Sport
27 March, 2026
Winter sport prepares for busy season
IT’S been an enormous fortnight of sport around the Douglas Shire with some teams beginning their seasons, while others have been put on hold due to the recent weather events, and some are ramping up their final preparations as their season start date creeps closer and closer.
But one thing all clubs have in common is that they’re all aiming to have a great 2026 campaign.
In NRL, the Mossman Sharks were the first team to begin their season, with their A-grade men’s, reserves and women’s team hitting the road in rivals’ round to take on the Yarrabah Seahawks.
Unfortunately, for the Sharks their season didn’t start the way they had planned with all three teams going down in the season opener.
The A-grade men’s squad lost 32-20, the reserves side went down 24-16, while the women’s side lost 44-6.
All three teams will now lick their wounds for their next match-up, where the men take on Tully Tigers and the women face the Innisfail Leprechauns.
In soccer, the Douglas Dragons premiership defence has been postponed by another week, with all scheduled round one games being washed out and postponed for another date.
While inconvenient, the Dragons are remaining optimistic and taking it in their stride looking at it as another week of training and preparation for the next matchup against Mareeba Bulls on the road.
In preseason preparation, the Crocs and Raiders have been ramping up their preseason trainings and programs with their seasons very quickly approaching.
The Crocs season begins on Friday 3 April (Good Friday), when they host defending premiers North Cairns Tigers, while the Raiders have a bit more preparation as their season won’t begin until Saturday 18 April, when they take on the Cairns Wanderers.
