Townsville Crocodiles head coach Trevor Gleeson has told the Townsville Bulletin’s Josh Alston that he is looking forward to the Queensland Cup opener on Wednesday night but warns it will be a tough test for his team.

The Crocs have drawn reigning champions Brisbane in their first game, and Gleeson knows all too well what sort of opposition they will provide.

"I think it's great, it will be a great hit-out up in Cairns and we're really looking forward to getting up there," Gleeson said.

"It doesn't come any harder first up (than Brisbane) does it?”

"We've got three good games against top opposition, all four teams could quite easily be in the playoffs so it is going to be a good hit-out for us after the Heat game."

Fans are also eagerly anticipating the clash between local rivals Cairns and Townsville on the final night of the Queensland Cup, which features all four teams from the Sunshine State.

"We play (Cairns) in the first week (of the regular season) . . . so it will be interesting and hopefully after the third game in three days we can get through it with our guys," Gleeson said.

Gleeson told the Bulletin that centre Greg Vanderjagt (knee) and Brad Sheridan (back) will both miss the Queensland Cup but that he remained hopeful they would be fit for the club's final pre-season game against the Gold Coast Blaze at Murray Stadium on September 6.

"Fingers crossed, we'll just have to wait and see about that," he said.

"But there are no niggling injuries whatsoever (in the rest of the squad) so we're ready to go, we had a good practice on Monday and we're looking forward to getting these three games under our belt."

Gleeson said the Crocs’ first pre-season hit-out, a match against ABA team the Townsville Heat, had been invaluable.

"It was really good for us, we needed to get out on the court and start playing so that was our first step," he said.

"With three new players . . . Brad didn't play but for Ben (Pepper), Galen (Young) and Rosell (Ellis) it was a really good hit-out.”

"We'll mix it up and see what rotations work for us and experiment a little bit.”

"That's mainly what these pre-season games are, to get us in shape and get these guys playing together and trust in their teammates."

Photo: Townsville Bulletin