(1 minute) Amazing!! - SUNS in the Media

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GC2015 said:
It's probably stronger than most people think it would be and it's only going to get better as the two QLD academies produce more high level talent. I like our chances of beating New South Wales in the promotion game and the Maroons getting elevated into Div I in 2027/28 season when we'll play one of the big states in Victoria, South Australia or Western Australia. That'd be a fantastic opportunity for our recently drafted academy boys to pull on the Queensland jumper and face the might of the traditional powerhouse states in State of Origin footy.

As we know from the rugby league version of SoO, Queenslanders love being the underdog in these types of competitions and I wouldn't put it past us to pull off an upset against SA or WA. If the two Queensland academies keep producing high level talent over the next few years then we could legitimately match it with Victoria one day. That'd be the dream scenario.
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I don’t know about anyone else but as a consumer I have absolutely zero interest in state of origin
 

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Supersuns said:
Yeah honestly who gives af. Imagine if one of our guys got injured, id be ****ing fuming.
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I don’t think the state patriarchy is there in the modern game because it’s a strong national league whereas when it was at it’s peak it was wafl sanfl vfl/start of afl and all battling to prove which state was better

It works so well in nrl because it’s only the two states
 
robo_1 said:
I don’t think the state patriarchy is there in the modern game because it’s a strong national league whereas when it was at it’s peak it was wafl sanfl vfl/start of afl and all battling to prove which state was better

It works so well in nrl because it’s only the two states
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Exactly .No such thing as a 6 way rivalry it doesn't work

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Better off going full US and having a bye week before the granny and having a state of origin round robin (wa, sa, Vic, allies) or Vic vs the rest. Kinda like the all-star game in NBA or probowl in NFL. Would add a lot of extra hype around all-australian squads and alleviates any injury concerns as the grand finalist players won't play
 
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thurls64 said:

Footy Fix: Desperate Suns, never-say-die Crows and THAT controversial end - how 2025's best game was won (and lost)​

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Chris Scott says the ridiculous media storm about Rankine's 50:50 free non-call was just beyond insane.Is the AFL going to dissect every contentious free in every game for the rest of the year??
 

Gold Coast Suns AFL: Chairman Bob East on how the club built foundations for success​


For the first time since 2016 Gold Coast has started the season 3-0 and not since 2014 has there been such optimism about the club’s finals chances.
Eleven years ago the Gary Ablett Jr-led Suns opened their campaign with a 7-2 record. At 8-6 they hosted Collingwood at Carrara and prevailed by five points. But the cost was steep.

Ablett dislocated his shoulder in that match and was ruled out for the remainder of the season. Guy McKenna’s side managed just one win from its final seven matches without its superstar skipper.

Club and coach parted ways that September.

Over the next decade, Gold Coast waged a losing war to both retain its star players and remain competitively relevant.

Seven of those seasons ended with the Suns languishing in the bottom four. A laundry list of stars – Charlie Dixon (2015), Dion Prestia, Jaeger O’Meara (2016), Adam Saad, Gary Ablett Jr (2017), Steven May and Tom Lynch (2018) – all sought trades to greener pastures.

At the end of 2022, Izak Rankine added his name to that list when he asked to return home to South Australia. It was a sliding doors moment.

That could have been the catalyst for another collapse, or the circuit breaker the club needed to forge a new path.

Less than 12 months later, Gold Coast unveiled Damien Hardwick as its new coach.

It was a statement signing from a club that for too long had simply gone with the flow. An aggressive addition of a proven triple-premiership winner that has transformed the Suns from a halfway home for interstate stars to a destination club.

“We have spent a lot of time in rearguard action, trying to defend our borders, trying to keep players and hold things together. Now we are on the attack,” Gold Coast chairman Bob East declared.

“We are now the aggressor. We have built this platform, we have the right personnel, we have an amazing coach and assistant coaches and a football department that is capable.

“We are one to watch. That is the message that we are happy to sing from the hilltops because it is not hollow. It is real and it is built on a foundation of a lot of hard work.”

The club is unashamed in its pursuit of excellence, even in the face of inevitable pitfalls.

After 13 consecutive losing seasons, 2024 was to be the year everything changed. With Hardwick at the helm, Gold Coast loudly and proudly declared it was ready to play finals.

History will show that did not happen.

Rival fans s******ed. Pundits pointed and again asked the question: When will things actually change?

The first year under Hardwick was always going to be a challenge. A new coach, with a new system, that would take time to bed in.

Privately, the club new it would be difficult to see success straight away. But publicly it had to be all-in.

Club and coach collectively took stock. Hardwick added to his coaching ranks, began implementing cultural changes and circled Daniel Rioli and John Noble as priority trade targets to bolster an area of the ground that was pivotal to his long-term plans.

It is no coincidence that 2025 is the year the Suns chose to go all-in with their rebrand. A new era needed a new look – and a new captain.

Hardwick wanted a stand-alone skipper and Noah Anderson, the youngest captain in the AFL, was the perfect man for the job.

“(Hardwick) turned up with absolute conviction in wanting to take this club to finals and beyond. There was an energy that came with that, we all walked a bit taller,” East said.

“He is not the messiah. He will not be able to do it alone and that was always known to us and to him. Everyone is doing this as a team.

“You never sort of circle a year as, ‘oh, this is a complete build year’ and leave expectations to the side. So we were trying to do all of those things and sprint at the same time.

“Last year we had high expectations. Unapologetically so. There was a fair dash of hope in all that, that we could pull this all together – from our branding, our mission statement, our resourcing, our organisational structure. It was a momentous year.

“We knew the fundamental changes we were putting throughout the club were significant and meaningful and we were hopeful that we could bring it all together quickly.

“You don’t want to run an organisation that is shy or timid in its approach or too slow to capitalise on opportunities. So we have gone aggressive, we have gone bold.”

Through three games, the Suns are saying and doing all the right things. They will start favourites this Saturday against North Melbourne and next weekend versus Richmond. The prospect of a 5-0 start – four of those wins on the road – is real.

But East knows Suns fans have been scorned by false dawns before and that finals berths are not booked in April.

“Winning is what is important. That prospect of success is what will draw people in,” he says.

“We have been there, without that prospect of success. We know what it feels like and we know it is incredibly challenging to build momentum behind that.

“You can’t have the ultimate success every year, but with the confidence that you are building something, just as it attracts players to come and to stay, it attracts fans to keep turning up and for all the stakeholders in our club to double down and be more invested.”
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MarcLocksCrustySock said:
Jesus guys talk about turning on your own. Piss weak. This club requires bold and strong presidents or we get walked over.

Absolutely not conduct befitting of our beautiful city.
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I’m not going to change now. I’ve never liked the Presidents speaking out.
Thanks for using my term though.
 
Channel 7 just showed an interesting graphic on the best performed forwards in terms of beating their opponent/s and it had Ben King ranked 4th along with Ethan Read ranked 5th. Probably not overly surprising to see King ranked inside the top 5 in a forward line stat, but having 19 year old Ethan Read ranked top 5 in an important forward line stat is huge for us. So basically if our mids kick it to King or Read then they are more likely than not to get the ball and they usually finish their good work with a goal. Strong signs for a well functioning forward line in the future and that's without mentioning Walter, who is going to be a star in his own right.
 
Caleb Graham 7 year extension
 

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(1 minute) Amazing!! - SUNS in the Media


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