Sport
14 October, 2024
Familiar faces to co-coach
A FRESH start is on the horizon for the Gladiators as they recently signed two co-coaches for the A grade side, taking seriously their efforts to be in finals contention for the 2025 season, as well as looking to knuckle-down in their recruitment process to support the current playing group.
The signing of Tom Hughes and Trent Barnard as 2025 co-coaches marks a new beginning for the club, having finished 9th on the ladder in the 2024 season, and is also the first time the club has had co-coaches heading the A grade side.
“To my knowledge this will be the first time the club will have co-coaches.
“They’re great mates and have a similar philosophy on the stamp they want to put on the club.
“They’re driven to get the Gladiators back into the finals and that’s something we should be excited about,” club president Shaun Fincham said.
The recent signing also bids farewell to former coach Chris Sheppard, who in his three years at the club, “put a lot of time and effort into development”, according to Fincham.
Hughes is a Mareeba local and former A grader himself, as well as Barnard who was captain-coach of the side only a few years back.
“I’ve been a local at the club for a long time and played in the A grade side for 12 years.
“I’ve played a lot of footy, had a lot of different coaches and different experiences which I can use to lean on.
“I’ve been around the club for a long time, and I want to give back,” Hughes said.
Barnard is originally from Cairns but moved to the Mareeba area several years ago.
“I started out at Ivanhoe’s down in Cairns, ended up winning a gold medal with them and a grand final as well.
“Then I came up here, did all the (Northern) Pride stuff as well, I went away to Newcastle for a little bit and came back to captain-coach for a couple years.
“But now I’ve built a house and been up here for about four or five years now,” Barnard said.
The pair are committed to reengaging the team to a culture built on brotherhood and a dedication to making their community proud.
“I think we grew up playing footy with a lot of culture and that comes from the top down, with us as coaches and even from the committee and the president.
“And also, it’s about getting a good bunch of boys together, trying their best to make the community proud. I know that worked really well when I first started here.
“That’s why we’re co-coaching, we don’t want to be the boss of everyone, we want to make sure we’re very transparent with the team.
“But also have a hard line with fitness and defence as well as just bringing that culture back to the club.
“We want everyone to stick together and build a team based on brotherhood because that’s how you win games and that’s how you win comps,” Hughes said.
Fincham is looking forward to the 2025 season, eagerly awaiting what these two will do for the playing group.
“We approached them, it was clear from the outset that they had been waiting for an opportunity to coach and were a good fit for what we were looking for.
“They collectively bring experience and energy, they both know what makes our club tick, through their involvement over the years.
“Both Trent and Tom have hit the ground running, they’re very motivated,” Fincham said.
In other news, Fincham said that the club will soon announce a sign-on day, “which will likely start mid-November, and pre-season training will start after that event”.
