South Cairns(South Balaclava)

The original South Cairns Australian Football Club was formed in 1956, the inaugural year of the Cairns Australian Football League, while Balaclava was established three years later. South Cairns won the very first CAFL premiership but thereafter the club struggled, particularly in terms of player recruitment, and in 1963 with Balaclava experiencing similar problems the two clubs elected to merge, and the South Balaclava Australian Football Club was born. The move was immediately vindicated as the team, nicknamed the Swans, won premierships in each of its first four seasons, a sequence of success unparalleled either before or since in league history. Souths went on to reach the next half a dozen grand finals completing a remarkable run of ten grand final appearances in succession. The side was successful in 1968, 1971 and 1972, but the 1972 premiership proved to be the last under the South Balaclava banner.\n\nIn 1995, reflecting a change in the club’s catchment area, there was a change of name to South Cairns and the adoption of a new emblem, the Cutters. Since the turn of the century the Cutters have been near perennial flag contenders, contesting grand finals in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2009. However, only in 2003 against North Cairns did they emerge triumphant.