The local paper is promoting our game up in Cairns
Cairns showdown in JulyThe Cairns Post
Saturday, October 30, 2010FOOTY fans should keep Saturday, July 16 free in their diaries next year because that is the day the AFL officially lands in Cairns.
The AFL released its 2011 draw yesterday, disclosing the date for the Round 17 Richmond versus Gold Coast match at Cazalys.
As expected, the clash is a day game and will start at 2.10pm.
It is the first competition-round AFL game to be played in Cairns, which has previously hosted NAB Cup and practice matches.
The fixture, the first of three to be played between the clubs over three years at Cazalys, was announced last month, but the date was not revealed until yesterday.
Suns player Charlie Dixon, who grew up in Cairns, already has the game circled on his calendar.
Dixon played in the Suns’ VFL match against Bendigo at Cazalys in July and does not want to miss the chance to play AFL in front of his home fans.
"It’s a big goal of mine to play in that game," he said.
"There were a fair few people there last time we played in July and now that there
are going to be two proper AFL teams playing, I think it’ll be even bigger.
"We had a good win up there last time we were there and hopefully we can do that again."
AFL Cairns president Gary Young will meet Tigers and Suns officials over the next fortnight to begin planning for the game.
Now a date has been set, Young said the league could also start working with local business and tourism operators to maximise Cairns’ exposure.
"We’ve got the date, it’s going ahead and it’s huge, not just from a footy follower’s point of view, but also from the city’s point of view," he said.
"We want to attract as many people as we can from Melbourne for this game.
"We’ll be working with local operators to put together packages and programs to entertain them outside of football so they’ll want to stay up here an extra four or five days."
http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2010/10/30/132921_local-sport-news.html