Academy: Gold Coast SUNS Gun Factory

[eppo67]

How much do you think the school programs do to develop the players compared to the academies? There seems to be a heap of school competitions and plenty of players around. My child is involved in the AIC competition up here and can’t believe the amount of players playing.

A lot of it has to do with parents as well.
They no longer want their kids playing against 300lb meatheads who's parents think it's funny for them to smash kids 1/4 of their size.


On CPH2333 using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[GC2015]

How much do you think the school programs do to develop the players compared to the academies? There seems to be a heap of school competitions and plenty of players around. My child is involved in the AIC competition up here and can’t believe the amount of players playing.

Depends on the individual school's footy program. PBC and Helensvale run highly successful AFL excellence programs and that's reflected in their dominance in the AFLQ Schools Cup each year as well as the amount of AFL players we've drafted from either school. Perhaps more importantly, the school footy programs are often intertwined with club land. For example, a few years ago we saw Chad Owens serve as the head coach of the PBC Lions in the QAFL as well as the head coach of PBC High's AFL excellence program. During that period we saw PBC dominate the QAFL and we drafted seven PBC players over a four year period and we're going to see something similar over the next few years with Jed Walter and Ethan Read both being PBC boys as well as several other highly rated PBC juniors coming through in the following years.

It's a good model to have for club and school to be closely located with one another and footy programs to be intertwined e.g. QAFL club Surfers Paradise is also based right next to Benowa High and that has rendered some of your own players like Dayne Zorko and Dan Merrett who attended Benowa High and played junior footy for Surfers Paradise. The Broady Cats are also based right next to Merrimac High for those who don't know. I'd probably also mention Varsity College who recently established their AFL ASPIRE program that seems to have good links with the Burleigh Bombers at the club level and we're about to see it deliver two top 10 picks over the next two years in Jake Rogers and Leo Lombard.

I think it's going to be a hard slog for Brisbane at the school level because rugby league/union have such a stronghold at the interschool level there and the history of that competition is something Brisbane people take great pride in. As a Brisbane local with schoolkids, I'm sure you're aware of the elite GPS school competition and how glorified it is to be a rugby union star competing for one of the GPS schools. In fact, I don't think the GPS schools play Aussie rules at all, or if they do it is very minimal. The AIC schools are doing better than the GPS schools when it comes to footy but my understanding is rugby union is still the more popular sport in that competition. Rugby league seems to be the undeniably dominant sport at the government schools in Brisbane so I think it's very hard for the Lions to get any kind of foothold at that level, but I will commend the Lions for the strong relationship they've seemingly created with St Laurence's in recent years.

We only have one GPS school on the Gold Coast (TSS) and no AIC schools which means rugby union has nowhere near the influence at the school level like it does in Brisbane. There are a few government schools with successful rugby league programs on the GC like PBC & Keebra Park but other than that the Gold Coast is mostly open in terms of school sports preferences. This is a big advantage for us and we've been working hard to create good relationships with schools throughout the Gold Coast, particularly those competing in our elite APS school competition. Just the other day we saw kids from APS school Emmanuel College head down to our stadium for and meet & train day with our players. I know we've also been working hard to install AFL posts at government school ovals in recent years and if you drive past the government schools in Southport, Nerang or Varsity then you'll see we've succeeded in our mission to install AFL posts. It should also be mentioned that although PBC High is known for its rugby league program, they are also producing many high level footy players for us and that's definitely not something you would have seen 10-15 years ago when we weren't putting in the effort to grow the game locally. It's a slow build but the club is more than happy to spend the time and resources required for us to grow the game at the grassroots level because we know the rewards will come later.

Long story short - we're not shackled down by the deep seeded history of rugby codes running the show at the school level like they are in Brisbane and we're doing a good job of spreading the game at the school level throughout the GC.

 

[TheGoldPersons]

Shoutout to our former assistant coach Matty 'Skinny' Lappin who has been coaching Usher (and his own daughter Sunny) at Hillcrest since primary school and has likely been a big part of her footy journey. She was a sports prodigy in her younger years when she won medals and made rep teams in swimming, basketball, surf life saving and of course footy. It seems the Lappin influence won out and we've got a future superstar on our hands as a result. This feels like a little taste of what's to come if we can continue to set up strong football programs at schools throughout the Gold Coast. We're getting there, we just have to keep investing at the grassroots level and we'll eventually reap the rewards at the top of the pyramid.

