The Gold Coast Suns are set to shine
Columnist
By Melanie Dinjaski, 2 Sep 2010 Melanie Dinjaski is a Roar Expert
- Tagged:
- AFL, Gold Coast Suns, Karmichael Hunt, NRL
Many doubt that the AFL’s newest franchise, the Gold Coast Suns, will be successful in their first season. Upon the questionable signing of NRL superstar, Karmichael Hunt, this scepticism only increased. But as more and more big names are thrown into the mix of potential signings, the Suns look as though they might just emerge as one of the strongest outfits next season.
They’ve got their new guernseys, a surprisingly good team song, and the $126 million, 25,000 seat stadium is almost ready to accommodate their 8000 passionate members.
However, the Gold Coast Suns’ current existence is not exactly impressive, sitting at 10th on the VFL ladder, with just 5 wins. Hardly surprising considering that the current confirmed Sun squad has an average age of 20, with Daniel Harris being the oldest at 28!
But with a fan base that apparently exceeds 40,000, the Suns will have a lot to prove on the field, in their premiere AFL season. And the club is certainly trying to do their bit.
Along with the much publicised $3 million Karmichael Hunt signing, the Gold Coast Suns have unashamedly been throwing big money offers to big name players in an effort to bring some much needed experience to the team.
The latest Suns recruits, Adelaide’s Nathan Bock and Port Adelaide’s Nathan Krakouer were announced at a press conference yesterday, with Brisbane’s Michael Rischitelli extremely likely to follow suit.
The Suns have also been associated with the Western Bulldogs’ Jarrod Harbrow, Brisbane’s Jared Brennan, and Melbourne’s Cameron Bruce. But these players are yet to confirm where they’ll be in 2011.
The new club will get a further pool of talent with priority picks in the AFL Draft.
Gold Coast will receive the first three draft picks along with fifth, seventh, ninth, eleventh, thirteenth, and fifteenth picks, which along with their current squad, will give the club some strong foundations on which to build and develop from, in the future.
There are still questions over whether uncontracted Fremantle champion, Matthew Pavlich will make the move to the Suns in what is reportedly a multi-million dollar deal. Add all of this to the never ending speculation over Gary Ablett’s possible future at the Suns (reuniting with his brother Nathan) and you’ve got a very, very impressive team for AFL first-timers.
Over the coming weeks further signings of players in the bottom eight sides, will be officially announced, which will finally put an end to some speculation regarding the Suns recruitment endeavours. With the season finished for these teams, negotiations can be openly finalised for the first time since pre-season.
But for players who are playing finals footy (like Gary Ablett), unfortunately these announcements will have to wait.
I won’t say ‘dream team’, but boy oh boy, if they get just half of signatures they’re aiming for, it’s not too far off. One thing’s for sure, they’ll certainly make for a fascinating debut in the AFL.
You can follow Melanie Dinjaski on Twitter @MelanieDinjaski.
Enjoy sports? Enjoy a bargain? All Sports Online has your favourite sporting brands at up to 70% off. Online only, premium quality sporting goods and merchandise at discounted prices. Get a deal now.
Do you have what it takes to become a sports writer? Write for the roar
AFL articles
- More rugby league players to defect to the AFL? (159)
- Mobile madness: Optus decision bad news for codes (153)
- Foxtel’s AFL coverage is nirvana for footy fans (88)
- AFL divisions are the way of the future (84)
- Israel Folau now ready for AFL (75)
- AFL’s most hated club turns 120 years old (75)
- Optus ruling actually a good thing for AFL fans (52)
- Andrew Krakouer given four weeks leave from Collingwood
- Giants inspired to prove doubters wrong (32)
- Malthouse not fazed by assistant issue
- Richo says look out for the Tigers in AFL
- AFL clubs’ leadership groups getting out of hand (15)
- Who’s to blame for the Majak Daw beat-up? (32)
- AFL Tigers need to step up, says Cotchin
- AFL clubs’ leadership groups getting out of hand (15)
- AFL divisions are the way of the future (106)
- Crows changing, but will this AFL preview change your life? (2)
- Is Heath Shaw the right leader for Collingwood? (11)
- Could a female coach succeed in the AFL? (36)
- Demons’ two captain Jacks the right leadership choice (5)
- Mobile madness: Optus decision bad news for codes (153)
- Explore:
- AFL, Gold Coast Suns, Karmichael Hunt, NRL
Mister Football said | September 2nd 2010 @ 7:39am | Report comment
There’s still a fair bit of uncertainty about who they have signed up.
Either way, the very best they can hope for in their first season is to be competitive and not be on the end of too many shellackings.
Melanie Dinjaski said | September 2nd 2010 @ 9:52am | Report comment
I expect a few losses while the team attempts to ‘gel’. And that will be a very important factor.
macavity said | September 2nd 2010 @ 7:53am | Report comment
Nathan Bock…. just the sort of guy you want representing you.
