Bid for China AFL clash

Cairns in race to host relocated Power-Saints game

The official announcement around the China game being canned could come as early as today, with the likelihood it will come this week, with conversations around where the game lands set to ramp up from there.

AFL Cairns have been on the front foot for months trying to land the game in FNQ and have been in ongoing discussions to secure it.

AFL Cairns, Tourism and Events Queensland and Cairns Regional Council will now have to find the funding, around $800,000, to bring the game to Cairns. TEQ are keen on the prospect of bringing two interstate clubs to FNQ, with thousands of travelling spectators descending on the region.

TEQ are set to meet early this week to decide how much they can contribute to the game, with the AFL and the local council to stump up the rest. The China game is a St Kilda home game, with the funds going to the cashstrapped Saints.

It has been reported over the last few months since the coronavirus outbreak that if the game was to be canned, it would be played in Melbourne. But, with the Saints set to lose upwards of $800,000 from the China game not going ahead, the option to take the cash from FNQ and play the game at Cazalys Stadium is now an attractive one.

St Kilda CEO Matt Finnis and St Kilda boss Simon Lethlean are a chance to inspect facilities in Cairns in the coming weeks before the game is officially ticked off.

An AFL official yesterday said conversations were ongoing about the potential cancellation of the China game.

Last year was the first in almost a decade where Cairns had not hosted a game, with elite AFL games having come to Cairns every year since 2011, with the Gold Coast Suns, Western Bulldogs and Richmond all previously moving home games north.

AFL Cairns have made no secret of their interest in bringing AFL games back to the Far North.

“We are looking at different ideas, with different ways to approach getting a game in Cairns,” AFL Cairns boss Gary Young said late in 2018.

Port Adelaide chief executive Keith Thomas said last week he hoped a final decision would be reached around the middle of March.

“We will have to make that decision sooner,” he said.

With the game a strong chance to come to FNQ, it would bring Cairns Saints junior Charlie Dixon back to the ground he played on as a junior. It was last week reported Port Adelaide and St Kilda are believed to have asked the AFL to make a call on their Shanghai clash, set for May 31, before the season starts.