A proposal has been put forward for Cairns to become the focal point of a new expansion AFL team.
The proposal arrives only months after Tasmania was awarded the 19th AFL license. An addition of a 20th team would make sense to create league balance and prevent teams from being forced into a bye as early as Round 1.
Junior participation has skyrocketed in Queensland, even recently overtaking both Victoria and South Australia, strengthening the likelihood of Queensland becoming the first outer-Victorian state to host three AFL clubs is greater than ever.
Cairns has held 13 games at Cazaly's Stadium since 2011 with the Suns and the Tigers becoming a common matchup for the local Queensland fans. This matchup has created multiple games with over 10,000 in attendance despite neither club representing North Queensland.
Speaking to News Corp, AFL Cairns general manager Craig Lees said the region was more than capable of servicing an AFL club.
โCairns has the sustainability to be able to house an AFL club, with also having one of the best grounds available to them,โ Lees said.
โWe are probably better suited than Darwin due to our potential growth that has been shared by the council of what Cairns will look like by 2032.
โAnd with the Gabba going offline in 2026, we will be pushing very hard to get Brisbane games up here.
โSo we can bring that type of content to Cairns but also we have the capability to be able to do that week-in, week-out with our own team.โ
In 2021, popular television personality and former Magpies presidents Eddie McGuire stated that he believes the AFL could profit up to as much as $20m more if the 20th AFL license was awarded at the same time as Tasmania.
The profits would arrive as a result of avoiding bye rounds throughout the season to compensate for an odd number of teams. This is evident through the integrations of the Gold Coast Suns and subsequently the Greater Western Sydney Giants back in 2011. The delay of the Giants' integration created a somewhat confusing and complicated fixture during the 2011 season.
McGuire pushed the idea of a North Queensland-Darwin side back in 2021 on Channel 9's Footy Classified.
โThe natural home for me is Darwin and Far North Queensland. Call them the Crocodiles,โ McGuire said.
โBillions of dollars of sporting infrastructure is going into the Olympics in Queensland.
โIt will give Indigenous boys and girls opportunity to play professional sport. What momentum for the game and Indigenous health for boys and girls in their own backyard.โ
Despite the potential for a Cairns AFL team, Craig Lees still wants to keep the relationship that exists between Cairns football and the Gold Coast Suns.
Six players from the Cairns junior clubs from 2022 moved to the Gold Coast Suns Academy, making Cairns one of the top feeders into that program.
Additionally, 12 other competitors in the men's and women's tournaments received state league contracts for the 2023 season.
โWe want all our young guns to get the opportunity to play at the highest level so of course we would keep that opportunity alive,โ Lees said.
โQueensland is going to over take South Australia in participation numbers this year.
โThat to me sounds like we need to make sure all our young talent coming through get the best opportunity.โ
Calls from prominent media personalities have been made to see the Suns rebranded as the 'Northern Suns' and represent the far north areas of the nation following the side's recent success in hosting games in Darwin.
