PORT Douglas has dominated selection in the initial North Queensland squad for the match against South Queensland, to be played as the curtain raiser to the Western Bulldogs and Gold Coast SUNS fixture at Cazaly’s Stadium next month.

North Queensland named seven Crocs in the 44-man squad, with captain Kye Chapple, Wes Glass, Peter Bury, Jesse Mawson, Jonathan Hobbs, Declan Kelly and Dylan Wearmouth all rewarded for their consistent form this season.

Port Douglas coach Brad Cooper is also the assistant coach for the representative squad, which is largely made up of AFL Cairns players for the match on July 16.

“Overall, we are very happy with the depth and versatility of the squad,” said North Queensland coach Rick Hanlon.

“We still have almost four weeks prior to the game where we will be monitoring several currently injured players that may be considered and added to the group.

“We have been watching games each week and consider the squad to have a blend of youth and experience that should hold up well.”

There are 34 players in total from AFL Cairns, with Centrals Trinity Beach (seven), reigning premier Cairns Saints (six) Cairns City Lions (six) and the second-placed South Cairns Cutters (five) also well represented in the squad.

The other 10 positions are made up of AFL Townsville (five), AFL Mackay (two), AFL Capricornia (two) and AFL Mt Isa (one) players.

The North Queensland/South Queensland match will kick off at 4.20pm and is part of AFL Queensland’s 15 Year Anniversary State Representative Program. North Queensland have won the previous two encounters and will be hard to beat, with the final team announced on July 11.

“It’s been really pleasing to see the amount of work both coaches and their assistants have put into selecting their squads,” AFL Queensland State Football Operations Manager, Barry Gibson, said.

“It’s an incredibly challenging exercise, considering the sheer volume and geographical spread of players to select from.

“Both squads are reasonably fluid; in that both coaches recognise the game is still some weeks away, so there is an opportunity to add players over the coming weeks."

NORTH QUEENSLAND SQUAD:

AFL CAIRNS
Port Douglas:
Peter Bury, Kye Chapple, Wes Glass, Jonathon Hobbs, Declan Kelly, Jesse Mawson, Dylan Wearmouth 

Cairns City Lions:
Dwayne Bosen, Adam Gross, Mark Horne, Aaron McNab, Mitch Taylor, Timakoi Bowie/

Cairns Saints:
Rohan Couchrns, Kieran Daley, Dean Gavin, Jack Philp, Zac Kelly

Centrals TB:
Sam Conroy, Khyle Goodman, Jayden Holt, Ryan Lempa, Nathan McKendrick, Damien Roe, Gideon Simon 

South Cairns:
Damien Dewis, Michael Douglas, Ryan Etherington, Ryan Mawdsley, Jermaine Wardle

Manunda Hawks:
Josh Gall, Cameron Gauci, Corey Flint

North Cairns:
Tyler Gorogo 
 
AFL TOWNSVILLE
Hermit Park Tigers:
Stannis Agita, Jason DiBetta

Thuringowa Bulldogs:
Bryce Kelly, Joel Newman

University Hawks:
Blake Cooper

AFL MACKAY
Moranbah Bulldogs:
Nick Proud 

Eastern Swans:
Matthew West

AFL CAPRICORNIA
Yeppoon Swans:
Thomas Cossens, Matt Wallin

AFL MT ISA
Young Guns:
Jameson Billy