It's interesting for me too since when I graduated from Hillcrest a decade ago or it was Basketball or nothing, certainly does appear that schools on GC are more open to AFL now

 

[Bjo187]

Depends on the individual school's footy program. PBC and Helensvale run highly successful AFL excellence programs and that's reflected in their dominance in the AFLQ Schools Cup each year as well as the amount of AFL players we've drafted from either school. Perhaps more importantly, the school footy programs are often intertwined with club land. For example, a few years ago we saw Chad Owens serve as the head coach of the PBC Lions in the QAFL as well as the head coach of PBC High's AFL excellence program. During that period we saw PBC dominate the QAFL and we drafted seven PBC players over a four year period and we're going to see something similar over the next few years with Jed Walter and Ethan Read both being PBC boys as well as several other highly rated PBC juniors coming through in the following years.

It's a good model to have for club and school to be closely located with one another and footy programs to be intertwined e.g. QAFL club Surfers Paradise is also based right next to Benowa High and that has rendered some of your own players like Dayne Zorko and Dan Merrett who attended Benowa High and played junior footy for Surfers Paradise. The Broady Cats are also based right next to Merrimac High for those who don't know. I'd probably also mention Varsity College who recently established their AFL ASPIRE program that seems to have good links with the Burleigh Bombers at the club level and we're about to see it deliver two top 10 picks over the next two years in Jake Rogers and Leo Lombard.

I think it's going to be a hard slog for Brisbane at the school level because rugby league/union have such a stronghold at the interschool level there and the history of that competition is something Brisbane people take great pride in. As a Brisbane local with schoolkids, I'm sure you're aware of the elite GPS school competition and how glorified it is to be a rugby union star competing for one of the GPS schools. In fact, I don't think the GPS schools play Aussie rules at all, or if they do it is very minimal. The AIC schools are doing better than the GPS schools when it comes to footy but my understanding is rugby union is still the more popular sport in that competition. Rugby league seems to be the undeniably dominant sport at the government schools in Brisbane so I think it's very hard for the Lions to get any kind of foothold at that level, but I will commend the Lions for the strong relationship they've seemingly created with St Laurence's in recent years.

We only have one GPS school on the Gold Coast (TSS) and no AIC schools which means rugby union has nowhere near the influence at the school level like it does in Brisbane. There are a few government schools with successful rugby league programs on the GC like PBC & Keebra Park but other than that the Gold Coast is mostly open in terms of school sports preferences. This is a big advantage for us and we've been working hard to create good relationships with schools throughout the Gold Coast, particularly those competing in our elite APS school competition. Just the other day we saw kids from APS school Emmanuel College head down to our stadium for and meet & train day with our players. I know we've also been working hard to install AFL posts at government school ovals in recent years and if you drive past the government schools in Southport, Nerang or Varsity then you'll see we've succeeded in our mission to install AFL posts. It should also be mentioned that although PBC High is known for its rugby league program, they are also producing many high level footy players for us and that's definitely not something you would have seen 10-15 years ago when we weren't putting in the effort to grow the game locally. It's a slow build but the club is more than happy to spend the time and resources required for us to grow the game at the grassroots level because we know the rewards will come later.

Long story short - we're not shackled down by the deep seeded history of rugby codes running the show at the school level like they are in Brisbane and we're doing a good job of spreading the game at the school level throughout the GC.

Great post. Do you know how the afl or suns got into the school system there? Was it simply by demand from parents/ student, or would the afl or suns have paid the school some money to introduce a program?

I'm interested to hear if you know. When you think about it, the afl should pay schools in Brisbane to start programs, it's a worthwhile investment in spreading the gospel. 300k to each school that introduces a new program, that's not much out of a development budget of what should be around 80 million next year.

 

[Ben Drever]

Top 15 picks yes (give them security of 4 years but don't overpay for potential - $$ should be based on performance triggers - games played, rising star nomination, b & f finishing).

Will Graham I would be more inclined to at least wait until half way through season 1 and see what's happening before extending.

I’m just worried we are going to lock Rogers away at 4 years…

And he won’t break into our midfield.
Then we are stuck with him..

 

[KaySwizzle]

Great post. Do you know how the afl or suns got into the school system there? Was it simply by demand from parents/ student, or would the afl or suns have paid the school some money to introduce a program?

I'm interested to hear if you know. When you think about it, the afl should pay schools in Brisbane to start programs, it's a worthwhile investment in spreading the gospel. 300k to each school that introduces a new program, that's not much out of a development budget of what should be around 80 million next year.

I think it’s sometimes something the school initiates, especially if it is something that can help boost student numbers or investment in the school.

But I wouldn’t be surprised if more schools jump on board soon. Schools like Benowa High (2000 kids go there), Emanuel (private school) or even Nerang High etc. should be priorities as they are nice and close and could work closely with the Suns with little effort beyond initial investment.

