Port Douglas Crocs, Jared Petrenko sign eight SA players for AFL Cairns season 2023

A footy club in Queensland has looked to South Australia to reinvigorate its squad for 2023, signing seven local SA stars after recruiting a former Adelaide Crow as its new coach.

An AFL Cairns powerhouse has signed seven South Australian players as it looks to bounce back from a 2022 grand final loss and win its seventh flag in 10 years this season.

Sam Fairclough (SMOSH West Lakes), Dillon Coates (SMOSH West Lakes), Jordan Lawless (Henley), Ricky Seal (Wayback), Brett Kennedy (former Central District) and Lee Staple (former Woodville-West Torrens) have all signed with the Port Douglas Crocs after former Adelaide Crow Jared Petrenko’s arrival as coach.

The recruits will also be joined by playing-assistant coach and former Port Adelaide forward Nick Salter after he recommitted for the season ahead.

“They’ve all played together or been connected to each other in the past through SANFL or other avenues but we’ve also won six of the last nine grand finals by refreshing our squad each season and we’ve continued to do that here,” club president Barry Lea said.

Dominant forward Lee Staple has committed to Port Douglas for season 2023 and will be joined by former WWTFC teammate Sam Fairclough as well as Nick Salter, Dillon Coates, Jordan Lawless, Ricky Seal and Brett Kennedy. Picture: Stewart McLean

“Port Douglas is a small town compared to others in the competition – we try to do things a bit differently to other sides and we’ve been punching above our weight for a while now.”

The Crocs have gained a significant boost with their South Australian recruits, with players like midfielder Fairclough – a premiership player with Woodville-West Torrens and Henley Sharks – and forward Lee Staple – also an Eagles premiership player – bringing major experience to the side.

Lea said he believed the fresh and returning faces could help newly-appointed coach Petrenko – who replaced Brad Cooper after winning an Adelaide Footy League division two flag with Broadview – lead the side to more success.

“Jared is a brand new coach and hasn’t been in a position like this before but he’s obviously got a lot of experience at the highest level of the sport,” he said.

Former Adelaide Crow and Broadview gun Jared Petrenko will coach the Crocs in season 2023. Picture: Facebook

“It’s a bit of a change for the club, one chapter closes and we’re opening another after losing to Cairns City last year.

“There’s a lot of excitement around the recruits and around Jared at the moment.

“We’ll continue to bring in guys from interstate if there’s a chance to – it has reinvigorated the current crop and we think there’s a lot of potential here now.”

The Crocs have recently seen a boost to pre-season training numbers with the conditions improving in Cairns and will ramp up their preparations with the season set to start on Friday, April seven.