Page 38 - AFL QUEENSLAND 2013 YEAR IN REVIEW

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AFL returned to Cairns in 2013, as the city hosted the Toyota AFL Premiership match between the Gold Coast SUNS and Richmond at Cazaly’s Stadium on Saturday July 13.
The Round 16 clash was the third AFL home and away season game to be played in the Tropical North, as part of Richmond’s contract with Cairns and Far North Queensland.
A sell-out crowd of 11,197 attended the match, the second largest in the stadium’s history and the third straight attendance of more than 10,000 for the Cairns match.
The match capped off
a week filled with AFL activities, community football and supporter events aimed at leadership development, community participation, promoting a healthy
and active lifestyle and encouraging school attendance.
In the week leading up to the game, AFL Commissioner Sam Mostyn, Gold Coast SUNS CEO Travis Auld and SUNS players, Michael Rischitelli and Jack Martin, travelled to Bamaga and Thursday Island, spending three days with communities in the Cape delivering the No Boundaries partnership program.
Three hundred students from 12 Tropical North Queensland schools converged on Cairns for
the North Queensland Secondary Schools Cup, with the grand final played as the curtain raiser to Saturday’s AFL match and visits from Gold Coast SUNS players through the competition.
Richmond player Dylan Grimes, assistant coach Justin Leppitsch, Gold Coast SUNS coach Guy McKenna and player Zac Smith spoke at a coaching and leadership session for the North Queensland AFL community, while SUNS players also visited the recently opened AFL Cape York House, which provides indigenous students aged 8-12 a place to live and learn while they complete secondary school.
Fans had the chance to get up close and personal with players at a free AFL Fan Day at Cazaly’s Stadium.
On the field, Richmond picked up its first win in Cairns, holding off a defiant Gold Coast, 6.17 (53) to 6.8 (44) in blustery conditions.
AFL COMES ALIVE IN CAIRNS