THE ROAD TO SUCCESS

Q I know it is very early in the piece for you but have you set any goals or things you want to achieve in your new role?

A Once I meet with the clubs and assess their needs and some of the issues they face, I can make some clear decisions going forward. Being Round 2 or 3 of the local competition and the season started, it is hard to implement anything from a rule change point of view. I am really keen on the NEAFL being back on the agenda again. The licences are locked away for the next three years. I have spoken to the AFL about this as well and we have three years to put the NEAFL back on the agenda. The No.1 reason for that is the pathway. We want to preach a development program. If there is nothing from the end point for all these kids coming through development programs from an elite point of view, it is really hard to continually develop players in the teenage years. If there is no pathway, they will just go back to playing local footy or go down south to play in the NEAFL. I have spoken to Gary about it and it is something we are going to investigate. The talent might not be there from a Cairns point of view right now but we have three to four years to develop it. We are talking about developing 14-year-olds to be ready when they are 18. You would need a squad of 40 all up with around 28 being in the main squad every week with the rest of the players injected back into AFL Cairns. We need to give them an elite opportunity. It will take time. There are a lot of indigenous kids up here that are lost to the game because there is no pathway or incentive to be exposed to the elite environment. The funding will need to be increased.