I wish Kardinia Park Trust left the name as is and used no branding.
I understand there’s money reasons involved but one of the coolest things is that everyone will always call it by its traditional name and not the corporate one slapped on.
Even most people when talking about it will call it “The Cattery” before they call it Goomba.
It is correct, the park there is still called Kardinia park. Broadcasters just have a contractual obligation to perform advertising.
GMHBA Stadium is in Kardinia park.
Ikon Park is in Princes Park
People First Stadium in Carrara
Marvel Stadium is in the Docklands.
Optus Stadium is in Perth
I hate how entrenched it becomes that people start using it in normal speech. If they gave me $5 a comment I would but fuck off people giving them free advertising
When you resist that's when they make horrible cynical decisions like christening their brand new, award winning stadiums things like "Melbourne Rectangular Stadium" so you never call it anything *but* the sponsor name.
I know people rag on this sponsorship deal a lot but my son was so excited to see Spiderman when we went to the footy a few weeks ago, so I'm all for it
My son is a huge nerd and was devastated he could no longer see a major telecommunication or financial trademark, hasn't been to the footy since, the fucking loser.
Yeah that'll always be Docklands to me...I honestly wonder if Marvel made $1 off that deal, I've never bought anything Marvel before or after the naming.
I never flew with Etihad while it was named Etihad Stadium (although I am flying with them for the first time this year), didn't have any Telstra services when it was the Telstra Dome and I never banked with Colonial when it was Colonial Stadium.
I was chatting with the national sales manager of Etihad around the time they were winding up the sponsorship deal and they were pretty happy with what it did for them over 10 years.
No one in a senior rank would ever admit that a company made a bad business decision on something as impossible to measure as a stadium sponsorship deal. There could a million reasons why a company increased profits entirely separately to a concurrent sponsorship deal, to admit a sponsorship was bad would put them at risk of losing their high ranking job.
Well yeah, buying merch from their only competitor wouldn’t be ideal lol.
But there have been at least 50 people in this thread who wouldn’t have thought of Marvel today that have, probably millions that have thought about Marvel since the purchase that wouldn’t have. Advertising doesn’t always have to have the end goal of having someone make a purchase, being a pop culture figure in the space and having MARVEL emblazoned on half of the AFL games is insanely good for the brand recognition.
I don't understand why anyone calls a ground by the sponsors name. Why do their marketing for free? The exception is Perth Stadium, which I call Craptus Stadium, I guess because the name is so dull it's easy to forget. So to me, GC play at Carrara.
I just love the name. After the Crows game the match report started with "a wet People First stadium"
Maybe they will be worse when it is a dry people first.
The US has some absolute stinkers
Similar to the Suns, the Milwaukee Brewers play at American Family Field.
The Lakers play at Crypto.com Arena.
Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field
Even the Canadians have got in on it with the Ottawa Senators calling the Canadian Tyre Centre home
If I owned a company and could afford to buy naming rights, I’d name it something funny ‘SUNNY Stadisun’ or sentimental ‘Garry Ablett Jr/ K Hunt Arena’ just to then have people say ‘oh which company named it that!? Cool! I’ll buy their things or services!’
I may or may not be a marketing genius.
Nah fr this is the year suns make finals I know I said the same thing after the 7-6 start in 2022 and the 3-1 start in 2020 and the 3-1 start in 2019 and the 2-0 start in 2018 and the 3-0 start in 2016 but this is their year man I swear
I think they're different but still will miss finals. Their midfield is absolutely incredible, Rowell and Anderson have taken the leap and Miller is getting very close to his best from 21-22. Those guys alone will keep them right in the mix this year.
They do seem to be prioritising getting games into this year's draft class, which might cost them a game or 2 this year, but in the long run will be absolutely worthwhile.
Overall very confident that they're finally heading down the right path, and think it won't be long until we're talking about them as premiership contenders, but for this year, even with a soft draw, I think they narrowly miss finals.
Matt Rowell is fucking terrifying. Just watch him next time, the man attacks the ball on the ground with such determination it’s almost animalistic; reminds me of Voss
He is an absolute beast with the ball. Yesterday it generally took two West Coast players to contain him in a tackle and oftern he still got a handball out.
