AFL Cairns sides face player loss
IF and when the AFL Cairns season does restart, league headquarters and clubs fear the standard will drop significantly with uncertainty around interstate recruiting.
Most FNQ clubs rely on recruits from Victoria, South Australia or other parts of the country to top up squads.
The numbers moving from interstate can vary from club to club depending on the club’s budget and recruiting network, but they now also contend with travel restrictions and uncertainty about the season.
IF and when the AFL Cairns season does commence, league headquarters and clubs fear the standard will drop significantly with uncertainty around interstate recruiting.
Most FNQ clubs rely on recruits from Victoria, South Australia or other parts of the country to top up their squads for every season.
The numbers moving from interstate can vary from club to club, with some having as many as a dozen, while others will only have a couple, depending on the club’s budget and recruiting network.
Many recruits would have already moved north, while some will need to return to their previous homes through a lack of work opportunities, while others were waiting for the season to commence to move up and will now be in limbo with travel restrictions.
Premiership coach Brad Cooper says the coronavirus crisis is impacting his football side and more broadly his town of Port Douglas.
“It all depends on the borders, we have a couple of guys still moving up, but we have a few guys from Western Australia that were moving up but obviously cannot now,” Cooper said.
“We have some recruits who have arrived and will stay for now, but that might change.
“From our perspective, it hits us twice as bad as any other football club up here because four out of five jobs in Port Douglas are tourist based.
“Our town is in a bit of trouble going forward, it is devastating, but we will just need to find a way.
“It keeps changing though, who knows what it looks like next week, because employment is a big part of what we do as a club.”
Saints president Craig
Hards is not sure what the competition looks like when it does eventually return.
“I think the league was looking stronger this year than last in terms of numbers, that is for all teams, but this is a real kick in the guts for everyone,” Hards said.
AFL Cairns are hopeful of completing their 2020 season but what the fixture looks like is up in the air for now.
AFL Cairns have postponed all community football until May 31.
Many of Saints’ recruits had already moved to town and started jobs before coronavirus hit, but Hards says it is difficult to implement new people into local sporting clubs when training and bars are closed.
“Our major sponsor the Bungalow Hotel had to shut their doors at lunchtime earlier this week, so there is our major sponsor for the season gone for the short term,” Hards said.
“A lot of other clubs will be in the same boat, relying on businesses as sponsors, it is scary times for football in general.”
AFL Cairns are considering a fixture which has each club playing each other twice, including finals, as well as another shorter option that has clubs playing each other once, before jumping into finals.