Chaos is the new norm facing the youthful Maitland Mustangs as they prepare for life without their inspirational skipper Terrell Turner.
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Turner is expected to be out for the rest of the season after suffering an Achilles tendon injury in the side's 93-67 loss to Central Coast Crusaders last Saturday night.
At every turn Maitland are facing a new setback but whether it's the enthusiasm of youth or being so inexperienced they are unaware of the size of the challenges facing them, the Mustangs are soldiering on.
The Mustangs will be also without Sharif Watson for Saturday's clash against Sutherland Sharks at the Maitland Federation Centre.
Mustangs coach Luke Boyle is still confident his side can secure the win against the Sharks who have been boosted by the addition of Sydney Kings guard Lochlan Hutchison.
"Hutchison has been very good for them, but otherwise the Sharks are a bit like us, a young team who we should be able to match," Boyle said.
"I've no doubt if we maintain our belief and play as a team we will get the win."
While experience is down, the Mustangs still have plenty of home-grown class led by guard Jack Edwards, Sam Huggins, Josh Clifford and Lachlan Beavis who landed 16 points and pulled in his six rebounds against Central Coast in his first game since returning from Melbourne because of the Covid-19 lockdown.
Boyle said it was always going to be too big an ask for Maitland to match the Crusaders without Turner.
"We were already down Sharif (Watson) going into the game and then we lost TT (Turner) ... it was just too big an ask against a seasoned, hard-bodied team," he said. "You've got kids coming out playing against men, but they never dropped their heads."
Young guns Jay Cole and Kaia Isaac backed up their excellent starts to the top grade with 11 points and six rebounds and nine points and two rebounds respectively.
"Having Beavo back made a big difference, he was excellent," Boyle said.
"At the end of the day we were playing with three experienced guys and the rest were youth league.
"The temptation is to try to take it all upon your own shoulders and score 20 points each game, but that is not going to work for us. We need to share the load and bring everyone into the game."
All three grades are at home on Saturday. The main game is at 7pm, youth men tip off at 3pm and youth women at 5pm.