Gold Coast Football Club will travel to Cairns in Far North Queensland for its Round 13 clash against Bendigo Bombers on Saturday, 17 July.
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The match, to be played at Cazaly Stadium, is an important opportunity for the club to introduce itself to a new audience ahead of its inclusion in the AFL competition next year.
AFL Cairns Managing Director Gary Young is extremely hopeful that locals will turn out in big numbers.
“We’ve had a few NAB Challenge games up here in the near cyclonic conditions we get in February and March and still managed to attract 6000 people, so there’s no reason why we shouldn’t see something like 8000 to 10000 during our best weather of the year.”
FNQ-raised players Charlie Dixon, Lewis Moss and the freshly contracted Rex Liddy are all a chance to play before their home crowd, a point not lost on Young.
“Obviously it’ll be an opportunity for the locals up here to get to know the Gold Coast club, but we’ve also got a few FNQ boys in the mix, so it’ll be great to be able to welcome them home. Hopefully Karmichael Hunt might have a run, even if it’s only a short one. With his league background, he obviously attracts a lot of interest up here.”
The Cairns competition is regional Queensland’s strongest. It was formed in 1956 and features seven very competitive clubs. It came as no surprise to see AFL Cairns players take up seven of thirty places in Queensland Country squad chosen for the upcoming Australian Country Championships. The five team Townsville competition is also well established, so too Mt Isa’s league. All three cities maintain strong juniors competitions.
FNQ has churned out its fair share of top end talent over the years including Colin Judd, Craig Brittain, Troy Clarke, Mark West, Che Cockatoo-Collins, Donald Cockatoo-Collins, David Cockatoo-Collins, Jason Roe, and – more recently - Courtenay Dempsey, now at Essendon, and Jarrod Harbrow, who is making a name for himself at the Western Bulldogs.
Even though outsiders often pigeonhole FNQ as a rugby league heartland, the truth of the matter is all four winter codes – league, union, AFL and soccer – share a fairly balanced presence in region. And there’s absolutely no doubt AFL has been holding its own against the other sports, particularly at junior level where the game still enjoys growing participation rates.
“The accessibility of the Auskick program and the national visibility of the game in a broader sense certainly help the cause,” Young says.
“That’s why it’s so important for GCFC to have a run up here. It helps us drive home the message that AFL is a progressive and significant sport.”
The Gold Coast Football Club will play its part by supporting the Community in the Queensland Country with the GCFC Promotions team and its interactive Road show travelling up the coast in the week prior to the game.
The GCFC Promotions team will meet fans and participants in Rockhampton on Tuesday 13th July, Townsville the 15th July before meeting up with the playing team on the 16th, 17th and 18th July in Cairns. It will also stop in at Mackay on 19th July on the way back to the Gold Coast.
Click here to view the VFL fixture.
