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.
Queensland's game is rugby league
Guest
The Greater Brisbane Junior Rugby League has 41 teams competing at the U/16 level. 2011 BBJC Under 16 Division 1 North Burpengary PCHS Brothers Mitchelton Aspley Valleys Banyo 2011 BBJC Under 16 Division 1 South Capalaba Souths St Brendans Centenary Redlands Mt Gravatt 2011 BBJC Under 16 Division 2 North Arana Hills Wests PCHS Redcliffe Deception Bay Narangba Samford 2011 BBJC Under 15 Division 3 North Samford Arana Hills Deception Bay Aspley Pine Rivers Burpengary St Josephs PCHS 2011 BBJC Under 15 Division 3 South Waterford Beenleigh Redlands Logan Brothers Mustangs Capalaba Greenbank Mt Gravatt Slacks Creek 2011 BBJC Under 16 Premier Carina Waterford Easts Logan Brothers Teams based in Ipswich compete under the IJRL. There are 19 teams competiting in the IJRL's two open competitions for persons aged 15 and over. 2011 IJRL Open Green Goodna Brothers Springfield Laidley Norths Redbank Brisbane Valley-Lowood Swifts Karalee 2011 IJRL Open White West End Brothers Fassifern Norths Brothers Rosewood Norths Springfield Goodna Swifts That brings the number of junior rugby league teams to 60. Twice the number than are currently playing Aussie rules. The BJRL continues to experience a record for club registrations. Rugby league just keeps on getting stronger in south-east Queensland. Rugby league fans are often hesitant to let their children play the game because it's the most physical football code. Juniors tend to drop out of the game in large numbers at U/12's and U/16s because the competitions only cater towards the best athletes -- as Phil Gould pointed out in one of his most recent articles, rugby league doesn't really have social leagues for people who only want to play for fun and aren't interested in making it to the NRL -- so the ones who are too small, too slow and too shy find it frightening to play on while their peers grow bigger, become faster and develop more hunger for success. This will change over the next decade. When social competitions with weight limits are created specifically for average-skilled juniors -- this could very well happen when the new commission is brought in -- then fringe sports like Aussie rules will really feel it in NSW and QLD.
Queensland's game is rugby league
Guest
The link you gave only includes teams from U/8s to U/16s. There are only 30 teams competing in the two U/16 competitions that are ongoing at the moment: Aspley Coorparoo Redland Mt Gravatt Wilston Grange Sandgate Morningside Sherwood Calamvale Kenmore Redcliffe Jindalee Beenleigh Ferny Grove Caboolture Yeronga Redland Red Mt Gravatt White Everton Springwood Navy Wilston Grange/Zillmere Wests Juniors Aspley Brown Ipswich Springwood Gold Morningside Red Wynnum Kedron Sandgate Red Jindalee/Forest Lake/Sherwood Notice how the competition includes teams from Redland CIty Council, Moreton Bay Region, Ipswich City Councill and Logan City Council? So much for it being a "Brisbane" league! Ipswich isn't even included in the greater Brisbane area!
Queensland's game is rugby league
Guest
Lions are still a failure. Routinely fail to make a profit.
Queensland's game is rugby league
Guest
"there are around 35 under 18 teams and around 90 senior teams across Brisbane ……. a minority sport … dont think so." You mean there are 35 U/18 teams and 90 senior teams across the south-east Queensland area, with the AFL labelling it the "Brisbane" district to make up for the fact that the teams are so sparely spread about that a competition with teams from Brisbane only would be so small it would be ridiculous, right?
The_Wookie
Roar Guru
most of us have known that this is a long term project and taht you dont write a team off after one match.
Bondy
Guest
Hey Wookie . Hang in their mate you'll get there with the Suns.There's an Old Chinese saying ( the Ox is slow but the earth is patient ).
The_Wookie
Roar Guru
TV rights make up less than half of the AFLs overall revenue. It makes up 2/3rds of NRL revenue. I dont think that gap is going to close as fast as you think.
