AFL Cairns mourns loss of promising teen Joseph Kearsley
A talented Cairns footballer is being remembered as a “great young man that could have gone anywhere” and a fighter until the end after his death at age 18.
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A talented Cairns footballer is being remembered as a “great young man that could have gone anywhere” and a fighter until the end.
Cairns Saints junior Joseph Kearsley, 18, passed away surrounded by family on Sunday morning after a 20-month battle with cancer.
The popular youngster and Gold Coast Suns Academy member was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma, an aggressive and very rare tumour located in the sinus area, following the 2019 AFL Cairns season.
He took a year off senior footy last year, but took on the role of team manager, while also playing six games for the Saints’ Colts side, including their grand final win, in between trips to Brisbane for chemotherapy treatment.
Saints president Craig Hards said the club was devastated by the loss of Kearsley.
“He was just a great young man and he could have gone anywhere, he would have made it for sure,” he said.
“He was an amazing young footballer and an even better kid.
“The huge thing was that he played in our Colts grand final last year, which was unbelievable.
“The treatment seemed to be working back then and he virtually won the game for us.
“He was going really well, he was in a good place and we thought he could beat it, but it’s a very aggressive cancer and it just took hold of him the last couple months.”
Hards said the Saints were looking at ways to provide support to Kearsley’s clubmates.
“There’s a lot of kids that were pretty close to him that are fairly shattered and can’t work out why,” he said.
“We’re organising someone to come down on Tuesday night to speak to the 14s, 16s and 18s as a group and just get the right systems in place, just to have a chat to them all about some of the things they can do if they’re struggling with it.”
He said the club and the wider Cairns footy community would band together to support each other.
“A lot of other clubs have already contacted us, which is what happens when something like this happens,” he said.
“The football community, it’s a family.
“It’s a tough time for the club but we’ll get around each other and get through it.”
Suns NQ Academy manager and former Cairns Saints assistant John Deitz said Kearsley was a supreme talent with a bright future in the game.
“As a footballer, he was tough, courageous, highly skilled and just a really fierce competitor, and that was how he took on his battle over the last 20 months, he faced it head on and gave everything a crack,” he said.
“I don’t think anyone’s ever said a bad word about him, he’s widely respected not just as a footballer but as a person.
“It’s absolutely tragic that an 18-year-old kid gets cut down like that. It’s hard to put it into words. It’s not fair. I’m definitely going to miss him.”
He said Kearsley would forever be remembered for his heroics in last year’s grand final against Centrals.
“I still stand by the fact that his last quarter won them the game,” Deitz said.
“I think he took six or seven marks and basically got them over the line in a game that they weren’t really given any chance of winning.
“For that to be his last effort on the footy field, he definitely went out with a bang.”
Kearsley was nothing short of pure talent.
By the age of 17, the talented defender was a member of the Gold Coast Suns Academy and had played seven AFL Cairns Seniors matches for Cairns Saints, and was named among their best players on three occasions.
On the field, Kearsley was composed, tough and a great user of the footy.
But away from the it, the popular teenager certainly touched the hearts of the wider Cairns community.
Following his diagnosis, Leprechauns Netball Club, who mother Mandy is involved with, held a scavenger hunt in the Cairns CBD to help raise funds for the Kearsley family.
In August 2020, after multiple trips to Brisbane for chemotherapy and almost one year after his diagnosis, Kearsley was returned to the field with the Saints colts side.
Determined not to let his illness get in the way of his passion, he also took on a volunteer job as his club’s senior team’s manager.
On training nights down at Griffiths Park, he would be on hand around an hour before many of the players, sorting out all the gear needed for the upcoming session and doing whatever administration work was required in the role.
Then, on game day, he would be next to Saints’ bench coaches, counting the statistics and passing on the relevant data to playing-coach Wes Glass during breaks in the game.
Cairns Saints will hold a ‘Do It For Joey’ fundraiser as part of the club’s annual Cairns Saints Ladies Day at Griffiths Park this Saturday.
The Saints host Cairns City Lions in women’s, reserves and seniors clashes from 11am.
Originally published as AFL Cairns mourns loss of promising teen Joseph Kearsley
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