Graystone impressed by squad hopefuls

ABOUT 40 players have taken the field in a bid to impress Cairns FC coach Danny Graystone for spots in under-20 and senior squads.

The new head honcho has also met with former FNQ Heat players, with the likes of captain Jamie Carroll, vicecaptain Ari Isman and teammates Chris Sullivan, Kev Ward, Josh Wilson, MJ Nkiwane and Josh de Nittis all signalling their interest.

Graystone said the turnout was better than expected.

“We had some good young players out there, which was exciting to see and I think we have some good talent who can push for spots in the senior team,” he said.

Graystone said it was great to see members of the 2017 squad attend and had high hopes of improving on the seventh place they achieved this season.

“They’ve obviously got some great players from last year and you can see why they played so well the year before, but after a few meetings with individual players it’s clear there is a bit of a culture change needed,” he said.

Cairns FC technical director Mark Boyd said the numbers were promising, although he hoped for more trialists in the junior divisions in the coming weeks.

“Junior numbers have been slow in these initial stages, typical due to the timing of the year, but these trials will continue over the coming weeks and we are confident that numbers will pick up,” he said.

“We are also receiving good numbers with our Brisbane Roar regional academy taster program in Cairns and Innisfail.”