Former AFL star Aaron Davey has signed a two-year contract extension with the Cairns City Lions.
The AFL Cairns club announced the signing on social media during the week.
The 40-year-old also announced that he will be retiring from playing duties after a footy career that has spanned across four decades, beginning with Northern Territory Football League club Palmerston in the late 1990s.
Davey has spent the past six seasons at the Lions and recently celebrated his 100th game as the club's senior coach.
The ex-Demons best and fairest winner has comfortably been one of the most revolutionary figures in Cairns City Lions' 53-year history.
Arriving at the beginning of the 2018 season, he was quickly able to transform the club from easy beats to the competition's powerhouse in just three short years.
Before Davey was appointed, the Lions had no reserves team and often had to borrow players from the Pyramid Power Football Club just to field the 22 players required for a senior team.
One game, they lost to the South Cairns Cutters 48.17 (305) to 2.3 (15).
Davey was able to rebuild a fractured club, on and off the field, and lead them to premiership success in just three short years.
(Image: Stewart McLean/Cairns Post)
The 2021 grand final triumph against Cairns Saints snapped a 28-year premiership drought and brought joy to loyal supports who would not have thought it was possible.
The Lions juggernaut made it back-to-back premiership successes the following season after a 95-point drubbing of Port Douglas.
The club paid tribute to Davey's successes so far on their Facebook page.
"I'm sure many would agree Aaron's coaching and playing has been a key driver in the advancement of AFL football in Cairns and helped promote the game to where it is today in our regions," the post read.
"Aaron is in his sixth year as coach. Under his leadership, the club has grown in stature immensely and achieved what many thought was impossible."
In his prime, Davey was a tremendous footballer, featuring in 178 games and kicking 174 goals for Melbourne across a ten-year career at the elite level.
He had explosive acceleration with his hard tackling and defensive efforts a key feature of his game.
The silky-skilled utility called time on his AFL career at the end of the 2013 season and he quickly returned to the local footy ranks with his junior club Palmerston.
Other highly credentialed former AFL players have also pulled on a Lions jumper over the years, including Steven Motlop, Marlon Motlop, Eddie Sansbury, Ashton Hams, Jake Long and Aaron's younger brother Alwyn.
The Lions finished the 2023 season in fifth position, missing out on a finals berth by percentage.
