Centrals Trinity assistant coach Jason Roe has called on the league’s support to help equalise what he has labelled a lopsided competiton, before quality players start looking elsewhere for a game.

Roe argued that players had already left the region, or have been enticed not to come, because of the lopsided table after one full round that sees South Cairns, Saints and Port Douglas as the clear front runners with North Cairns occuping middle ground in fourth.

He has called on AFL Cairns assistance for the lower-ranked clubs in an effort to create parity and make the league more appealing to talented players.

“Once again it’s a three-team competition and the rest of us are a level below; it’s happened year after year and it’s disappointing for us and it’s gotta be disappointing for Cairns AFL,” he said.

Roe’s first gig in Cairns was as an assistant at North Cairns before he coached a bulk of last season at the Lions and then moved to operate under Peter Seymour at Trinity Beach this season. Despite his club celebrating a win against Manunda 8.22 (70) to 6.7 (43) on the weekend, the former Adelaide Crows development observer said “good football people” were getting turned off by the uneven standard of the competition.

He said the top three were at a different class this season and that recruiting quality long-term players, who are lured by playing in premiership sides, to the lower-ranked clubs was tough.

“If they are serious about making this a quality competition, they’ve got to make the bottom four sides more competitive,” he said. “I am not whingeing, I just know we deserve more than what we get.”

Centrals’ two wins have come against a young Hawks side that are yet to win a game.

Cairns City Lions have improved this season but still sit second last with just two wins.