Gold Coast Suns given another hammering

Hunt's next salary package will not be outside the salary cap and even if it was it will still cause salary cap issues if you were a Swallow or a Smith or Dixon and were being offered less money than Hunt to stay at the Suns would you accept that or would you demand more or go to another club that is offering more? If the Suns are going to be taken seriously they have to 1) Win games and 2) Use their best players in marketing, by the end of next year the novelty of an NRL player playing AFL will have worn off. If Hunt was any other player he would get about $60k plus I think about $1500 a game this year so if he played every game it would be about $90-$100k him getting $200k would effectively be doubling his salary which not many 3rd year players get. As for the french offer , yes it might of been 30% higher but also involved moving to the other side of the world. YOu also said it would of been easy money, I'm not sure I know of any easier money than getting paid $1m to play 2's footy for a year and then have 2 years of getting paid $1m regardless of performance or injury.

Hunts renumeration package is outside of the salary cap. The french contract was 30% more than the AFL. To claim Hunts salary should be used as a benchmark for fellow team mate rookies lacks substance.

I was being very generous giving him $200k if you look at the quality of players in the AFL earning that sort of money. If the Suns were going to pay him any more than that they will be running into either massive salary cap issues as all their top draft picks will want at least that much or they will lose them to rival teams that are already circling as evidenced by carlton's CEO's comments on the weekend. As for the French club he can go back there any time and earn similar money to what he was offered, the chance to get millions out of th AFL is a once in a lifetime deal.

Once again predicting his future base on his market value after 3 games. Here's a couple for you, why didn't Hunt take the Japanese suntory deal worth more than the AFL. Why didn't Hunt accept the massive offer from the French Club Biarritz's. It would have been easy money without all the dramas, what would have been your preferred option?

When his contract runs out at the end of next year the suns will be offering him something more in line with his actual market value (less than $200k) and the NRl will offer him maret value for them (more than $1m) which one do you think he will take?

Trust Me said a lot more than the 11 A-League team’s Is there 11 teams in the a-league ?.

Gold Coast Suns aren't propped up by the AFL? To the tune of $200M in fact - a lot more than the 11 A-League team's combined budget. You'd have to go back to the 80s to find an AFL attendance as low as 12,111 and what sort of return is that on your investment.

Not that it's terribly important, but I believe in always correcting the record whenever someone puts up false information. Trust me was incorrect about the Roar's home crowd average, according to this wiki article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010%E2%80%9311_Brisbane_Roar_season#Home_Attendance It says that the Roar home average was 9,279 for the 2010-11 season. Just so as people understand the numbers. The premier soccer team in the country, that broke all records, went 25+ games undefeated, was top for most of the year, in its sixth season, averaged a home crowd of 9,279 (marginally higher than the A-League crowd). The Suns, a team consisting mostly of 18-19 year old kids, in their first year in the AFL, in their 2nd home game, that's not even being played in their city but about 90km North, got 12,111. In the meantime, a bunch of NRL games over the weekend got between 8k and 10k. In context, is 12,111 all that bad? Judging by the other numbers I've put up, it seems to me it could be a whole lot worse!

You can have athletic attributes of elite status at recruitment stage but it counts for nothing if your mental application wanes while under pressure.The game is 80% mental 20% physical. I believe karmichael has the capacity to process instructions and deliver them in the best way possible. If you watch him live you would notice he has view of an arm chair critic, he knows whats going on but in reality lacks afl experience. K's big game experience and toughness to go hard is advantage over his rookie team mates and no doubt the coaching staff look favourably at those qualities including his learning abilities.

Trust me, The AFL game I was at, Essendon v Carlton was 78,650 so kinda good. The A league has never had a crowd that big have they. That's not a mistake by the way, 78,000!! I mean its about 20,000 more than the A League has ever drawn in a Grand Final , in fact its possibly more than some entire rounds of the A league. if the Bris Roar are travelling that well why do they need to be propped up by the FFA? Suns are playing at the GABBA in Brisbane but in fact are a Gold Coast team. Just what sort of attendances do the Gold Coast A League team draw? Be very interested to hear.

Trust Me you asked about attendances for the Round 4. They amounted to 256,511 with 7 games for an average of 36,644. Interestingly, Round 4 produced the two lowest crowds of the season: 12,111 at the Gabba to watch the Suns and 15,063 at Lonnie to watch Hawthorn. So to average 36,644 for the round, with those two low crowds included, is pretty good.

