There is a small but not insignificant chance that football is broken.
Saturday night saw a brand of football so cataclysmically bad that you had to wonder whether there would be lasting repercussions. Last week in this space, meaningless football was celebrated. This week, meaninglessness lost hard.
North Melbourne versus Collingwood was one thing. A very bad game between a very bad team and a less bad team. TV commentators headed to the refuge of ‘so bad it’s almost good!’ Radio commentators were more sincere, settling for ‘so bad it’s really bad’.
But North had their momentous win last week, and Collingwood, it turns out, are kind of okay. The real debacle was out West.
The Dockers weren’t culpable for the buffet of bad football that was served at their home ground. They were fine, and have developed into an oddly ‘fine’ team. Nat Fyfe is back, and magnificent, and with David Mundy, the Hill brothers, Lachie Neale and others, they have a surprising amount of ‘fine’ players, competent and classy workers who can somewhat efficiently punish bad football.
The Gold Coast Suns love punishment and they adore bad football. They are either an utter disgrace or masochists who need to be helped. On a broken Saturday night for football, the game’s most broken team played at their most shatteringly woeful.
Gold Coast is a catastrophe. This is no longer quiet, or okay. They are heading towards their seventh straight losing season. Since their inception, a ‘winning season’ has remained nothing more than idea, something reserved for others to experience. After finishing 15th and 16th the past two seasons, they sit in 15th again this year, two wins from 14th. Nothing has changed.
(AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
Ineptitude has remained nauseatingly constant. Against Fremantle, they looked like coach Tony Shaw’s worst Collingwood teams, unable to hit unpressured 20-metre passes, kicking over the heads of players wide open in the corridor, and just generally looking like they were all drunk or disinterested or both.
There does not appear to be any plan. Somehow, the Suns won the inside 50 count against the Dockers yet had 13 fewer scoring shots. Time and time again they would blaze away into ‘attack’, without a prayer or a teammate in sight, purple guernseys outnumbering Gold Coast players three to one, often three to none.
Failure is everywhere on the Coast. The Suns have not drafted or recruited well. Either the coach is clueless, or the players are unsalvageable. Rough diamonds have not been found or moulded, and star players have either regressed or stagnated. Tom Lynch is a sad, lost footballer.
Careers go to die at Metricon Stadium. No culture has ever been created, with hired guns recruited instead of leaders.
The Gold Coast, while the sight of some of his most breathtaking achievements, is a stain on Gary Ablett’s legacy. Perhaps it’s not his fault. Not every player should have the burden of building a club from nothing, setting high standards and inspiring everyone who walks in the door. Not every player is capable.
It’s unfair, but these are the standards that Ablett will be judged by. That is the price you pay for being the greatest player of the past two decades. And what he has delivered the Gold Coast is a remarkable individual and an utterly broken collective, one that does not appear to know how to put itself together for a first time or any time.
Simoc
Guest
That's what I reckon Rick. When Mckenna finally got the team playing well they sacked him. And Eade was the worst possible choice imaginable. He was finished a long time back and his teams have never played a great brand of footy.The Suns administration have been absolutely clueless. Down the road Brisbane are playing far better football under the new Chris Fagan.
Kangajets
Guest
I'm with George. The lions need to be terminated from the afl
Paul D
Roar Guru
Each to their own. They're not building the houses on top of the rubbish dump. And I'm pretty certain you wouldn't move to Manus Island. No-one would want to live there.
Seano
Roar Rookie
I usually like your posts but as someone who lives on the coast I feel the need to pull you up on something. Move to Springfield? I would move to Manus Island before there!!! Didn't you watch 4 corners on Monday?
Seano
Roar Rookie
Your friends seem like losers. I have lived here for 10 years and me and my friends love sport. As I have said a million times. More Aussie rules clubs than rugby clubs on the coast. The richest non afl club in the country on the coast. A Gold Coast club is on track for its 3rd straight state league flag only team standing in its way also from the coast. Hundreds of kids playing junior footy every weekend including my 2 boys. Yes the Suns are a basket case but that's the AFL's doing. The sharks asked for the licence, they had the cash and the training facility but the AFL wanted control so here we are and we have to make it work.
deccas
Guest
We'll see if the cross river rail ever gets up. I doubt it somehow.
