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The Gold Coast Suns made their much awaited AFL debut on Saturday night in Brisbane, with the match providing a rude wake-up call to Gold Coast players and supporters.
The Suns were no match for a far superior Carlton side, and were trounced by 119 points as Blues captain Chris Judd’s celebrated his 200th AFL game with an easy victory.
Many held high hopes for the Suns in their opening match, but the game was effectively over at quarter time, with the Blues kicking nine goals to one in the opening term as Bret Thornton terrorised the Gold Coast defence.
From there, it was just a matter of how far Carlton would extend its victory margin by the time the final siren sounded.
The Gold Coast side fielded twelve debutants, and they would have learned more in the three hours of football on Saturday night than in their whole pre-season on the standard that is required to be competitive at AFL level.
Interestingly, while many pundits believed that the Suns’ backline would hold up well while the forward line looked light on talent, the reverse proved true.
Suns coach Guy McKenna was forced to play several players behind the ball in an effort to stem the flow of Carlton goals, while the Gold Coast forward line looked serviceable by comparison.
Charlie Dixon looked impressive in the forward line, and showed a willingness to use his big frame to crash through opponents and create a contest.
As a native Queenslander, it was fitting that Dixon scored the Suns first goal in the AFL when he gathered a spilled ball, and ran into an open goal midway through the first quarter. Brandon Matera also looked promising in the Suns forward line, showing great foot skills in the forward half of the ground.
Gold Coast captain Gary Ablett had a wretched pre-season marred by groin and calf injuries, and he would be disappointed in his individual performance on Saturday night.
Much has been made of the fact that he will not have the same level of protection from the young bodies of his Gold Coast teammates compared to the army of mature bodied blockers he played with at Geelong.
Ablett lacked space to move in, and looked rushed when he disposed of the ball. It is a situation he will have to become accustomed to over the next several seasons.
With so many young teammates, Ablett will be forced to find his own ball, and not rely on being an outside player as he was at Geelong. If he needs ideas on how to do this, he needs to look no further than his opposing captain on Saturday night.
When Chris Judd moved from the powerhouse West Coast Eagles to the young Carlton side in 2008, he was forced to tweak his game in a manner similar to that required of Ablett this season.
It will be interesting to see how the Suns fare over the next month. With first game nerves out of the way, expect to see a more composed and settled playing group as the young side continues to gain experience at AFL level.
Though it was obviously not the start that the new club was hoping for, it is clear that the Suns will be a force to be reckoned with several years from now.
The Suns side is jam-packed with young talent, and Saturday night’s match will be the first stepping stone on the club’s march up the ladder. A reasonable projection for the rise of the Suns will see them finish bottom four this year, outside the eight next year, finals contenders in 2013, and possible top four aspirants in 2014 and beyond.
As for the question of when the Suns will achieve their first ever win? Pencil in May 7th, when Gold Coast face the Lions in the inaugural Queensland Clash.
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