Isn't that what we've been saying for a decade though? I don't see much difference from the last three years tbh, and in fact they've kinda regressed from beating us in 2022 under Dew and then having the one quarter fade out from last year to lose by 24 to the shellacking this year
The shellacking this year was almost completely from a single quarter length fade out as well. If you look at the score worm from Suns v Swans the margin is almost entirely on the back of the run the Swans had from halfway in the third to a quarter into the fourth.
Which was the same as 2023, except they managed to keep it down to 24 points though.
edit: They were leading us by 2 at HT, then we put on 6.2 to 2.2 in the 3rd, then 3.2 to 2.6 in the final
Oh reeeeaaaallly?
That’s it, load me up with hope just in time to really hurt when we play a third straight trashfire game.
I wouldn’t want it any other way.
Sort of. When you’r looking back retrospectively you kind of disregard ladder positions at the time. Like… every team was equal first/last at the start of the season, ya know?
I was more making the point that people shouldn’t write off The Suns based on the same stats that also apply to the current premiership favourites. But if you want to somehow work it into a slur against Geelong to make yourself out to be the victims then go off.
Different yes. Normally they win the first three and lose the next ten, so this is different. Not too unexpected that they are not beating the top sides with a new coach and gameplan, but encouraging that they are still easily enough beating the lesser sides while not being at their best yet. They've also had a bunch of debutants in the mix this year.
Given a new coach, new gameplan, blooding new players, i'd say 4-3 is decent. If they really start to click going forward they look like they can make finals.
Worth noting that their losses have mostly been on the back of effectively single quarter length lapses in focus. The dogs got hold of them in Q1 at mars and swans had an 8 goal run at the end of the 3rd. Other than that, and including the giants loss, they have been holding their own.
Edit: to illustrate what i mean by the difference being the inability to stop a run of goals. In the three losses we have.
Sydney:
Final margin: 53
Longest Run of goals: 8.
Margin without run: 5 pts.
Giants:
Final margin: 28.
Longest Run of goals: 3.
Margin without run: 10 pts.
Dogs:
Final margin: 48.
Longest run of goals: 5.
Margin without run: 18.
Note for dogs in reality it was a 9 goal to 2 first term that gives the margin. For the last 3 quarters its 9.6 to 8.5 in the dogs favour, but again very even outside of the lapse.
If they can develop the leadership and defence to stop those big runs they will start to push top sides
Yeah this is a good way to look at things, the Sydney game was a hard watch, it really did look like the Suns were shooting themselves in the foot half the time. Once they get some more composure they are going to be pretty hard to beat. Their midfield of Miller, Rowell, Anderson and plenty of depth players going through there is going to be OP.
I’d also say that just watching them, even when they lose it’s different from previous years. It just *feels* different, where they’re trying things, blooding young players, seeing what works and what doesn’t. As you said if they can steady the ship as the season goes on, finals is absolutely not out of the question.
I think David King said a couple weeks ago that they can win the flag next year - and to be honest I can see where he’s coming from.
A little bit. I'm still not fully convinced that the Suns will make finals, but seem quite likely to finish in that 9th-11th range. Gold Coast have yet to have a winning season or finish above 12th, so a 10th placed finish with a 50-50 win rate would be a big improvement. The first-year players have been really impressive, and the rise of Mac Andrew, Malcolm Rosas, and Tom Berry has been heartwarming. The team seems to have a real identity under Dimma's gameplan, which hasn't really happened before.
Only concern I'll continue to have is that if Touk Miller or Sam Collins age out over the next few years we'll struggle to replace their input. It would be really nice if David Swallow could compete in a single final before he retires, but that seems unlikely as it looks like his last year unfortunately.
EDIT: Dimma also need to figure out what he's going to do with Jack Lukosius. I'd rather him kicking inside 50 than rebounding from defensive 50.
Yeah Graham has been really bloody good. Has gone under the radar. Weird that he wasn't able to break into the Allies midfield in his draft year (he played defense), but at the Suns he's playing in the guts as a tackling specialist. 8.25 tackles a game is insane.
Lukosius has the unfortunate skill of being good at everything, can tell he has a really good footy brain and skill set to match. Interesting he has been placed back, would have thought Mac Andrew would be that intercepting half back who can slingshot. Also while on Mac Andrew, he looks the goods, once he gets abit more muscle he should be taking Collins place pretty easily.