Conor
Roar Guru
What a coincidence that the day after you write this, Rodney Eade is sacked haha. Hope the Suns now find a quality coach
Paul D
Roar Guru
He has too. Superb timing on the article Jay. They reckon he will quit immediately too, won't be coaching this weekend against us.
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
Well, Rodney Eade has been sacked apparently.
Pauly
Guest
But as is often pointed out on another tab, strong grassroots participation doesn't necessarily translate to fans in the stands.
Eddy Jay
Guest
We never will know what the future will be. As a comparison, over their first 151 games, Gold Coast are performing slightly better than Brisbane Bears – between 1987–1993, Brisbane won only 36 games, Gold Coast have won 40 so far. Brisbane was in a similar state to Gold Coast at this point in their history – except for the important point of not having the same type of draft concessions and recruiting options. The period from 1995–2004 ended up being much better for Brisbane – three premierships, four grand finals, only missing the finals once in a decade. Perhaps we'll see that from Gold Coast from 2019 onwards.
Chancho
Roar Rookie
You can't polish a turd, but you can roll it in glitter... It's a funny thing you say about the marketing and it being tacky... when the club was launched and they had the first guernsey presentation my first thought was 'is that it!!!???' With all the lead up it looked like it's a rushed version of something from the 90's
Paul D
Roar Guru
^ This too. As you say Sydney fans never leave their Eastern shore enclave so nothing was lost, whereas the Suns stripped 10,000 attendees out of the Lions gate the first year of their existence
George
Guest
Everything accomplished for Wright at Hawks. He needs some new challenges. Plenty of them at Suns. To be fair to Scott, I really don't follow North closely. I just get tired of his shock expression after every call against North. I guess Rocket also took Bulldogs to 3 consecutive prelims. Does it mean they did not get best out of teams or actually got maximum from teams? A lot of luck involved, injuries, support staff, coaches,... On separate note, congrats on Hawks performance in second half of the year. I thought they were done after 0 : 4. Clarko is the best coach by a mile in my opinion. What he did with available players is pretty amazing. Longmire looked like amateur a couple of weeks ago vs Hawks. OK, if not Wright I take Clarko.
George
Guest
Yes, I know, Deccass. I took shuttle bus from Roma train station. For me living in western suburb, it's a pain to travel to Gabba, main reason I don't go to watch Lions more often. Compare that to lucky Broncos with Suncorp stadium right next train station. There is plenty of space for car parks around Metricon but Council is against it. Tram line - not happening for foreseeable future.
Gold Coaster
Guest
A big difference between the Titans and Suns is the NRL outfit is privately owned and broke plus soon to be sold. It might well end up at Gosford or North Sydney. The Suns on the other hand learnt from the Brisbane Bears privately owned era and are a not for profit, owned by football with the simple ambition of making Australian football bigger. It probably won't overtake SE Qld, but it will take a chunk of the population.
deccas
Guest
In fairness I think it would grow the game. I imagine a lot of kids grow up playing footy in tas and then lose interest as the age and lose contact with whatever melbourne club has the same geurnsey as the local under 10's. I think it would be a good move to have a Hobart Darwin and Canberra team. I can see why the commercial wonks got thier way, the gold coast has had the fastest population growth of any australian city for a while. Tas would be better though, the gold coast is the most climate vulrenable city in australia. All those canals and all that reclaimed swamp land will be swimming by the end of the century if we get the metre of sea level rise thats expected.
deccas
Guest
I wouldn't say unknown, he's trying to save his job!
deccas
Guest
Did you know there is a major seperated busway with busses every two minutes in Woolloongabba George? I'd say the Gabba is nearly as well served by public transport as the MCG, not quite but nearly. The pedestrian connection from that transport to stadium isn't as good as the mcg, but its a lot better than Metricon. I think The Sun's could come good in time, but they are coming from a long long way back, and counting on wins is going to be tough. In retrospect the god botherer winning a few brownlows wasn't a good list management decision. They'd have been better off putting that money into improving the facilities.
Birdman
Guest
Hi Olivia Thanks for your reply which I found interesting not knowing much about footy in the ACT. As for parochialism being the barrier to a stand alone Tasmanian side I think Nev's post is spot on - both ends of Tassie would get around its own side but not a relocated Victorian team.