AFL Cairns: Lions not giving up on finals after streak-snapping win

Cairns City Lions are refusing to give up on their AFL Cairns season goal of a third-straight finals appearance after snapping a six-game losing streak with a big win over North Cairns.

Cairns City Lions are refusing to give up on their AFL Cairns season goal of a third-straight finals appearance after snapping a six-game losing streak with a big win over North Cairns.

The Lions were the league’s surprise packets early in the season, winning their first five games to enter the minor premiership conversation, but their campaign came unstuck when they ran into reigning five-time premier Port Douglas in round 7.

They lost six of their next seven games, slipping out of a finals position – and almost entirely out of the finals race.

But a streak-breaking, 255-point win over cellar-dwellers North Cairns could be just what the Lions need to rediscover the winning formula that shot them to the top of the ladder after five rounds.

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Captain Brodie Deverell said it was good to get back into the winners’ circle.

“It was probably warranted that we were going to (win), but I think it’s just good for the team to get that winning feeling back,” he said.

“Hopefully we can get back on to a bit of a roll and get a few more wins.”

The victory ensured the Lions remained one win outside the top four ahead of a huge clash against the fourth-placed Bulldogs at the Holloways Beach Sporting Complex on Saturday.

With each side having a bye over the final three rounds, the match could decide who plays in the finals and who doesn’t.

The Lions’ other remaining game will be against third-placed South Cairns at Fretwell Park in round 18.

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“If we can win the next two games, it puts us in good stead to actually get in the finals,” Deverell said.

“It’s in our hands and I know a lot of the boys here at the club believe that if we can play our best football we can push our way in there.

“We had a really good start to the season and then we got into a bit of a form slump, but we know when we play our best football we can match it with anyone on the day.

“It’s just up and down too many times in games, but when we play our best football we know we can beat most teams, and I think most teams would know that.

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“It just didn’t happen for those few games we had through the season, but as long as we can get back to that form against Centrals this week and Souths the week after, hopefully we can get those few wins and push our way into the finals.”

Deverell said if the Lions were to get through to the finals, it would be on the back of a team effort.

“We’ve all got to step up,” he said.

“I don’t think our team’s centred on a few people playing well for us to win, as long as we can all play well.

“Our backline I’d say is probably the best backline in the comp and they are probably the ones that have helped us through the season.

“When you’ve got the likes of Nick Johnson, Sean Connelly, Jake Long, Aaron Davey, Mitch Hunter, Brandon Lovell – all those names down there help a lot in the backline for us to push it forward and get it up to us mids and forwards as well.

“But I wouldn’t actually put it down to any number or name. It’s the whole team effort that we need to do, and if everyone’s on, we should be going pretty well.”

In the round’s other matches, Centrals Trinity Beach condemned Manunda to a fourth-straight defeat, while Port Douglas reminded the rest of the competition it was a force to be reckoned with at the pointy end of the season with a 78-point win over South Cairns.

Originally published as AFL Cairns: Lions not giving up on finals after streak-snapping win