Sport
27 April, 2026
Teenagers do town proud
THE AFL Cairns juniors season has officially launched, but for three Port Douglas Crocs prodigies there was something much bigger on their minds.
Crocs under-17s players Zayne Moore, Kobe Saxon and Tyler Ronalds were selected to represent the under-17s Cairns Lions representative side in AFL heartland as they faced some of the country’s finest young talent.
The young Crocs were part of a squad of 24 players who trained tirelessly for months leading up to this competition. This included the Crocs boys driving to Cairns multiple times a week for all trainings and team related activities.
While selection overall was already a huge achievement, Crocs star Zayne Moore was named as captain of the Cairns Lions side.
“It was a huge honour, with how talented the team was it meant the world to me being picked as the captain,” he said.
“It was great to get a taste of what being AFL player is all about. Its motivated me to work harder towards my goal.”
The carnival lasted four days, with the team playing an array of games against some of Victoria’s best clubs and academy sides.
While the boy’s side were unable to come away with a win, the knowledge and experience is exactly what was needed to help the young athletes with their confidence as they enter their next step of representative.
While on the trip they were lucky enough to see a live AFL game, explore the training facility of the Hawthorn Hawks and rub shoulders with some AFL greats.
The prodigies have now landed back in Cairns and are eager to tackle their season ahead with the Port Douglas Crocs.
With other representative opportunities ahead this season, such as Peninsula school sports and other Cairns rep programs, the young men will focus their attention towards that, and continue their momentum towards a very successful 2026 campaign.
