By Kerry Larsen

Gold Coast Suns’ inaugural captain and 2009 Brownlow Medallist, Gary Ablett, looks set to line-up for the Suns when they play Richmond at Cazaly’s in Cairns this Saturday.

Ablett is a huge draw-card for the round 17 clash, with scans clearing him of a serious knee injury earlier in the week, following an injury scare in the Suns’ 70-point loss to the Sydney Swans last weekend.

The former Geelong double-premiership champion was likely to undergo a fitness test with the Suns medicos at Metricon Stadium on Wednesday, before flying to Cairns on Friday afternoon.

Cairns AFL boss, Gary Young, said he was relieved to hear that Ablett would play on Saturday after witnessing what appeared to be a serious knee injury last weekend.

“He’s very keen to play in Cairns and the news is good,” he said. “We’ve all breathed a sigh of relief that Gary has been cleared of injury, he will provide that extra bit of oomph to the game.”

Young said that while Ablett’s teammates Campbell Brown and Nathan Boc were also both under an injury cloud, both had committed to attend the game whether they played or not.

AFL chief executive, Andrew Demetriou, who has been holidaying in Port Douglas for the past two weeks, is also expected to attend Cairns’ first AFL regular season fixture.

Both teams were expected to arrive into Cairns on Friday, with a Richmond training session at Cazaly’s open to the public from 2.30pm, where Tiger fans have the chance to meet their heroes and seek autographs.

Young said the Richmond training session would be followed by a super clinic for kids aged up to 12 years from around 3.30pm, hosted by the State Government’s Department of Sport and Recreation.

Gold Coast were scheduled to have a light training session at Metricon on Friday morning and arrive in Cairns late Friday afternoon before an invitation-only welcome function Friday evening, with Mayor Val Schier to welcome players to the region.

Meanwhile, only 1200 tickets remained for the AFL clash in general admission areas only, grandstand tickets selling out months in advance.

“The Cairns people have really shown they’re supporting top-line sports within the region and that is positive for the future of securing these fixtures,” Young said.

Eleven teams from around the region will play in the North Queensland Secondary School Championship either side of the main AFL game, with the grand final to be played under lights following the Richmond/Gold Coast match.

“This is a great opportunity to see some budding Charlie Dixons and Jarrod Harbrows on show,” Young said, adding that he hoped Cairns product Dixon would play for the Suns on Saturday afternoon despite being absent from the Suns’ senior list in recent weeks.

“He kicked 11 goals from centre half forward for the Suns reserves two weeks ago,” he said. “If you put him in front of his home crowd – particularly in front of his friends – he might have a blinder.”

Far North Queenslanders are also keen to see the continuing improving form of former-NRL star, Karmichael Hunt, who switched codes 18 months ago to play with the AFL’s 17th team.

Saturday’s Richmond versus Gold Coast Suns match at Cazaly’s starts at 2.10pm, followed by the opportunity for patrons to have a kick-to-kick for 20 minutes following the main game.

AFL Cairns games have been scheduled to play on Sunday, with the Port Douglas Crocs having the bye.