FNQ competitions receive top marks
THE standard of the AFL Cairns competition has received high praise from our southern AFL visitors.
St Kilda coach Brett Ratten was pleased to catch up with the king of Holloways Beach, Cairns City Lions coach Aaron “Flash” Davey, having coached him at Melbourne.
“He won the flag last year, he was quick to tell me that,” Ratten said before the Saints’ loss to Port Adelaide on Saturday night.
“And good on him – he’s a great fella and really knows his footy.
“You see some of the talent coming out of Cairns and this area of Queensland. They’re doing a fantastic job and it keeps growing.”
“Flash” was with the Dees this week as a keynote speaker, announcing the rebranding of the AFL club under the city’s traditional Indigenous name: Narrm.
This was done by the club ahead of the AFL’s Sir Doug Nicholls Round.
Meanwhile Cairns-grown Power product Charlie Dixon – who can’t catch a break when it comes to injuries – wasn’t able to suit up for his team’s one-point victory against the Saints.
While you can imagine he was keen to join his team for a raucous, headline-generating locker room celebration, the former Saints junior also
used his time in Cairns reflect on his roots. Dixon said he was pleased to see former Suns teammate Zac Smith making a name for himself in FNQ, and was complimentary of how far the program’s come.
“The competition up here has always been amazing, my brother’s
(Jesse) won a few premierships up here with the Cairns Saints and I always enjoy coming up and watching,” he said.
“To have Zac and a few other boys come up here as well – it’s great for the league and I’m sure it’s getting that traction it deserves.”