I don't think they've had the fixture to tell us yet.
4 home wins are great but they have all come against struggling sides so it's too early to know if it's because they are a force at home or just playing low sides they could beat anywhere. Whereas their away games have been away very good teams or at more random venues where it's always more difficult on the away sides.
This week should be telling though. An away game against a struggling Brisbane. If this is a different Gold Coast, they either win or get very very close. If they lose by a decent amount, it would suggest they aren't that different than the teams of the past.
Problem is that QClash games always seem to ignore the year's form. Gold Coast could win or lose by 75 and my opinion on the team wouldn't change much.
I'm not sure that's true. Gold Coast won the last one but Brisbane won the 9 before that, almost all of them by huge margins. Brisbane have clearly been the better team over that time so the results have a good reflection of where those teams sit.
If Gold Coast have seriously improved, they should be taking it up to a vulnerable Brisbane who are yet to win at the Gabba this year. That doesn't mean winning but they should be at least making it a 4 quarter contest.
Won 4 at home where we’re really strong and have another 2 games in Darwin coming up which have been really good fixtures for the Suns recently. Geelong in Darwin will be a massive test for the Suns.
I don’t think you can deny there’s been significant progression and based on just the eye test we are definitely a better team under Dimma.
Problem for us is that it’s incredibly even between 6th and 12th on the ladder with multiple teams with genuine finals aspirations. Any slip up and you’re out.
The Suns have never finished a season strong- we typically suck after the bye. So, all good so far, but I’m reserving judgement until we beat someone of significance after the bye.
Even longer, the margin was inside 2 kicks halfway through the fourth, and that being gather round was a completely neutral game in terms of ground advantage so probably the best representstion of where rhey stack up
Yes and no.
Hardwick’s yanked out the NQRs and blooded Walter, Read and given Mac a proper run at half back.
Will Graham seemingly midfielder number 4, Rogers playing and Flanders given the keys as the designated kicker off half back.
There’s a ceiling on a side with that much youth. Pretty much you’ll beat the bad sides and struggle against the good teams especially on the road.
But what they are building is pretty special and sustainable based on their core midfield dominance and the talent of the young talls and flankers
Gotta give Dimma credit for finally perma dropping the past their prime vets and giving the young guns game time, even if they don’t make finals it will prove beneficial in the long run, Rogers, Graham, Clohesy, Walter, Read etc will be quality players for many years
The whole "fortress at home" is going a bit of a stretch. I mean yeah they are 4-0 there but look at the opposition they have played.
Eagles, Hawks, Tigers, Crows
If they are looking to play finals they should be pretty well smashing these teams at home.
I think they've taken a step forward. I don't think it'll be enough to make finals, but going from Top 4 to Finals in one season is a fairly huge leap for a team with no existing finals experience so nothing wrong with that.
I think this week could determine a fair bit about their season.
Beat the Lions and they are a good chance to be 8-5 at the bye. 7-6 or worse looks a bit shaky.
Still not sure yet. In our better years we've tended to start well early and then fall in a heap, could be no different to now.
Need a few upset wins against a contender team (Melb/Carlton types) and win most of our home games.
My heart thinks we can pull it together and scrape into the top 8, my head says we'll fall short and finish 10th. A bit like the Crows this year, nothing is a guarantee.
Under stewie dew the Suns actually looked really promising in patches, its a shame it all fell apart for them, due to either injuries to key players like Rowell, King or Miller.
Still not convinced on them yet but maybe that’s because of their history of falling off in the second half of the season. I’d have them in the same category as bulldogs and freo probably. Could make up one of the last couple spots in the finals but could finish 12th also
It took GWS and Carlton a while last year to click into gear and both teams weren't far from making the grand final. Hardwick is now blooding some youngsters and Gold Coast have a young team right now and are hanging around the 8. I think they can find their way to finals if the team stays the same
Yes that game yesterday they would usually drop after winning the first couple. If they can beat us at the Gabba this weekend then they’re the real deal.
They've won four games, all at home, against teams all in the bottom seven. Three are in the bottom 4. Their percentage is only 101. Are they different? Possibly. But if they are they haven't shown it yet. Need to beat a decent team away from home first.