Maybe they should have called them the Gold Coast Shiners….
bee said | September 2nd 2010 @ 8:29am | Report comment
The gold coast suns …
Bock and Krakouer are not going to have much impact …as people think….but if ablett pavlich etc sign for this team that’s is when the suns will be credible….as the old saying goes a champion team will always beat a team of champions……the big factor here is BLUEY …personally I think players feel extremely comfortable playing under him…he seems a very likable guy and fair man and playerswill want to win for him….football is a phsycological game and if you have people that you respect in your club such as bluey I’m sure it makes the job much easier ….so with his character and some experienced afl players I’m sure the suns will do well…can’t wait to see bock K and Krakouer lining up next to each other …what a credit to AFL that is …aboriginal background big unit bock and league /union convert
K next to each other certainly is a recipe for curiosity and excitement…
looking forward to seein who the new players are ….:)
HK47 said | September 2nd 2010 @ 4:09pm | Report comment
Do you know what? Its kind of hard not to love your coach when his name’s bluey (coached my last 2 years of junior football, probably wasn’t any different, but me and my teammates loved him, and we played finals for the first time ever).
Melanie Dinjaski said | September 2nd 2010 @ 7:27pm | Report comment
Roosy, Vossy. Likability triples with the added ‘y’…
MattS said | September 2nd 2010 @ 8:37am | Report comment
Suns memberships are only $40, let’s wait and see when the seating memberships come out and they start off losing!
JamesP said | September 2nd 2010 @ 11:54am | Report comment
I predict they will get to 10,000+ paid up members by the start f the season. That is a fantastic start. The other 10k will be travelling southerners coinciding their yearly trip to the Gold Coast with their football team playing the Suns. Can’t fail.
Western Sydney on the other hand…..
Melanie Dinjaski said | September 2nd 2010 @ 7:33pm | Report comment
10,000? That’s definitely achievable. And this will only grow if they perform early. They can finish at the bottom end of the ladder when the seaosn ends, but if they perform in the first few weeks, I really wouldn’t be surprised if they exceed a couple thousand more memberships…
TomC said | September 2nd 2010 @ 9:17am | Report comment
Melanie, the reasoning in this article doesn’t hold up. Approxaimtely half of the Suns first season squad will be teenage rookies who have never played an AFL game before. Even if they manage to get fifteen or so frontline players from other clubs (and so far they’ve only gotten Bock and Krakeour) they won’t have any meaningful depth once they start to pick up injuries during the season. Plus it’ll take quite some time for the team to gel in the way established teams have.
Not finishing last in 2011 would be an excellent result. They might be a ‘dream team’ in 2015, but a lot will have to go right for that to happen.
Melanie Dinjaski said | September 2nd 2010 @ 9:51am | Report comment
Well I suppose we can both agree that it will still be a fascinating debut.
todd said | September 2nd 2010 @ 10:36am | Report comment
i think its too early to predicts the success of the Suns in year 1. Lot will still depend on which delisted players they pick up and what home town support they garner when season proper 2011 kicks off. They are going to everyones tip for the wooden spoon
Republican said | September 2nd 2010 @ 3:25pm | Report comment
GC will struggle to be competitive I believe but that’s to be expected early on.
I think there are some promising recruits that they will develop, if they can hang onto them i.e. but KH is not one of them.
The hyperbole around this fella in justifying his inflated value is extraordinary.
Mister Football said | September 2nd 2010 @ 4:28pm | Report comment
I remember when Port came in (1997) and everyone was predicting that they would be lucky to win a game.
They had an inauspicious start when their magpie Victorian cousins gave them an 80 pt towelling in their first ever game (in front of a very healthy crowd) – eventually they only finished a couple of wins out of the 8.
The interesting thing about that Port team is that they only had four priority draft picks – but they were able to tie up a few SANFL youngsters the previous two seasons.
mds1970 said | September 2nd 2010 @ 5:31pm | Report comment
Bock and Krakoeur are hardly match-winners. There’ll be more signings to come, and it will be interesting to see who they get – especially if Gary Ablett makes the trip north.
But the majority of their team will be untested at this level. I think everyone realises it’s going to be hard work to turn them into a powerhouse team – but as they say in the cliches, the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. I’ll be watching with interest, especially as I’ll be seeing a similar story unfold at GWS a year later.
Like Mister Football mentioned, Port were surprisingly competitive in their first season. Likewise Freo weren’t the complete pushovers everyone was expecting. Hopefully Gold Coast will do the same.
Mister Football said | September 2nd 2010 @ 6:56pm | Report comment
Mentioning Freo, you remind me of one of the funnier footy stories I read around that time, and a hint as to why these newer clubs can sometimes be quite competitive despite not having a strong list.
After the first couple of rounds, players from Victoria were talking about how strange it was coming up against Freo, with them knowing hardly any of the players – so all the match ups had to be discussed like: you’re on no. 17, you’re picking up no.25, etc, the likes of which they would not have encountered since their junior playing days.
That momentary tentativeness as to who is meant to be on who can perhaps give the newer team a slight advantage, even if only fleeting.
Of course that was 1995 – it’s a different ball game these days.
Westcoast929406 said | September 2nd 2010 @ 5:34pm | Report comment
As Bluey said last week the Suns will have a torrid time in their first 2 seasons at least. However this club is aimed at future development and expansion in a non heartland region. Think 2015 folks.
There is an article on the Suns website discussing the growth of the game in QLD since the early 1990`s. The original article is in this weeks The Football Record it seems.
The comments above about a team in NZ eventually perhaps – The Hawks program is going into 50 schools this year up from 22.
The goal for 2012 is 150 schools. Some of the kids will stick – others will not.