Sherrin-Burley-Faulkner
Guest
Australian football in QLD is on the way up, or not far from it, the Brisbane Lions are about as low as they can go, the wheel will turn. The GC Suns are in it for the long haul, the wheel will also turn, in the years to come both AFL teams will grow the game in QLD, membership numbers even this year confirms this. Grass roots football in QLD also continues to grow, junior numbers are up around 10% on the GC which is to be expected, and i note with interest that there are around 35 under 18 teams and around 90 senior teams across Brisbane ....... a minority sport ... dont think so. I also note that there are many thousands of kids playing junior football across the Brisbane region as awell as good comps in both the sunshine coast and GC. http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?c=1-3928-0-0-0&a=COMPS
Queensland's game is rugby league
Guest
Aussie rules is a minority sport in Queensland. Having a dud team like the Suns running around will do more to harm the game's image than anything else. Introducing the Suns and GWS is the best thing the AFL has ever done for rugby league. It has forced the NRL to up its community involvement in the western suburbs of Sydney and has encouraged casual rugby league supporters on the Gold Coast to become active members of the Titans. The money lost propping up the Suns and GWS will help bridge the gap between AFL and NRL. If the new AFL TV deal isn't as strong as people thought -- what I've read in the newspaper suggests it isn't -- then the AFL's revenue could dry up within a decade.
Dingo
Guest
I can see teams resting some players who may have niggling injuries or just give certain players a rest when they play GC. I hope for their sake and that of footy in QLD that they don't cop 100+ beltings week in week out.
T
Guest
What a load of crap. Got any sources re under the table deals? In case you haven't noticed there's been plenty of WA developed WA youngsters drafted in the last 5 years going to VICTORIAN clubs and other states. The top two draft picks were WA boys, maybe they should be stolen back to the Eagles or Dockers. Why don't we just go back to zoning and then people can stop making stupid comments.
Macca
Guest
The way collingwodd monstered North's grown men on Saturday they'll breeze past the Suns boys.
mcsimmo
Roar Rookie
that's true Macca, I guess it could get worse. As you've noted, Carlton should be amongst the top 8 but there are better teams out there and you can only imagine the carnage if a Collingwood or Geelong gets fired up and really goes for it.
Macca
Guest
Mcsimmo - They can easily get worse if Ablett or Bock get an injury or later in the year when the young blokes start wearing out.
Macca
Guest
I am a blues supporter Grant and I do think that they will make the top 8 but not with the side they had out there on Saturday night, add in Jamison, Bower, Kreuzer and Henderson (maybe even Mclean if he ever gets fit) and they'll be there bubt that won't make the Gold Coast that lost on the weekend any better. I am happy to wait another couple of weeks for you to concede.
mcsimmo
Roar Rookie
Those making pro-GC comments, keep in mind that the scoreline didn't even reflect the absolute divide in class between these two teams. Carlton took the pedal off and still won by 20 goals. The reason the veterans didn't step up, is because footy's a team game, and if the rest of your teammates can't help you, then you're in big trouble, and that was certainly the case here. Will they improve? Sure, they can't get any worse. Will they win a game? Sure, they can surprise a team like Brisbane or North Melbourne, but based off what we saw on Saturday night, it isn't going to get much better than that this season.
It’s starting to look as though you may have been right Macca but it is still too early for me to concede defeat. :) Yes the suns defeat was terrible because of the huge margin and the ease with which it was obtained but that is not all. I don’t rate Carlton as a top eight side this year (no offence Blues supporters) and that makes the Gold Coasts loss even worse. Of course Carlton might prove me wrong and then the defeat won’t seem as bad.
Macca
Guest
Who will they beat? they lost by 20 goals to a Carlton side missing 4 of it's key position players. Their kids will improve of the next few weeks but in the second half of the season will run out of puff because they simply don't have the fitness base. They play Port Adelaide and West Coast only once and both away, There is absolutely no way they will win 2 games let alone 8
Fool
Guest
Ahh, you stole Judd in the first place from Victoria. Try developing your own talent. Just thank your lucky stars West Coasters the league does not do an NRL style audit of that premiership win. The words I hear are a lot of under the table deals were done to top up player's wages.
Australian Football: Central Coast Represent
Guest
Gold Coast had 12 kids debut on one night, each team wont have anymore than 5 new players debut each year. Teams are now suggesting that versing the Gold Coast is like having a bye, what kind of garbage is that? Gold Coast, sure got smashed by a very good Carlton outfit, who had there own motivation, Chris Judd's 200th. Gold Coast will not make the 8, thats a given, but i dont think its 100% certain they will win the wooden spoon either. Gold Coast played there first game ever and had 12 out 22 kids debuting, can you imagin e how nervous you would be. there older players didnt stand up, which they needed to, once they do the younger kids will follow and as the year goes on they'll get more run into there legs and gain a hell of a lot of experience. Gold Coast will win 5 - 8 games and will have a good year, Carlton we're very good and Gold Coast we're very ordinary, what did you expect?