Search on for new North Queensland coach
AFL REPRESENTATIVE TEAM
AFL Queensland is on the hunt for a new coach for its North Queensland representative team after head coach, Brad Cooper, who is also the Senior Coach of the Port Douglas Crocs, stepped down from the role.
The North Queensland representative team sees players from across North Queensland take on South Queensland in an annual one-off match, which this year will be played out on the Gold Coast on 27 June.
Cooper has been coaching the representative team for the past four years but hasn't been able to clinch a win despite having massive success at the same time with the Port Douglas Crocs who have dominated the Cairns AFL in recent years. Cooper will continue on as Senior Coach of the Crocs.
Marketing Coordinator for AFL Queensland, Jacobie Gartland, told Newsport that applications for the new coaching position are currently open but players won’t be selected until later in the year.
“The teams have not been announced and it usually takes the first third of the season to identify a shortlist of good-performing players for the game,” he said.
Port Douglas has had numerous players selected for the team in previous years, including four in the 2019 game with Brett Meredith, Adam Gross, Wesley Glass, and Joshua Mawson.
“For North Queensland, players come from the Cairns, Townsville, Mackay and Mt Isa competitions.
“For South Queensland, players come from the QFA D1, D2 South, D2 North, Darling Downs and Wide Bay competitions.”
The north V south competition has been running for six years with North Queensland claiming the win in the first two years but unable to clinch the win back in the years since.
“The NQ/SQ rep program aims to provide community footballers from across the state an opportunity to strive for a higher level of game and the chance to play against some of the best community footballers from across QLD which wouldn’t happen normally in week to week club football,” Mr Gartland said.
Along with a Senior Head Coach, the rep team is also seeking expressions of interest for Assistant Coaches for 2020.
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