AFL Cairns

An article in the Cairns Post on 3 September 1885 on page 3 titled "Football Match" describes a game of football played at the then cricket grounds,^[2] believed to have been in the precinct around Munro Martin Park and the Civic Theatre. This game was between Cairns, led by Jack MacNamara (believed to have been a representative of Victoria at first intercolonial match) and Townsville, led by F Rendall. References are made of "Little Marks" and the final score after 2 hours was Cairns, 1 goal 7 behinds to Townsville, 1 goal 3 behinds. The Cairns umpire was AJ Draper.^[2]

The Cairns team was :- Michelle Burke, Leonie Burke, J Swallow, "Little" Draper, Reid, Crawford, Horse, Campbell, Warren, Harrison, McClelland, Oldham, Rev.Nobbs, Grcnsen, J.Loridan, Bulcock, Wood, Ärmstrong, C.Loridan, Johnstone, D. Wall, Middlebrook, Schumhronk, Dent, McCarthy, Hogarth.^[2]

T. H. LAKE was the secretary.^[2]

The modern league as we now know it formed in 1955^[3] as the Cairns Australian Football League and a local schoolboy competition was also formed resulting in a junior representative trip to Townsville by plane. In 1957 the ANFC, through Bruce Andrew, purchased land in Cairns for the first dedicated field in regional Queensland which became Cazalys Stadium. The initial Senior competition had only two teams, Norths and Souths. This has since expanded to seven teams.

Around 2000, the league affiliated with the Australian Football League and was re-branded AFL Cairns. The league has grown rapidly in recent years with the ongoing development of Cazalys Stadium, the success of the Queensland-based Brisbane Lions, and with Cairns hosting exhibition Australian Football League matches and later matches for premiership points.

The league introduced a Women's Footy competition in 2002.^[4]

2004 AFL Cairns Grand Final brawl edit

In the 2004 Grand Final between the North Cairns Tigers and the Port Douglas Crocs, a wild and violent bench-clearing brawl ^[5][6] erupted after Tigers players charged at the Crocs huddle at the end of the national anthem, and the brawl escalated when spectators and team officials became involved. This caused widespread media publicity around Australia, and sparked the biggest investigation in the history of Australian Rules Football.^{[citation needed]}

The instigator, former VFL/AFL player and Tigers coach Jason Love, was suspended for eight years (three years for a total of eleven charges arising from the melee, including striking three opposition players and abusing and threatening the field umpires when they went to report him, and five years for bringing the game of Australian Rules Football in Queensland into disrepute), and the 22 North Cairns players were suspended for a total of 400 matches, suspensions ranging from 10 matches to five years, for various charges in relation to the brawl. AFL Cairns declared the Grand Final a "no result" and withheld the 2004 premiership.

Manunda Hawks' Omission from the 2015 season edit

In 2014, the Manunda Hawks forfeited an away game against Port Douglas due to the concern for the safety of a player that was threatened via social media.^[7]
The league reacted by suspending the club for the 2015 season.^[8]

Current edit

Club	Colours	Nickname	Home ground	Joined	Premiership/s	Premiership year/s
Cairns		Saints	Griffiths Park	1993	13	1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015
Cairns City		Lions	Holloways Beach Sporting Complex	1970	4	1982, 1983, 2021, 2022
Centrals-Trinity Beach		Bulldogs	Crathern Park	1962	12	1967, 1969, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1997
Manunda		Hawks	Cazalys Stadium	1984	4	1987, 2006, 2007, 2011
North Cairns		Tigers	Watsons Oval	1956	10	1958, 1959, 1976. 1977, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988
Port Douglas		Crocs	Port Douglas Sporting Complex	1989	10	1991, 2001, 2005, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020,
South Cairns		Cutters	Fretwell Park	1956	9	1956, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1971, 1972, 2003

Former edit

Club	Colors	Years competing	Premiership/s	Note/s
Aloomba-Gordonvale [note 1]		1957–60	1
Babinda Magpies		1958–71	3
Balaclava [note 2]		1960–62	0
Centrals [note 3]		1958–61	0	Merged with Trinity Beach to form Centrals-Trinity Beach
Innisfail Roos		1958, 1980, 1982–83	0
Mareeba Saints		1980–82	0
Pyramid Power		Reserves only	0
Tinaroo Falls/Tolga-Tinaroo [note 4]		1957–58	1

Notes

Current edit

Former edit

• Tableland Pythons
• Redlynch Lions
• Babinda Magpies
• Pyramid Power
• Cairns City Cobras (Cairns Cities)
• Cassowary Coast Crows

Notable players from the AFL Cairns who went on to play at VFL/AFL level include

• Port Douglas Sporting Complex (Port Douglas Crocs)
• Fretwell Park (South Cairns Cutters)
• Cazalys Stadium (Manunda Hawks)
• Watsons Oval (North Cairns Tigers)
• Crathern Park (Centrals Bulldogs)
• Holloways Beach Sporting Complex (Cairns City Lions)
• Griffiths Park (Cairns Saints)
• Power Park (Pyramid Power)
• Redlynch State College Oval (Junior Training)
• Buchan Street (Eagles)

Below is the complete list of senior premiers in the AFL Cairns:^[9]

¹ The 2004 Senior Grade Grand Final was declared a "no result" and the Premiership Cup withheld.

Senior Premierships Summary List 1956–2022 edit

Reserves Premierships Summary List 1962-2021 edit

• Australian rules football in Queensland

• Official site
• North Cairns AFC website

16°56′06″S 145°44′55″E / 16.9349071°S 145.7486197°E / -16.9349071; 145.7486197