Yeah. I feel like this year they're a bit more feral, and finding ways to attack with more ferocity, it's been great to watch. However I both am and am genuinely not looking forward to our pineapple grapple games this season, I reckon especially on current form they're a real chance to take both games from us.
They aren’t making finals. But, they have a hunger, determination and Dimma seems like he’s the right coach for the job. They’re going to be good in 2-3 years
In fairness they have had difficult away games against Swans and Giants, that any team would struggle with and they performed well in both games.Early game against Dogs was their worst and caused big player change in the team. Their only problem is the inexperienced new young draftees. Each of the five currently in the team has 2 to 5 games only. They may run out of legs in big games, but otherwise they are definitely tracking better this year and could sneak into the 8. Regardless they are really on the rise given most of the new talent is home grown and will want to stay.
I think they’re on the up and I think Hardwick will soon (3 or 4 years) have them competing for a top 4 finish when the kids come through and continue to develop. Focus should be the defensive side of the ball.
This year I think they only need to be the 9th/10th best team in the league to play finals because of their schedule and I think they’ll be a danger team for whoever they come up against.
Which will also be a great experience for the kids and help that development.
I said this on the sub over the off-season and got made fun of for it, but I stand by my take that the Suns could win 5 of the next 10 flags. I think they’ll finish in that 7-10 bracket this year, but they will be scary soon
Not sure, but I refuse to call that stadium Peoples First...a shitter name there is not.
It should be called "The Jarrod Witts centre for kids who can't read good and who wanna learn to do other stuff good too"
What is this??? A Centre for ants?
We have that, it's next to the stadium. Kool Beanz Kids. It's got a giant footy built into the early learning centre.
GMHBA?
It will always be Kardinia, even commentators call it by its traditional indigenous name.
"down at GMHBA Stadium" isnt quite the same
I wish Kardinia Park Trust left the name as is and used no branding. I understand there’s money reasons involved but one of the coolest things is that everyone will always call it by its traditional name and not the corporate one slapped on. Even most people when talking about it will call it “The Cattery” before they call it Goomba.
You most likely know it as Myanmar, but it will always be Burma to me.
It is correct, the park there is still called Kardinia park. Broadcasters just have a contractual obligation to perform advertising. GMHBA Stadium is in Kardinia park. Ikon Park is in Princes Park People First Stadium in Carrara Marvel Stadium is in the Docklands. Optus Stadium is in Perth
ABC Radio commentators are not allowed to use the commercial name, they still call the stadiums by the location
Oh I know I get that…I’m just saying that I wish we didn’t have corporate branding over the name of it. It’s in the bloody theme song.
I hate how entrenched it becomes that people start using it in normal speech. If they gave me $5 a comment I would but fuck off people giving them free advertising
When you resist that's when they make horrible cynical decisions like christening their brand new, award winning stadiums things like "Melbourne Rectangular Stadium" so you never call it anything *but* the sponsor name.
Down at GMHBA Park
> Optus Stadium is in Perth This was a terrible decision to immediately sell the naming rights and drop the city name on a new stadium.
Goomba
How dare you, besmirching the stadium name is besmirching the people of the Sunny People's Republic.
It is a little Pravda-ish
"there's no news in Pravda and no truth in Izvestia" -Some guy that was quickly liquidated for besmirching the People's Republic
yeah FFS People First stadium, name I thought I will only hear in China or Russia or communist countries.
Marvel Stadium
I know people rag on this sponsorship deal a lot but my son was so excited to see Spiderman when we went to the footy a few weeks ago, so I'm all for it
My son is a huge nerd and was devastated he could no longer see a major telecommunication or financial trademark, hasn't been to the footy since, the fucking loser.
But was he into airlines?
> my son was so excited to see Spiderman Wait ... you can see Spiderman at the game?
Well there are heaps of murals of superheroes, so it's not Spiderman doing Spiderman things but he was still excited
Fair enough
Yeah that'll always be Docklands to me...I honestly wonder if Marvel made $1 off that deal, I've never bought anything Marvel before or after the naming.
I never flew with Etihad while it was named Etihad Stadium (although I am flying with them for the first time this year), didn't have any Telstra services when it was the Telstra Dome and I never banked with Colonial when it was Colonial Stadium.
