The topic of AFL Cairns entering a team in the NTFL has bubbled away over the last year. The talent being produced in the Far North shows another stepping stone for local footballers is required.
A quick look at the honour board for the Troy Clarke Rising Star Award shows just how much talent the AFL Cairns competition is producing year on year.
Previous winners include: 2018 Alex Davies (Manunda Hawks), 2017 Fitzroy Greenwool (Cairns Saints), 2016 Timakoi Bowie (Cairns Saints) and 2014 Jack Bowes (Cairns Saints), who have all gone on to play in the NEAFL, with 2019 winner Josh Mawson (Port Douglas) to follow with Aspley in 2020.
Crocs’ Joshua Mawson celebrates kicking a goal. PICTURE: STEWART MCLEAN.
While Bowes and Davies are on another level and will have long AFL careers, the rest have had a few seasons in the NEAFL without making their mark and cementing their spot.
This is where a Cairns-based NTFL club would work perfectly in the coming years.
These footballers are obviously talented and they could continue to play at a high level, without having to leave AFL Cairns.
Mawson becomes the latest Troy Clarke AFL Cairns Rising Star Award winner to dominate the local competition as a teenager before heading to the NEAFL.
The Rising Star award has been named the Troy Clarke AFL Cairns Rising Star Award in memory of Troy Clarke, who passed away on October 2013, aged just 44.
Clarke was the AFL Cairns’ youngest Crathern Medal winner, taking out the honour as a 17 year old in 1986, playing for South Cairns.
Troy Clarke AFL Cairns Rising Star Award winners over the years
2019 – Josh Mawson
2018 – Alex Davies
2017 – Fitzroy Greenwool
2016 – Timakoi Bowie
2015 – Jack Dixon
2014 – Jack Bowes
The Cairns Post November 27, 2019 1:32pm
