of work behind the scenes staying fit and sharp as they want to come out of the gates very sharp for 2026, and ultimately put the league back on notice as they look to fill their trophy cabinets up with even more silverware.