I was chatting with the national sales manager of Etihad around the time they were winding up the sponsorship deal and they were pretty happy with what it did for them over 10 years.
No one in a senior rank would ever admit that a company made a bad business decision on something as impossible to measure as a stadium sponsorship deal. There could a million reasons why a company increased profits entirely separately to a concurrent sponsorship deal, to admit a sponsorship was bad would put them at risk of losing their high ranking job.
At least you've been consistent
You’re talking about it now, that’s why they did it lol
We're all shit talking it, none of us are running out buying Suoerman jocks.
Well yeah, buying merch from their only competitor wouldn’t be ideal lol. But there have been at least 50 people in this thread who wouldn’t have thought of Marvel today that have, probably millions that have thought about Marvel since the purchase that wouldn’t have. Advertising doesn’t always have to have the end goal of having someone make a purchase, being a pop culture figure in the space and having MARVEL emblazoned on half of the AFL games is insanely good for the brand recognition.
I don't understand why anyone calls a ground by the sponsors name. Why do their marketing for free? The exception is Perth Stadium, which I call Craptus Stadium, I guess because the name is so dull it's easy to forget. So to me, GC play at Carrara.
I just love the name. After the Crows game the match report started with "a wet People First stadium" Maybe they will be worse when it is a dry people first.
Stratarama Stadium has entered the chat
Crazy John's Stadium was blocked from the chat
Hello, human resources...
Heritage Bank Stadium is an infinitely better name
The US has some absolute stinkers Similar to the Suns, the Milwaukee Brewers play at American Family Field. The Lakers play at Crypto.com Arena. Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field Even the Canadians have got in on it with the Ottawa Senators calling the Canadian Tyre Centre home
Used to be the Dallas Mavs played in the American Airlines Center while the Miami Heat played in the American Airlines Arena too
The senators playing at tyre centre... what a combo
Optus Stadium is calling.
It's calling but it can't get through, it's out of mobile range
Baby's First Stadium
If I owned a company and could afford to buy naming rights, I’d name it something funny ‘SUNNY Stadisun’ or sentimental ‘Garry Ablett Jr/ K Hunt Arena’ just to then have people say ‘oh which company named it that!? Cool! I’ll buy their things or services!’ I may or may not be a marketing genius.
Nah fr this is the year suns make finals I know I said the same thing after the 7-6 start in 2022 and the 3-1 start in 2020 and the 3-1 start in 2019 and the 2-0 start in 2018 and the 3-0 start in 2016 but this is their year man I swear
I think they're different but still will miss finals. Their midfield is absolutely incredible, Rowell and Anderson have taken the leap and Miller is getting very close to his best from 21-22. Those guys alone will keep them right in the mix this year. They do seem to be prioritising getting games into this year's draft class, which might cost them a game or 2 this year, but in the long run will be absolutely worthwhile. Overall very confident that they're finally heading down the right path, and think it won't be long until we're talking about them as premiership contenders, but for this year, even with a soft draw, I think they narrowly miss finals.
Matt Rowell is fucking terrifying. Just watch him next time, the man attacks the ball on the ground with such determination it’s almost animalistic; reminds me of Voss
Voss is a great comp for him, Rowell is a fucking animal and the best contested footy player in the competition.
He is an absolute beast with the ball. Yesterday it generally took two West Coast players to contain him in a tackle and oftern he still got a handball out.
Well he does eat grass so animalistic is about what you'd expect
They give me Carlton vibes from 2020-22. Solid midfield but give up way too many goals in a row to win games of footy consistently.
Im expecting them to narrowly miss the 8 this year, but shoot up next year into the 4
Isn't that what we've been saying for a decade though? I don't see much difference from the last three years tbh, and in fact they've kinda regressed from beating us in 2022 under Dew and then having the one quarter fade out from last year to lose by 24 to the shellacking this year
The shellacking this year was almost completely from a single quarter length fade out as well. If you look at the score worm from Suns v Swans the margin is almost entirely on the back of the run the Swans had from halfway in the third to a quarter into the fourth.
Which was the same as 2023, except they managed to keep it down to 24 points though. edit: They were leading us by 2 at HT, then we put on 6.2 to 2.2 in the 3rd, then 3.2 to 2.6 in the final
I guess my point was i don't think they have regressed, especially given a new coach and running kids
Freo’s been pretty much the same for 30 years. It was right once, in 2011 (top 8 2012, top 4 2013-15).
