INDIGENOUS STARS POWER TO THE MAX

Dominant Indigenous side leaves rivals seeing stars again

THE Indigenous and South Pacific All Stars just play the game the way it should be played.

Made up of the best footballers in AFL Cairns with Indigenous or South Pacific heritage, the representative team plays with no fear, they play on at every opportunity, play with breakneck speed when they go forward and, most of all, they enjoy playing together.

The Indigenous and South Pacific boys have dominated the annual representative game against the Cairns All Stars since its inception and the Friday night showpiece match at Cazalys Stadium was no different.

In their striking red guernseys, the Indigenous and South Pacific side ran away from Cairns after halftime to claim a 13.9 (87) – 8.12 (60) victory in front of a healthy and animated crowd.

The undoubted star of the evening was Pyramid Power small forward Henry Mareko, who put on an absolute show inside 50, as he booted seven spectacular goals to claim best on ground honours.

Representative games are meant to find out which players can step up their game another level and Mareko, who plays in the AFL Cairns reserves competition with the Power, jumped a level or three.

“The boys played with their speed, flair and were tough at the ball as well. Those were the three pillars of the game we wanted to play with,” Indigenous and South Pacific coach Marc Harbrow said.

“We wanted to play on the ground, we did not want the ball in the air, we knew that was our strength.

“We had guys like Henry Mareko, Fitzroy Greenwool and Jahmahl Jenkins-Clive screaming forward down there.

“The skills and the talent came out from both sides in this game and there is certainly a wealth of that talent in our team.”

Mareko had some help as Ezekiel Frank and Greenwool created chances all night while Port Douglas midfielder Mathew Medcraft continues to build his reputation as one of the premier on-ballers in the Far North.

Cairns coach Daniel Lock conceded his side’s poor ball use was their downfall.

“They bring a pretty good brand of footy the Indigenous and South Pacific boys,” Lock said. “We turned the ball over on eight occasions that led to goals for them. That did not help our cause at all.

“A game like this you need 23 contributors for the whole night, you cannot rely on five or six guys.”

Port Douglas’ Jonathan Hobbs arguably played his best game for 2017 for Cairns while Trinity Beach pair Hugh Nicholson and Ryan Lempa were influential.