Suns to take AFL games to north

Gold Coast will host an AFL match in Townsville for the first time beginning in 2019 or 2020.

With Metricon Stadium out of action for the first couple of months of the 2018 AFL season due to the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, the Suns will also play a home game in Cairns next year in a deal announced on Wednesday by the Queensland government.

The Suns have played at Cazalys Stadium in Cairns in each of the previous seven years, but on each occasion as the nominal away team.

Chairman Tony Cochrane said the Suns were delighted to be strengthening their links with North Queensland.

“As a club we have established significant support in Cairns and Townsville and enjoy playing our role in developing Australian Football throughout the region, which is also a key recruitment catchment for the Gold Coast Suns’ Talent Academy,” he said in a statement.

“In the past, through community camps, pre-season games and AFL premiership fixtures, the Gold Coast Suns has and will continue to support the growth of AFL in North Queensland.”

Metricon Stadium will host the opening and closing ceremonies and the track field program at the April 4-15 Commonwealth Games.

The Suns are slated to play a home match against Port Adelaide in Shanghai for a second successive year in 2018.

They are also likely to play at least one home game at the Gabba while Metricon Stadium is unavailable during and immediately after the Commonwealth Games.

The AFL will release the 2018 schedule in the coming weeks.

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