Sport
26 March, 2025
Gulf premiers preparing to defend title
Normanton will take on a combined Mount Isa side at John Henry Oval this Saturday.
The Normanton Stingers will play host to a combined Mount Isa side this Saturday as rugby league in the region officially kicks off.
Stingers coach Rob Murray said the exhibition match at John Henry Oval would be a great way for his reigning premiers to dust off the cobwebs for the 2025 Gulf Cluster.
“The boys have been training pretty hard since January but it’s always good to have a game and put them to the test,” he said.
“The Gulf Cluster doesn’t start until the end of May but we want to be sharp and have a couple of hitouts before the season.”
The Mount Isa side will feature players from all three teams and will be headed by Wanderers star Lance Cope.
“We think they’ll be hard to beat and should provide strong competition,” Murray said.
The Stingers will be led by the likes of fullback Clay George and halves Kelean Logan and Jarvis George.
Big men Trayquin Douglas and Myron Toby will be asked to do a lot of the grunt work in the middle.
The Mount Isa side will look to the likes of Reagan Thatcher, Tevita Masima and Kaitu Ioane.
“There’s a bit of excitement about this year’s Gulf Cluster with talk of two new teams joining the competition,” Murray said.
There are rumours that a second team from Doomadgee will join the ranks, along with Kowanyama.
Murray said he had also heard Cloncurry was showing interest in sending teams to the Gulf.
“Cluster footy is the only way we can do it here,” he said.
“We get good crowds wherever we play though and the atmosphere is awesome.”
Saturday’s match starts at 6pm.