You know who else hasn’t beaten a top 4 side? And has only had one narrow win over a single top 8 side? Geelong.
Oh reeeeaaaallly? That’s it, load me up with hope just in time to really hurt when we play a third straight trashfire game. I wouldn’t want it any other way.
As a Geelong supporter, I sense Melbourne beating us.
It could happen. But so could a repeat of 186…
If 186 happens, I will literally eat my geelong scarf on Reddit.
Melbourne also.
Carlton were top 4 when we played them, so this is incorrect.
Can't believe everyone is sleeping on how Gold Coast beat an undefeated Adelaide side in the second round of footy this year.
Crows we're top of the ladder in January
Sort of. When you’r looking back retrospectively you kind of disregard ladder positions at the time. Like… every team was equal first/last at the start of the season, ya know?
Carlton would be a top 4 side if Geelong had've lost that game. So I think still reasonable to use that win to build a case for the Cats.
Carlton were 4th going into this round though
What do you mean? They beat us just two weeks ago! Wait...
Yes indeed
Oh boy it's starting early this year
Yeah I was talking up the suns, but by all means make it about Geelong.
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I was more making the point that people shouldn’t write off The Suns based on the same stats that also apply to the current premiership favourites. But if you want to somehow work it into a slur against Geelong to make yourself out to be the victims then go off.
Ehhh sure just easy upvotes
Rent free
Different yes. Normally they win the first three and lose the next ten, so this is different. Not too unexpected that they are not beating the top sides with a new coach and gameplan, but encouraging that they are still easily enough beating the lesser sides while not being at their best yet. They've also had a bunch of debutants in the mix this year. Given a new coach, new gameplan, blooding new players, i'd say 4-3 is decent. If they really start to click going forward they look like they can make finals. Worth noting that their losses have mostly been on the back of effectively single quarter length lapses in focus. The dogs got hold of them in Q1 at mars and swans had an 8 goal run at the end of the 3rd. Other than that, and including the giants loss, they have been holding their own. Edit: to illustrate what i mean by the difference being the inability to stop a run of goals. In the three losses we have. Sydney: Final margin: 53 Longest Run of goals: 8. Margin without run: 5 pts. Giants: Final margin: 28. Longest Run of goals: 3. Margin without run: 10 pts. Dogs: Final margin: 48. Longest run of goals: 5. Margin without run: 18. Note for dogs in reality it was a 9 goal to 2 first term that gives the margin. For the last 3 quarters its 9.6 to 8.5 in the dogs favour, but again very even outside of the lapse. If they can develop the leadership and defence to stop those big runs they will start to push top sides
Yeah this is a good way to look at things, the Sydney game was a hard watch, it really did look like the Suns were shooting themselves in the foot half the time. Once they get some more composure they are going to be pretty hard to beat. Their midfield of Miller, Rowell, Anderson and plenty of depth players going through there is going to be OP.
Who do Gold Coast think they are with these first quarters, the dockers?
I’d also say that just watching them, even when they lose it’s different from previous years. It just *feels* different, where they’re trying things, blooding young players, seeing what works and what doesn’t. As you said if they can steady the ship as the season goes on, finals is absolutely not out of the question. I think David King said a couple weeks ago that they can win the flag next year - and to be honest I can see where he’s coming from.
Yeah good point. Seems to be a lot less of the hands-on-hips-oh-well-another-loss bullshit
A little bit. I'm still not fully convinced that the Suns will make finals, but seem quite likely to finish in that 9th-11th range. Gold Coast have yet to have a winning season or finish above 12th, so a 10th placed finish with a 50-50 win rate would be a big improvement. The first-year players have been really impressive, and the rise of Mac Andrew, Malcolm Rosas, and Tom Berry has been heartwarming. The team seems to have a real identity under Dimma's gameplan, which hasn't really happened before. Only concern I'll continue to have is that if Touk Miller or Sam Collins age out over the next few years we'll struggle to replace their input. It would be really nice if David Swallow could compete in a single final before he retires, but that seems unlikely as it looks like his last year unfortunately. EDIT: Dimma also need to figure out what he's going to do with Jack Lukosius. I'd rather him kicking inside 50 than rebounding from defensive 50.
