I have a confession to make. I have a soft spot for the Gold Coast Suns. And Greater Western Sydney, too. I even picked up one of those Beanie Kids thingies in our local Post Office the other day, looked it over, and considering buying it.
No, it’s not because I think the AFL should have put its next two expansion teams there (I believe Hobart, Darwin or Canberra would have been better), nor is it because I’m a rabid fan of either Karmichael Hunt or Israel Folau (although all the best to both blokes in the switch from rugby league to footy).
It’s more to do with the fact that the AFL has sunk so much dosh into the two new franchises – and it’d be pretty gutting for the competition’s management to see them utterly fail. Not only that, but there seems to be an attempt to redress the imbalance that’s currently weighted in favour of Victorian clubs in a supposedly national league.
The ratio used to be 10:6, now it’s 10:8.
What’s the likelihood of it becoming 10:10 in the coming years? So anything that gets the sport noticed around more of Australia can’t be a bad thing either if the AFL wants to eventually dominate the minds of the entire continent’s sports buffs. Add to that the fact that anything fresh on the menu attracts a degree of optimism and a positive vibe from the neutrals (of which I am one) and there are some decent reasons as to why the Gold Coast (and later Western Sydney) might draw more crowds than anticipated.
Whether they can win the title is really a moot point. Witness the jubilation when Championship teams return to (or arrive in) the English Premier League after the annual play-offs at Wembley.
It means so much to just be in such illustrious company as the Manchester Uniteds of the land – and to have earned the right to do so.
That’s what matters with the Suns and Giants. Nobody is expecting a string of premierships. Just a proverbial red-hot go, week-in week-out (all right, not like the Essendon match for the Gold Coast). And while some may say its diluting the AFL talent pool (that’s kind of difficult to do when there are state leagues, junior leagues and country leagues everywhere as well), it’s also going to bring more people to the game itself.
The Suns-Brizzy match alone garnered an apparently record pay-TV audience.
“Many felt they would fail to win a game,” wrote Herald Sun journo Robert Craddock on May 8.
“Suddenly they have two… This match was the true arrival of the Suns.”
And don’t forget that the Gold Coast side is also sitting 13th on the ladder after seven rounds – that’s above St Kilda, North Melbourne, Port Power and Brisbane, you know.
I was daft enough to pick them in their opening week against Carlton in round two. Daft enough again to do so in round four against Melbourne. And daft enough to pick the Power to beat them in Adelaide in round five. Typical! They lose when you think they’ll win – and win when you think they’ll lose.
It was probably time to go with my mind ahead of my imagination… I then tipped the increasingly-impressive Essendon to beat the Gold Coast at Etihad a weekend later, but was smart enough to tick the right box ahead of last Friday’s win over Brisbane. And how great did it feel – I scored seven out of eight in my workplace footy tipping comp as a result, I believe, of picking the Suns in the Q-Clash.
As far as I am aware, only one other colleague did the same thing.
I can tell what’s coming though…With quivering pen-hand, I’ve crossed the Suns out at Footy Park against the Adelaide Crows. Only due to home ground advantage. And just to rub it in, the Gold Coast will probably shock everyone by winning again.
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