Get some more AFL excellent programs (like PBC) running in schools. Target young girls in particular, as their competition (minus the success of the Matildas) is weaker and AFLW is on the rise in SEQLD.

The main problem though is the size of the oval required for schools. If they were designed for rugby and don’t have an athletics or cricket sized field etc. it’s pretty hard to just make it work.

GCS also do a lot of work in primary school and pre-schools as well though. Getting AFL balls into their hands early. Got a lot of friends whose kids come home wanting to play Aus Kick at 4 or 5yo because some Suns players came in to their school for a workshop.

 

[OB11]

I’m just worried we are going to lock Rogers away at 4 years…

And he won’t break into our midfield.
Then we are stuck with him..

If you believe he's worth a top 15 pick then you have to be prepared to commit 4 years. Doesn't mean you have to pay him the big dollars straight away like they did with Ainsworth / Scrimshaw/ Brodie /Bowes.

 

[GC2015]

It's interesting for me too since when I graduated from Hillcrest a decade ago or it was Basketball or nothing, certainly does appear that schools on GC are more open to AFL now

I think it's fair to say Hillcrest is still predominantly a basketball school but the appointment of Matty Lappin has certainly opened the door to what's possible if they continue to take footy seriously. It's often been speculated that basketball and Aussie rules share a lot of similarities in game plans/athlete profile so I think it's a natural fit to set up an excellence program at a basketball school like Hillcrest. This is taken directly from their website:

In 2019, former AFL great, Matthew Lappin, was employed at the College to create an excellence program commencing in the JLC, and flowing through into the SLC. Hillcrest competes in the Q Schools Cup and students have the opportunities to be referred to the Gold Coast Suns Academy.

This is an area that I probably should have touched on in my last post. We've got boots on the ground doing a lot of the heavy lifting here and it's making a difference. Just off the top of my head I know Lappin works for Hillcrest, Joel Tippett works for PBC, Jamie Stanton works at Southport High, Jesse Joyce works at St Hilda's and former Bears player Steve McLuckie used to be the principal of Varsity College when they were setting up their AFL excellence program. There would be more that I'm not aware of but this is definitely making a difference and it's only going to grow as we have more footy passionate people move to the GC as well as former Suns players moving into other career paths once their playing days are over.

Great post. Do you know how the afl or suns got into the school system there? Was it simply by demand from parents/ student, or would the afl or suns have paid the school some money to introduce a program?

I'm interested to hear if you know. When you think about it, the afl should pay schools in Brisbane to start programs, it's a worthwhile investment in spreading the gospel. 300k to each school that introduces a new program, that's not much out of a development budget of what should be around 80 million next year.

Some were pre-existing like PBC & Helensvale and then others have been set up after we were established. The GC schools with AFLQ recognised excellence programs that I know of are PBC, Helensvale, Pacific Pines, Southport and Varsity. Our club would have encouraged those schools to establish excellence programs, but I'm sure having people like Steve McLuckie serving as the principal at Varsity when they established their excellence program, Matty Lappin working for Hillcrest when they established their excellence program and Jamie Stanton working as a PE teacher at Southport High when they established their excellence program would be a huge factor as well. So the answer is it's probably both the club's encouragement and the influence of footy inclined people around the GC that's making this a reality. I'm not sure if there is any financial incentive on offer for the schools.

I think it’s sometimes something the school initiates, especially if it is something that can help boost student numbers or investment in the school.

But I wouldn’t be surprised if more schools jump on board soon. Schools like Benowa High (2000 kids go there), Emanuel (private school) or even Nerang High etc. should be priorities as they are nice and close and could work closely with the Suns with little effort beyond initial investment.

Get some more AFL excellent programs (like PBC) running in schools. Target young girls in particular, as their competition (minus the success of the Matildas) is weaker and AFLW is on the rise in SEQLD.

The main problem though is the size of the oval required for schools. If they were designed for rugby and don’t have an athletics or cricket sized field etc. it’s pretty hard to just make it work.

GCS also do a lot of work in primary school and pre-schools as well though. Getting AFL balls into their hands early. Got a lot of friends whose kids come home wanting to play Aus Kick at 4 or 5yo because some Suns players came in to their school for a workshop.

I think we'll definitely see more schools jumping on board soon. When we're playing finals and getting bigger crowds then I fully expect it to explode. The lack of ovals around the GC is definitely an issue though. We need to figure out a solution for that.

