Will the Suns nickname light up the Gold Coast?

 
Michael DiFabrizio Columnist

By , 15 Jul 2010 Michael DiFabrizio is a Roar Expert

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Karmichael Hunt of Gold Coast in action during the VFL Round 09 match between the Coburg Tigers and Gold Coast at Highgate Recreation Reserve, Melbourne. Slattery Images

Karmichael Hunt of Gold Coast in action during the VFL Round 09 match between the Coburg Tigers and Gold Coast at Highgate Recreation Reserve, Melbourne. Slattery Images

The Gold Coast Suns. That was the name being floated for the AFL’s 17th club yesterday, with the claim items with the name have already been printed and the revelation the AFL have bought a number of domain names relating to the title.

When you throw in the fact this year’s membership campaign has “Rise Up” as its theme, the dots practically join themselves.

Gold Coast did not confirm the rumours, it should be said. But that’s exactly what you’d expect from a club selling tickets to next Thursday’s guernsey and nickname unveiling for $175 per head.

While nothing is expected to be official until then, the prospect of a “Suns” in the AFL became a big talking point yesterday.

As you’d expect, there were those in favour of it and those that weren’t. Surprisingly, there was a pretty healthy level of support from those in favour, which is something of a rarity when new clubs announce their new names – especially when those names are perceived to be “too American”.

The Suns name has its origins with the NBA’s Phoenix Suns but has also featured locally in the NBL with the Townsville Suns, who later had to change their name to the Crocodiles after a trademark dispute with their Phoenix-based counterparts. You would like to think the AFL have ensured such issues won’t come up again, if this is the name they go ahead with.

The name seems to be a natural enough fit for the new club, however. The sunshine is definitely one of the things outsiders would associate with the Gold Coast and given a Queensland sporting franchise has already seen fit to use the name, there’s a good chance it will resonate with the locals as well.

And from a personal viewpoint, the fact the nickname is plural provides another plus. Non-plural nicknames are very hard to pull off, with the A-League’s Melbourne Victory being an exception rather than the rule.

One potential downside to the name will be finding a suitable mascot. Somehow one doubts a Jackie Moon-inspired look would suffice. More realistically, the club will probably be stuck with something along the lines of Fremantle’s surfer boy mascot, who doesn’t resemble that club’s nickname, which wouldn’t be ideal.

But overall, the name seems to be a pretty decent choice. Some of the options might have seemed more appealing, but the club could do a lot worse than Suns. Even then, it will probably seem a bit more natural once we’re all used to it, another thing that is typically the case when new clubs unveil their branding.

It will be interesting to see how Gold Coast respond to the question of how they came to choosing the name, however.

It should be remembered that the club has already held one dinner to supposedly announce its name. At that time, they left fans hanging with the “Gold Coast Football Club” title and said they wanted a nickname to evolve over time, and for supporters to drive it and not the club. How much influence supporters have had this time around remains to be seen.

For a club that has handled most aspects of its development with a pleasing level of professionalism, the handling of the name and colours – something else that might change next week – doesn’t appear to have come along so seamlessly.

But we’ll be able to dissect this side of the debate more thoroughly after next week’s announcement.

For the time being, it’s looking very much like the Gold Coast Suns will be the side that runs out next year. It might take some getting used to, but for mine, it’s not such a bad choice.

Follow Michael on twitter @mdifabrizio
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