It might surprise you that AFL Townsville has been around as a formal competition for 70 years.
Before that the earliest recorded repre- sentative side travelled north to Cairns in 1884.
The strength of the competition has waxed and waned over that time. Univer- sity Hawks resounded in 1989 taking out the flag by a point not long after inauguration.
The Hawks went on to win another eight premierships in the next two decades.
The track has been a little dry since they dominated in the noughties.
But the Hawks are looking to get back on top both as a playing group and as a club with the help of community and corpo- rate sponsors like Northern Stevedoring Services (NSS).
NSS has donated $2,000 to the Hawks for the 2024 season.
It’ll go to uniforms and the cost of keeping the club afloat through venue hire and licencings.
The club now has senior men’s and women’s and a reserve team as well as an
under nines mixed team and an under seventeens girls’ side.
The Hawks also have children’s Auskick and Superstar sides.
Hawks sponsorship coordinator Anthony Sime came to Townsville from Victoria and knows all about the fanatical support the code enjoys in his home state.
“Obviously the Hawks are built off main-
ly uni students and a lot of the older members who played in premiership teams have stuck around or brought other people to the club,” Anthony said.
“I’ve only been at the club for a year and a half now and I’ve already jumped on the committee.
“I see how great the club is and I really want to help improve that in any way that I can.
“Corporate sponsorship like that from NSS this year goes a long way to helping those efforts to encourage and build sporting competitions.”
The Hawks’ prospects are playing out and, as the 2024 competition enters its eighth round, the seniors are sitting second on the ladder, after beating Curra Swans on the weekend 56-64.
omen and reserve grade sides are run- ning fourth and third respectively.
It was looking good for the club, said Anthony.
“I think we’ve stepped up in our foot- balling abilities and fitness,” he said. “We’ve had a big pre-season.
“Thuringowa Bulldogs have been quite a strong club the last couple of years as well, but I think that this year it’s a very even competition.
“We’ve definitely got a strong team and the senior women’s side is doing fantastic at the moment.
“This year they’ve actually got emergen- cies, which is the first time in a couple of years they’ve had the numbers like that.
“Probably half of the (women’s) team hasn’t played (AFL) football before, the skills they’ve picked up are quite phenomenal.
“So, as I was saying, looking at it from that aspect, I reckon the senior women are actually in a fantastic position this year.”