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TWO young Townsville footballers received the opportunity of a lifetime on Thursday night when they were called up by the Brisbane Lions to join them in their training session.

Hermit Park Tigers Matt Storey (16-years-old) and Chas Reinhardt (17) won selection over a host of local juniors to test their skills against Queensland's only AFL team at Tony Ireland Stadium.

AFL Queensland's regional manager for Townsville Richie Lyons said the opportunity was a just reward for the two teenagers – who have both represented the Tigers in senior competition – after a stellar pre-season with the under-18 Townsville Eagles.

"They got to train with the Brisbane Lions which is a once in a lifetime opportunity so they were both over the moon to have that experience and they both performed very well," he said. "It's a credit to themselves, the blokes really deserved that opportunity, they've been working hard over the pre-season."

And while `Lethal' Leigh Matthews was not on hand to watch the local juniors, Lyons said the rest of the coaching staff were impressed with their aptitude at the training session.

"One of the assistant coaches said their skills were up to it and their fitness was up to it and they look forward to seeing them in the future," he said.

"It was fantastic to see those two boys getting an opportunity and while those two guys were out there training there were probably about another five or six kids that were watching and just wishing they could have been out there."

Lyons said he was hopeful more local juniors would get a chance to work directly with AFL clubs in the future, with more teams set to be lured to the north following the success of the Lions' four-day camp.

"Hopefully with the new facility, and (considering) the Lions have enjoyed their time up here, hopefully we get more AFL players," he said.

"Not just the Lions, but more AFL professional teams up here."

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