The 2014 AFL Cairns fixture has now been finalised, with Round 1 commencing on Friday 28 March 2014 with a 2013 Grand Final replay, with Cairns Saints taking on North Cairns at Cazalys Stadium under lights.
The 21 Round 2014 fixture features a further 2 night matches, with Port Douglas hosting Cairns City Lions on Thursday, 17 April 2014 (Round 4) and Manunda Hawks hosting North Cairns in Round 11 on Friday, 13 June 2014.
Along with Port Douglas and Cairns City Lions playing Easter Thursday, North Cairns will host Manunda Hawks at Watsons Oval on Good Friday, while South Cairns and Centrals Trinity Beach will close out Round 4 on Easter Saturday.
In addition to the 3 night matches, the fixture features 7 twilight matches, 4 at Cazalys Stadium and 3 at Port Douglas Sporting Complex.
There will be Sunday matches in Round 1 and Round 7 at Holloways Beach Sporting Complex. The Lions are continuing with the two Sunday matches after seeing a steady increase in crowd numbers, particularly families, on those days over the past two seasons.
These Sunday fixtures will see junior matches, from Under 8s to Under 15s, played in the morning prior to the Reserves then Seniors taking to the field in the afternoon.
Round 5 will see North Cairns and South Cairns playing their traditional Anzac Day encounter on Friday, 25th April. The other matches to conclude Round 5 will be played on Saturday, 26th April.
Saturday, 12th July will again be a general bye for all Clubs, allowing players, supporters and volunteers the opportunity to attend the Western Bulldogs v Gold Coast SUNS AFL match at Cazalys Stadium.
AFL Cairns’ 2014 Representative match is yet to be finalised in terms of exact location and opposition, but will remain on the Queen’s Birthday weekend (7/8 June) and will be a general bye for AFL Cairns Clubs.
The 2014 season culminates with a top-four finals series at Cazalys Stadium in September.
In releasing the fixture, AFL Cairns Operations Manager Melissa Dunstan, said it was a fixture that accommodates the desires of the member Clubs. “It’s always a challenge to accommodate the requests of all Clubs, but the main requirements such as the traditional Anzac Day match between North Cairns and South Cairns, matches at different times over Easter and Round 1 and most other requests have certainly been scheduled within this fixture.”
Melissa acknowledged the Clubs for taking the opportunity to play twilight and night football, identifying that it’s probably not too far away before AFL Cairns will have a night Grand Final under the lights at Cazalys Stadium.
“We are very fortunate to have a wonderful AFL standard facility in Cazalys Stadium with
terrific lights so it’s certainly likely that we move to a night Grand Final going forward. Conditions are
better – it’s cooler and that 4-5 goal September breeze that whips down the ground to the north generally
drops of an evening.”
“With the release of the AFL Cairns fixture, we will now be looking to schedule curtain raiser matches on
several occasions throughout the season, with Under 17.5, Under 15 and Women’s League matches to be
included in those curtain raisers.” Melissa said.
The moving of AFL Cairns Women’s League to a winter competition is good for AFL in Far North
Queensland, with many of the Club excited about being able to align with their male counterparts,
particularly in relation to being able to play curtain raiser matches before the Reserves, or on some
occasions, at venues such as Cazalys Stadium, even after the Seniors under lights.
Last Modified on 06/11/2014 15:19