Suns must stand up, says McKenna
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No longer able to defend his battling AFL team, fed-up Gold Coast coach Guy McKenna has demanded the Suns stand up for themselves ahead of Saturday night’s home clash with North Melbourne.
The role of the protective parent has been ditched by McKenna in the aftermath of his young side’s woeful 95-point last round loss to St Kilda.
The Suns are no strangers to defeat – remarkably they have lost 18 straight games including all 11 of this year’s fixtures.
But it seems the final straw was the Saints marching to victory last weekend – a loss McKenna believed was as shattering as their club record 150-point mauling at Geelong last year.
Some critics even accused Suns players of giving up against St Kilda.
McKenna conceded he could no longer defend his youngsters.
“How can you? It’s been spot on,” McKenna said of the scathing criticism the Suns copped this week.
“It’s not going to be an overnight fix but I would think (after) what’s been spoken about it’s now time for action.
“We sit around and have meetings and reviews and talk the talk – now we have to walk the walk.
“Just some effort, the way we want to play, what we want to stand for.
“It’s time to start standing up for ourselves.”
McKenna may have been more interested in actions but he still had plenty more to say, daring them to show some pride in the Suns guernsey.
“If you can’t stand for anything, you’ve got to at least stand for the jumper,” he said.
“There’s people on the Gold Coast that have put this club up, set this club up, defined this jumper, defined its colours.
“We’ve got to bring that jumper to life.
“We’ve had our free hit last year and now we’ve got to stand up as one of 18 clubs in the AFL.”
McKenna’s job is safe after re-signing for two more seasons but some players won’t be afforded that luxury.
The Suns list will be reduced from 46 to 42 at the end of the season, and after juggling the injection of young gun Jaeger O’Meara, Queensland zone selections and draft picks, up to 10 players could be cut.
Asked what would be a “step forward” against the Kangaroos, McKenna said: “Just having a four-quarter, consistent effort.
“Given what we’ve spoken about I’d think they’d be thinking about one thing, getting some respect and showing some fight this weekend.”
In another blow, Suns hard man Campbell Brown (knee) is in doubt for the game at Metricon Stadium – where the Gold Coast remain winless.
© AAP 2013
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The Crowd Says (9) | Page 1 of Comments
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- AFL, Gold Coast Suns, Guy McKenna, North Melbourne Kangaroos
June 16th 2012 @ 9:34am
warren said | June 16th 2012 @ 9:34am | Report comment
The Suns have had a great chance to make inroads on the GC with all the issues that the Titans have been having. Instead they have gone backwards. I know that there is a long term view on introducing these new sides but at what expense? The crowds are reasonable given the clubs position on the table and against the NRL club but unlike the NRL teams there are a lot of travelling supporters that are making up the majority of the crowd. Soon those supporters will not come either if the game is going to be a walkover. That 200M allocated for the Suns and GWS is going to be used up very quickly if something is not done to arrest this position.
June 16th 2012 @ 11:33am
Lroy said | June 16th 2012 @ 11:33am | Report comment
The Gold Coast region has seen 5 professional Rugby League franchises, plus the Brisbane Bears…the current Titans are in financial difficulty from what I have read.
To me, teams in western Sydney and Gold Coast are car accidents waiting to happen, Lord knows what Demetriou was thinking when he awarded those franchises.
Surely Canberra, Hobart, Launceston and Darwin would have been better options for expansion teams. Townsville has a big military population with lots of Vics, Sandgropers and Croweaters.. they should play a few games up there to get an idea as to what kind of crowds they might get.
As for the players not performing, its not rocket science, you have a bad game, you go back to the QAFL.. simple.
June 16th 2012 @ 11:38am
Calcio said | June 16th 2012 @ 11:38am | Report comment
The AFL had absolutely no regard for the history of sporting teams on the GC in setting up. Expect that to come home to roost within the near future.
The idea of sticking pins in maps is best left to generals, Andrew.
June 16th 2012 @ 11:43am
Brewski said | June 16th 2012 @ 11:43am | Report comment
Southport football club has for many years been pushing it’s case for higher representation, seriously considering joining the SANFL at one stage.
The area has a pretty strong grass roots AF base, and is also a growing area.
Actually sounds like a good idea to me.
June 16th 2012 @ 11:52am
Lroy said | June 16th 2012 @ 11:52am | Report comment
Dude, I played a few games in the QAFL reserves back in 1987 when I was in the army up there. Southport at the time had most of the Brisbane bears who weren’t in the VFL each week in their side, they would have given decent WAFL or SANFL clubs a decent game I think.
Southport should have been the club the AFL put its in, long history, good administration, loyal supporters etc, yes, I would agree with you on this one. Actually when I first heard a team was going to the GC, I just assumed Southport was going to get the franchise.
June 16th 2012 @ 11:54am
The Cattery said | June 16th 2012 @ 11:54am | Report comment
Southport is a major backer of the Suns, and has a close association, but the AFL was keen on starting up a new club to maximise local support.
June 16th 2012 @ 11:53am
The Cattery said | June 16th 2012 @ 11:53am | Report comment
Calcio
I note that the Suns’ average attendances have been higher than the titans in their very short history (despite losing every home game so far), and please, please, let us not even compare to GCU!!
June 16th 2012 @ 10:23pm
Ted Skinner said | June 16th 2012 @ 10:23pm | Report comment
No it hasn’t.
Last year it may have been but the the Titans average over 21K for their first couple of seasons.
The Suns have got as low as 29K on the FTA TV Ratings in South-East Queensland. The lowest in the history of any pro football code in Queensland.
June 16th 2012 @ 10:28pm
The Cattery said | June 16th 2012 @ 10:28pm | Report comment
Good ratings for 7Mate.