Trust Me I'll take your word for it, that Brisbane Roar has a higher average. I do note that the A-League as a whole averaged 9,796 in the 2009-10 season. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_attendance_figures_at_domestic_professional_sports_leagues and I believe that it was even lower in 2010-11. Of course it's common knowledge that Gold Coast United s averaged about 3,000 in their first two seasons, and they had the advantage of finishing 3rd in both seasons, and even played their games on the Gold Coast. My gut feel is that the Suns average by year's end will be at least quadruple that of the Gold Coast over the last two seasons, at least. What do you think?

It's certainly true that he's facing immense pressure, and it has to be said, he is handling it quite well - that's a big achievement in itself. Just watching Insiders, they were talking about Majak Daw, a Sudanese refugee who is relatively new to the game (last few years). He has all the athletic qualities, indeed, he's at the high end of elite, but North want to get a second year of VFL footy into him to make sure he's ready. It was the same with Kenneally and Stynes, two or three years of reserves footy. Hunt really needed a second year in the VFL (as it is, he only had half a season last year). He is also at a disadvantage in that he is surrounded by kids who are even less prepared than he is. Curiously, Hunt will be ready for AFL footy as he approaches the end of his contract (three years in the system) - so it's not out of the question that he might want to stick with it at the precise moment when he will be able to contribute the most. However, at that exact point, these dozen or so potential champs will also be ready for AFL footy.

And what were the attendances at the other AFL games on the weekend Redb? How is the AFL travelling in terms of comparison to previous years? Better or worse?

So 12K at an AFL game is good? That's less than the Brisbane Roar's average in the A-League.

What evidence or facts do you have in saying Hunt will head back to the NRL? Its clear your death riding this topic all the way to mars, In Hunts defence he has done a fantastic job considering the unbelievable amount of pressure surrounding his transition. Any normal person or rookie regardless of the money would have buckle ten fold, Scott Clayton would have witness a load of talent {and miss} with his experience he would know who's got it & who's willing to get oppose to those who haven't. When Hunt came on the market Scott recruited him knowing he has something to offer other than publicity value.Time will tell, stay tune.......

Just did a bit of googling and Brennan was the eighth after Brisbane and the AFL gave permission, who would of thought the AFL were willing to change the rules to help the suns? Although given Brennan's reputation at the Lions and his performances so far I'm not sure how much help it was.

I counted Fraser as number 7 but as they could only take 1 uncontracted player from each club and traded for Brennan I can't see how he is counted in the 8. They could of traded every pick they had for established players and they wouldn't of been part of the 8. As for the Salary Cap issue even if every cent is outside the cap as I have said previously given the large number of first year players and the extra money the Suns have I doubt that they are anywhere close to reaching the cap so what advantage does it give them? Ablett gets marketing money that is outside the cap so clearly the AFL would of given it to other established players, especially as they aren't interested in a level playing field just creating success for the Suns. They could of paid less than$100k for a Duigan or Richardson or Pederson etc and used the rest for marketing and got a better result. What is the point in getting a development player when he is going to be gone back to the NRL before the club gets it's return? Campbell Brown is hardly the clubs best defender but even if he was look at Matthew Watson for the blues played his second game on Dawes and Cloke would of had 6 marks, 10 possessions, no critical errors, 1 tackle and 4 goals kicked against and he gets dropped, why should Hunt be treated differently? It also isn't just this game, he got smashed against the Blues by their 7th best forward who can't get into the team anymore.

Macca, Hunt is *completely* outside the salary cap. Every single damn dollar. "Even though Hunt's wage sits outside the salary cap and the major portion of it is for promotional duties, GCFC chairman John Witheriff said he would not be asked to do any more than any one else at the club, including himself." http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/afl/andrew-demetriou-smiling-as-karmichael-hunt-arrives-home-to-kick-off-afl-career-with-gold-coast/story-e6frepf6-1225872711859 You would not have got this concession from the AFL to hire any existing AFL players. Fraser and Brennan both counted against the eight players, by the way The AFL's strategy with Hunt was to try and get the NRL to match the money, hopefully kicking off another unaffordable cycle of payments to elite players (if Hunt is worth a million a year, then whats Prince or Thurston worth ?). Gold Coast's strategy was to get an exciting development player for nothing. In other news, a three-game veteran has problems when asked to cover the opponent's best forward, due to the suspension of his side's number one defender.

Let's say they picked up Duigan and/or Cam Pederson (Nth Melb) would Hunt get a game? His only asset is that he is a mature body and if there is another mature body there with better talent what does he provide? Is that why they didn't go down that path? And why put time and effort into moulding Hunt into a Footballer when he will take the bigger money the NRL will be offering when his contract runs out? Hunt might not be the "problem" but he certainly isn't the solution.