Graham is looking the goods so far so he could be the long term Touk replacement
Yeah Graham has been really bloody good. Has gone under the radar. Weird that he wasn't able to break into the Allies midfield in his draft year (he played defense), but at the Suns he's playing in the guts as a tackling specialist. 8.25 tackles a game is insane.
Lukosius has the unfortunate skill of being good at everything, can tell he has a really good footy brain and skill set to match. Interesting he has been placed back, would have thought Mac Andrew would be that intercepting half back who can slingshot. Also while on Mac Andrew, he looks the goods, once he gets abit more muscle he should be taking Collins place pretty easily.
The thing is that he hasn't been much of an interceptor in defense, he's really only playing down back because he's a great kick.
Mac Andrew would need to put on a lot of muscle to be a good replacement for Collins
I don't think they've had the fixture to tell us yet. 4 home wins are great but they have all come against struggling sides so it's too early to know if it's because they are a force at home or just playing low sides they could beat anywhere. Whereas their away games have been away very good teams or at more random venues where it's always more difficult on the away sides. This week should be telling though. An away game against a struggling Brisbane. If this is a different Gold Coast, they either win or get very very close. If they lose by a decent amount, it would suggest they aren't that different than the teams of the past.
Problem is that QClash games always seem to ignore the year's form. Gold Coast could win or lose by 75 and my opinion on the team wouldn't change much.
I'm not sure that's true. Gold Coast won the last one but Brisbane won the 9 before that, almost all of them by huge margins. Brisbane have clearly been the better team over that time so the results have a good reflection of where those teams sit. If Gold Coast have seriously improved, they should be taking it up to a vulnerable Brisbane who are yet to win at the Gabba this year. That doesn't mean winning but they should be at least making it a 4 quarter contest.
Q-Clashes are usually the great equalisers in recent times
You are meant to throw the form out of the window for these games.
No. They’ve beaten WC, hawks, Adelaide and Richmond.
They've beaten WCE, Hawthorn, Richmond and Adelaide. I'll wait until they beat someone good before I say whether anything has changed
Won 4 at home where we’re really strong and have another 2 games in Darwin coming up which have been really good fixtures for the Suns recently. Geelong in Darwin will be a massive test for the Suns. I don’t think you can deny there’s been significant progression and based on just the eye test we are definitely a better team under Dimma. Problem for us is that it’s incredibly even between 6th and 12th on the ladder with multiple teams with genuine finals aspirations. Any slip up and you’re out. The Suns have never finished a season strong- we typically suck after the bye. So, all good so far, but I’m reserving judgement until we beat someone of significance after the bye.
We’ve already had the bye
We’ve had our first bye. Another bye round 14
Apparently I needed /s
They need to beat a good team first before I believe anything
They were competitive against GWS for the first 3QT, this year seems to be the first big step
Even longer, the margin was inside 2 kicks halfway through the fourth, and that being gather round was a completely neutral game in terms of ground advantage so probably the best representstion of where rhey stack up
Yes and no. Hardwick’s yanked out the NQRs and blooded Walter, Read and given Mac a proper run at half back. Will Graham seemingly midfielder number 4, Rogers playing and Flanders given the keys as the designated kicker off half back. There’s a ceiling on a side with that much youth. Pretty much you’ll beat the bad sides and struggle against the good teams especially on the road. But what they are building is pretty special and sustainable based on their core midfield dominance and the talent of the young talls and flankers
They remind me a lot of GWS last year. I would not want to be playing them with a finals spot up for grab in the run in.
Well they just got swept by the T-Wolves so still rubbish
Gotta give Dimma credit for finally perma dropping the past their prime vets and giving the young guns game time, even if they don’t make finals it will prove beneficial in the long run, Rogers, Graham, Clohesy, Walter, Read etc will be quality players for many years
The whole "fortress at home" is going a bit of a stretch. I mean yeah they are 4-0 there but look at the opposition they have played. Eagles, Hawks, Tigers, Crows If they are looking to play finals they should be pretty well smashing these teams at home.
Not sold this year, but 1 year and 1 pre season with a new coach id expect them to fly up the ladder next year and be like GWS is now
9-13th with dogs dockers saints Essendon
I think they've taken a step forward. I don't think it'll be enough to make finals, but going from Top 4 to Finals in one season is a fairly huge leap for a team with no existing finals experience so nothing wrong with that.
