FNQ TALENT ON SHOW
CAIRNS’ burgeoning AFL talents will be put to the test this week as one of the country’s biggest footy schools comes to town for a couple of pre-season hit-outs.
As part of their trip north, young footy stars from Melbourne’s Xavier College will take on the Cairns Lions under-16 representative team in four matches this week.
The first games will be played today at 9.30am and 11.30am at Cazalys Stadium, while matches three and four are scheduled for the same times on Thursday, April 11.
Cairns City Lions coach Aaron “Flash” Davey, who will coach one of two Cairns Lions teams this week, said it was great to have a school like Xavier College come up to play.
The former AFL star, who played more than 170 games for Melbourne Demons, said the fixtures were “all about the opportunities and exposure” for the local boys.
“We’ve got a good core of young kids that have been coming through the program for a number of years – players like Jaceb Baldwin from Cairns Saints, Will Swaffer from the Hawks and Mitchell Hunter and Nicholas Johnson from Cairns City Lions – and they’ll take a lot out of this game,” he said.
Exciting Port Douglas prospect Josh Mawson has also been selected in the squad.
“(Mawson’s) come up from Victoria just recently,” said Davey. “He’s got an enormous amount of talent and skill and he’s played in that (Victorian) environment before. Hopefully he can help our boys take some key learnings from the game.”
Davey said it’s been a “fantastic opportunity” for himself to be able to coach the team.
“They just really want to be sponges and learn as much as possible to take their football to the next level – that’s the most pleasing thing,” he said.
“Also, with representing our region, it’s a special feeling for a lot of these boys.”
Pyramid Power captain Danny Floyd will coach a second Cairns Lions team for Thursday’s matches.
“He does an amazing amount of work (at Pyramid Power) and to see his passion first-hand with the young kids has been great,” said Davey.
“It’s awesome for him to give up his time to help me and the other boys go out there and have a bit of fun.”