 

[Iva Bigun]

Can someone tweet Jon Ralph about him saying Alistair Clarkson made a strong argument. Clarkson flatly lied as we did not get Anderson as part of any assistance package, and the likelihood of all three of our Academy players this year going top 10 is next to zero, 1 certainly, maybe two, but highly unlikely three.

If you’re going to have a big sook at least get your facts right, and if you’re part of the media as you are Jon Ralph, check to see if what he saying is actually correct

 

[Supersuns]

Can someone tweet Jon Ralph about him saying Alistair Clarkson made a strong argument. Clarkson flatly lied as we did not get Anderson as part of any assistance package, and the likelihood of all three of our Academy players this year going Tip top 10 is next to zero,1 certainly, maybe two, but highly unlikely three.

If you’re going to have a big sook at least get your facts right, and if you’re part of the media as you are Jon Ralph, check to see if what he saying is actually correct

Anderson was an assistance package pick

edit: oh wait Rowell was the assistance pick wasn't he.

 

[Iva Bigun]

Anderson was an assistance package pick

edit: oh wait Rowell was the assistance pick wasn't he.

Correct, we received pick one and we had 2 as we finished last.

The angry dwarf is just telling lies to build a case for pick 2 as an assistance pick, which is smart but do it without bullshitting about another club

 

[Supersuns]

Correct, we received pick one and we had 2 as we finished last.

The angry dwarf is just telling lies to build a case for pick 2 as an assistance pick, which is smart but do it without bullshitting about another club

They aren't even going to finish bottom of the ladder at this rate.

 

[Iva Bigun]

Is Larkey afflicted with a tick or something or is he trying to hide a bald spot, man never stops touching his hair. Weird

Looks like a great young forward for North for the next decade

 

[Ben Drever]

Is Larkey afflicted with a tick or something or is he trying to hide a bald spot, man never stops touching his hair. Weird

Looks like a great young forward for North for the next decade

Kids not bad for a pick 73
if only Suns could nail top 10 picks

 

[CommittedSuns]

Kids not bad for a pick 73
if only Suns could nail top 10 picks

View attachment 1786487

Proof right there we don’t need all the first round picks under the sun.

I reckon that’s Walter in a few years

 

[GC2015]

Our academy guys had big games in the senior QAFL finals this past weekend:

BROADBEACH Leo Lombard responded well after his debut in the VFL with the SUNS by registering 23 touches and having a game-high seven inside 40s.

PALM BEACH CURRUMBIN Young gun Dylan Patterson was simply sensational with 24 touches; three intercept marks; four clearances; five tackles and six inside 50s to go alongside a goal in a remarkable effort from an Under 17s player.

SURFERS PARADISE Nick Williams has been a stand-out junior for Surfers Paradise and while playing a key role with the Allies; was able to play some key roles on some dominant forwards. After playing back-to-back games in the VFL in recent weeks, he returned to the backline for the Demons, but a master-stroke move from coach Matt Lappin had him switched into attack in the second half. Williams provided an unlikely option up forward but one that tactically proved fruitful. A great reader of the play to stop forwards from getting first use of the ball; it made sense for him to move forward to out-think his opposition defenders.

QAFL – FINALS WEEK 1 REVIEW | AFL Queensland

www.aflq.com.au

 

[SnusCG]

Anderson was an assistance package pick

edit: oh wait Rowell was the assistance pick wasn't he.

Rowell’s pick may have technically been the assistance pick but logically Anderson was the player we received because of the assistance pick.

Rowell was always going no.1

If we’d never received a priority pick we still would have drafted Rowell.

 

[Supersuns]

Rowell’s pick may have technically been the assistance pick but logically Anderson was the player we received because of the assistance pick.

Rowell was always going no.1

If we’d never received a priority pick we still would have drafted Rowell.

Yeah thats what I meant with my first post, just had to clarify on a technical sense.

In any case, **** North and Clarko.

 

[GC2015]

Leo Lombard has been named as a starting onballer alongside ex Sun Jacob Townsend

21

Jacob Townsend

Age

31

Ht

187cm

Wt

89kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

9.7

2star

K

5.5

2star

HB

4.3

3star

M

2.5

3star

T

4.0

5star

G

0.7

4star

D

6.9

1star

K

4.6

2star

HB

2.3

2star

M

2.1

2star

T

3.0

4star

G

1.0

4star

D

7.8

2star

K

5.0

2star

HB

2.8

3star

M

2.0

3star

T

3.6

5star

G

0.2

3star

for Broadbeach's home semi final against Wilston Grange tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully Broady get up and Leo gets more finals experience under his belt. If Broadbeach do get knocked out then the next time we see Leo should be in the U17s All Star game just before the AFL Grand Final.

