Lions out to bolster position

THE best junior footballers from the Far North will take on their counterparts from around country Queensland in Airlie Beach today.

The best 23 players from the Cairns competition, the Cairns Lions, will battle against Townsville, Mackay, Capricornia and Cape York.

From this carnival, the Cairns and Cape York teams make up the North Queensland side to contest the State Under-14 Academy Championships in September.

Townsville, Mackay and Capricornia make up Central Queensland at the state champs.

Cairns Saints youngster Oakley Wallace will captain the side with Saints teammate Austin Harris and Cairns Hawks tall Connor Munro as vice captains.

“The Cairns Lions have a number of players who played North Queensland last year so we are looking forward to, hopefully, a very successful carnival,” AFL Queensland Cairns regional manager Kieran Daley said.

“Excitement machine McLoffty Gaiden is definitely one to keep an eye on.”