Sport
5 June, 2026
Centrals dust up the Hawks
SAINTS beat Tigers, Cutters dominate Lions, while Trinity Beach thrash Manunda
Cairns Saints 09.12.66 defeated North Cairns Tigers 09.03.57
IN the closest game of the round, the Cairns Saints got up over the Tigers by nine points at Watsons Oval on Saturday, making it two wins on the trot for the Saints while maintaining third spot on the AFL Cairns ladder.
Zac Straker for the Saints was influential, picking up 28 touches on his way to booting four goals.
The ever-reliable Saints playing coach Chris Novy had 34 disposals while Ryan Wharf had 27 and kicked two goals.
The Tigers put up a good fight led by veteran Darcy Keast who was kept busy in the backline, picking up 33 touches for the game while Mitchell Hurst and Davey Denboer worked hard in the middle with 27 and 23 touches respectively.
Lewis George was the Tigers top goalscorer with three majors for the match.
South Cairns Cutters 23.12.150 defeated Cairns City Lions 10.06.66
THE Cutters at home is always a tough ask and the scoreline at quarter time had South Cairns only narrowly in front of the Lions, thanks largely to the Lions playing coach Scott Riordan kicking two superb goals in the opening 10 minutes.
After quarter time, Souths found their rhythm and their big men, with Damien Hill booting seven for the afternoon and big Tex Korewha bagging five. Tyson Whyte was also instrumental for the Cutters, constantly finding space while racking up four goals.
Dan Charlesworth shone for the Lions picking up 27 touches while Eric Cox was lively, kicking a goal of the year contender in the first quarter followed by a mark of the year contender in the second.
Another highlight was Roman Fischer’s snap on goal in the last quarter from an impossible angle hard against the boundary line in front of the social club, which he followed up with another goal a few minutes later with a quick snap roved from the pack.
Centrals Trinity Beach 23.23.161 defeated Manunda Hawks 4.4.28
AFTER going down to the Saints in their last outing the Dogs were looking to atone against the Hawks – and they came out firing from the get-go.
Centrals dominated the inside 50 count 64 to 20 with a raft of goalkickers – Connor Stackelberg booted six, Josh Butland and Dean Katsiris bagged five each with Kye Fish slotting four.
Kieran Lovell had another dominant
performance with 37 touches while Cody Stackelberg picked up 29 disposals.
Hawks skipper Alex Rogers worked hard for his 36 disposals while Troy Barbero finished the match with 11 tackles.
Last week’s rising star nominee, Harry Riordan, also had a strong game down back, finishing with 26 touches, a great effort from the young man.