 

[Ben Drever]

 

[eppo67]

View attachment 1792602

My son played on him twice this year. Just my opinion but I can't believe he's All Australian.
Good luck to him.

 

[GC2015]

View attachment 1792602

Looks like he's already taller than his old man and Jeff was 195cm tall in his playing days.

My son played on him twice this year. Just my opinion but I can't believe he's All Australian.
Good luck to him.

Not the first person to suggest that. Nepotism can be a very real thing at the junior ranks and rightly or wrongly, Kalani is going to get more opportunities because he was named in the U16 AA team this year. So even if he isn't at the level expected of an U16 AA right now, he could very well develop into that quality over the next two seasons just purely because of the benefits he will have access to by being named in the U16 AA this year.

No doubt there would be APS schools in Melbourne throwing scholarships at him right now and he'd be on the AFL National Academy's radar as well. Normally I would say it'd be in his best interests to relocate to Melbourne but he's going to be surrounded by several other U16 AAs at Broadbeach next season like Addinsall, Murray and Z.Uwland (Murray and Uwland will switch to Broadbeach soon). You'd be hard pressed to find any team in Melbourne that contains four AAs and if it's true that Kalani isn't quite at the level yet, it might be in his best interests to remain on the Gold Coast for at least another 12 months.

 

[eppo67]

Looks like he's already taller than his old man and Jeff was 195cm tall in his playing days.


Not the first person to suggest that. Nepotism can be a very real thing at the junior ranks and rightly or wrongly, Kalani is going to get more opportunities because he was named in the U16 AA team this year. So even if he isn't at the level expected of an U16 AA right now, he could very well develop into that quality over the next two seasons just purely because of the benefits he will have access to by being named in the U16 AA this year.

No doubt there would be APS schools in Melbourne throwing scholarships at him right now and he'd be on the AFL National Academy's radar as well. Normally I would say it'd be in his best interests to relocate to Melbourne but he's going to be surrounded by several other U16 AAs at Broadbeach next season like Addinsall, Murray and Z.Uwland (Murray and Uwland will switch to Broadbeach soon). You'd be hard pressed to find any team in Melbourne that contains four AAs and if it's true that Kalani isn't quite at the level yet, it might be in his best interests to remain on the Gold Coast for at least another 12 months.

My sons at Burleigh from last year they lost
Uwland
Lombard
Milane
Cork
Addison
Murray
Guliburn
For Suns Academy Seniors etc they would have flogged Broadbeach if those kids didn't have to leave.
Anyone interested Uwland and Guilburn will be playing for Burleigh Seniors v Bond Uni in the GF on Saturday. Should be a cracking game.

 

[GC2015]

My sons at Burleigh from last year they lost
Uwland
Lombard
Milane
Cork
Addison
Murray
Guliburn
For Suns Academy Seniors etc they would have flogged Broadbeach if those kids didn't have to leave.
Anyone interested Uwland and Guilburn will be playing for Burleigh Seniors v Bond Uni in the GF on Saturday. Should be a cracking game.

It's a shame that Burleigh doesn't play in the QAFL because they seem to have a really strong junior base these days but end up losing most of them to Broady or Palmy purely because they can offer the QAFL pathway. I'm guessing this has a lot to do with recent migration to the Gold Coast and junior participation numbers + the quality of the juniors in the southern Gold Coast seem to have exploded in the last few years. I'd even go as far as to say I'd rather have Burleigh competing in the QAFL over Labrador. I know Labrador is probably necessary for geographical reasons but they just don't seem to have anywhere near the level of juniors that Burleigh boasts. It's the southern suburbs of Burleigh, Broadbeach, Palm Beach and Robina (Bond Uni) that are really leading the charge.

 

[eppo67]

It's a shame that Burleigh doesn't play in the QAFL because they seem to have a really strong junior base these days but end up losing most of them to Broady or Palmy purely because they can offer the QAFL pathway. I'm guessing this has a lot to do with recent migration to the Gold Coast and junior participation numbers + the quality of the juniors in the southern Gold Coast seem to have exploded in the last few years. I'd even go as far as to say I'd rather have Burleigh competing in the QAFL over Labrador. I know Labrador is probably necessary for geographical reasons but they just don't seem to have anywhere near the level of juniors that Burleigh boasts. It's the southern suburbs of Burleigh, Broadbeach, Palm Beach and Robina (Bond Uni) that are really leading the charge.

Yes that's exactly why. It's probably because Burleigh is wedged in between Broadbeach and PBC. They are geographically so close. They can't have 3 QAFL teams with a few kms of each other which is fair enough.