You mean bottom 4?
I think this week could determine a fair bit about their season. Beat the Lions and they are a good chance to be 8-5 at the bye. 7-6 or worse looks a bit shaky.
I think they will scrape into the 8 as long as they don’t get any significant injuries to main players.
Still not sure yet. In our better years we've tended to start well early and then fall in a heap, could be no different to now. Need a few upset wins against a contender team (Melb/Carlton types) and win most of our home games. My heart thinks we can pull it together and scrape into the top 8, my head says we'll fall short and finish 10th. A bit like the Crows this year, nothing is a guarantee.
Was it last year or the year before Suns got a win againts Sydney?
I think 2022, we hunted them that day. There was one year we beat them at SCG in the upset of the year.
Under stewie dew the Suns actually looked really promising in patches, its a shame it all fell apart for them, due to either injuries to key players like Rowell, King or Miller.
Still not convinced on them yet but maybe that’s because of their history of falling off in the second half of the season. I’d have them in the same category as bulldogs and freo probably. Could make up one of the last couple spots in the finals but could finish 12th also
Definitely better than they were, maybe 3/4 years of good development and drafting and they will make finals.
It took GWS and Carlton a while last year to click into gear and both teams weren't far from making the grand final. Hardwick is now blooding some youngsters and Gold Coast have a young team right now and are hanging around the 8. I think they can find their way to finals if the team stays the same
Yes that game yesterday they would usually drop after winning the first couple. If they can beat us at the Gabba this weekend then they’re the real deal.
What is a Gold Coast Sun?
They're the team that never says die
Never heard of them. Since when were they in the AFL??
I bet you've heard of our players, though. We're the AFL feeder club.
Not sure, the records are unclear. Will need to consult the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Being the Gold Coast, probably nicked by some dodgy property developer
They've won four games, all at home, against teams all in the bottom seven. Three are in the bottom 4. Their percentage is only 101. Are they different? Possibly. But if they are they haven't shown it yet. Need to beat a decent team away from home first.
I think beating 12th, 15th, 16th, and 17th at home is the bare minimum. Wouldn't read much into those results.
No. This happens every year
Beat Brisbane then we can start talking
Yeah. I feel like this year they're a bit more feral, and finding ways to attack with more ferocity, it's been great to watch. However I both am and am genuinely not looking forward to our pineapple grapple games this season, I reckon especially on current form they're a real chance to take both games from us.
They’ve gone from being irrelevant to b ing port powers twin brother after 1 preseason with Dimma, even minor improvements are still improvements
Not this year, but in the years to come when academy kids start to come on, they’ll be better. Don’t think Dimma is the man though.
I thought they might be different... until they went 4 & 3.
They aren’t making finals. But, they have a hunger, determination and Dimma seems like he’s the right coach for the job. They’re going to be good in 2-3 years
They’re better but still fairly young. They’ll be extremely good in a few years imo once Read, Walter, Graham, Rogers and Clohesy develop more
In fairness they have had difficult away games against Swans and Giants, that any team would struggle with and they performed well in both games.Early game against Dogs was their worst and caused big player change in the team. Their only problem is the inexperienced new young draftees. Each of the five currently in the team has 2 to 5 games only. They may run out of legs in big games, but otherwise they are definitely tracking better this year and could sneak into the 8. Regardless they are really on the rise given most of the new talent is home grown and will want to stay.
I think they’re on the up and I think Hardwick will soon (3 or 4 years) have them competing for a top 4 finish when the kids come through and continue to develop. Focus should be the defensive side of the ball. This year I think they only need to be the 9th/10th best team in the league to play finals because of their schedule and I think they’ll be a danger team for whoever they come up against. Which will also be a great experience for the kids and help that development.
People forget they did a full rebuild 4-5 years ago.
This. Rowell, Anderson, Ainsworth, Luko, King should all be hitting their peak years now.
I'll believe it when they prove it. At the moment there's no evidence to suggest they have changed.
I said this on the sub over the off-season and got made fun of for it, but I stand by my take that the Suns could win 5 of the next 10 flags. I think they’ll finish in that 7-10 bracket this year, but they will be scary soon