This year has seen massive progress from the Gold Coast Suns, as they finally turned potential into competitiveness on the field.
Gone are the regular thrashings that the team would cop.
Now they’re doing their own thrashing, none more so than against their fellow AFL infants the GWS Giants, and in a spectacular ten-goal win over Melbourne at the MCG.
Add to these wins, those over recent grand finalists St Kilda and Collingwood, and you now have a team that you won’t want to face when they are at their very best.
Let’s have a look back at the season that was for the Gold Coast Football Club.
What went right
Eight wins marked their best-ever effort in only their third season of existence – that’s more than their first two seasons combined, when they won just three games each.
Five of this season’s wins came at their home ground, Metricon Stadium, where they lost their first 17 matches in a row before finally breaking through against Greater Western Sydney in Round 20 last year.
Including the victory over Carlton late last year, which spelled the end of Brett Ratten at Princes Park, the Suns now have seven victories in their own backyard.
As a result, teams are no longer treating a trip to the Gold Coast as a holiday, like Collingwood did this year.
The season started off with a stunning 13-point boilover against St Kilda, who for so long had been anchored by passionate leadership from Nick Riewoldt, Nick dal Santo and Justin Koschitzke, among others.
Other significant wins came against the GWS Giants and Melbourne (twice each), as well as over the Western Bulldogs, North Melbourne and Collingwood, all at home.
The club’s largest defeat was only 52 points, against Geelong in round ten. This was the same team that dealt the club its worst ever defeat: by 150 points, back in round 20 of 2011.
Two players – Jaeger O’Meara and Tom Nicholls – were nominated for the Rising Star award, with the former eventually going on to win it.
Gary Ablett’s form has never been any better, being acknowledged as the AFL’s Most Valuable Player yet again, by a 1000-point margin over Geelong captain Joel Selwood.
The ‘Son of God’ is also favoured to take out his second Brownlow Medal after previously winning in 2009.
Ablett has been the heart behind the club’s eight victories this year, showing just how important he is to the team.
What went wrong
Even for a third-year team that still finished 14th with only eight wins, there really was nothing wrong for Guy McKenna’s men throughout the year.
However, there is one key match the Suns should have won, and that was back in round six against Fremantle, when Ross Lyon flew the then injury-ravaged Dockers – missing their two most important men, Matthew Pavlich and Aaron Sandilands – up to the Sunshine State.
The Suns had just pulled off a crushing victory over the GWS Giants and many saw them as favourites to beat the injury-cursed Dockers, but it was not to be.
The team also failed to capitalise on its victory over Collingwood when it lost to Carlton by 43 points in round 18 – this was the same team that the Suns beat back in Round 22 last year, and it was this match which spelled the end of Brett Ratten at Carlton.
The future
Now that the Suns have recorded their best-ever AFL season, the next few years will be about continuing to climb the ladder and also looking to claim a few more scalps.
Guy McKenna has done a good job establishing a team, mixing young and local players with successful and experienced players; and now it will be his job to mould them into a premiership team.
The Suns should aim to crack the top eight next year, which now seems a real possibility.
Questions the fans will want answered next season
– Can Gary Ablett continue to play his best football in 2014?
– How many games will the Gold Coast Suns win?
– Can they produce another line of young and talented players?
And last, but not least
– Can they take the next step up and make the finals in 2014?”
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