We owe it to Mushy to fix this problem
Injury shows that Cairns FC must be allowed to field a reserves team
THIS week I had a bit of a sulk when I heard my favourite Cairns FC footballer Musashi Nakagawa had broken his foot.
“Mushy”, as I like to call him, is a special one.
The baby-faced high school kid is playing in the National Premier League taking on grown men each weekend and doing a darn good job.
He’s a dour left-back, who plays with poise beyond his years and when challenged shows no fear.
So much so, that when he fractured his metatarsal in Cairns’ loss to the Western Pride, he willed himself to play on, until he was eventually subbed off.
I don’t know much about Mushy but in my mind, I imagine he shows up to training still in his school uniform, throws his study bag under the bench in the Barlow Park change rooms, then waits in the car park after practice for a family member to pick him up and take him home.
After games, as his teammates ponder which nightspot to frequent, Mushy probably goes home and relives every moment of the game back in his head, still amazed to be playing football in the national competition.
But for the next two months, head coach Danny Graystone will be without his rising star and it has exposed a serious problem.
Unlike their NPL contemporaries, Cairns FC do not have a reserves team.
That means this weekend, Nakagawa’s replacement, will come in having not played a full game of football all season.
Currently, due to a number of administrative issues, Cairns FC cannot loan out its players to FNQ Football teams, meaning players can only train and not play.
A leading Far North football mind made the point to me this week that leaving high-quality young footballers on the sidelines at the weekends is not only a waste but is just plain dangerous.
Players unaccustomed to the speed of the match are more likely to hurt themselves or someone else when they finally play, he argued. That person is right. How can Cairns be expected to compete in top-flight competition when its players can’t even get a regular game?
It’s time for key stakeholders in the game to address this issue and ensure that our best and brightest talents are playing regular football, regardless of the standard.
We owe it to the Mushys of Far North Queensland to get it right.