Academy: Gold Coast SUNS Gun Factory

[Southern Sun]

We will get them all, plenty of ways to get extra points and plenty of players can be moved on

 

[GC2015]

Those numbers from Read are phenomenal and they remind me of the better ruckmen at the AFL level where you sort of look at them as an extra onballer. I've seen first hand that Read is more than willing to win a centre clearance himself but it's his skills that are most impressive IMO. Clean below the knees, very accurate kick in short-medium distances and very willing to tackle despite his slender frame. You just don't see those skills from ruckmen and it's going to be such a weapon when we get him to the AFL level.

Walter just continues to impress and show why he's rated as a top 5 talent. 6 goals in the Coates Talent League is not something any recruiter is going to ignore and I guarantee every recruiter in the league watched a replay of Walter today just to see if he really was as dominant as people were suggesting. Especially considering he was a bit quiet in the NAB Academy game the week before. So excited to have Jed on our list next year - perfect long term replacement for Casboult.

In Melbourne for work, so wandered out to Ikon Park yesterday afternoon.

The U18 boys played GWV Rebels, who were 3 and 1 coming into this game, with wins over Geelong , Bendigo and Swans.

Apparently, this is the first time a male U18 Suns Academy Team has beaten a Victorian NAB / Coates team in Victoria, with the Suns winning 71 - 54 in a quality game of footy.

From the outset the Suns dominated the ruck. Read racked up 24 hit outs and 27 disposals, with Dawson adding 12 hit outs and a major. The GWV rucks only had 10 hit outs between them.

Walter was unstoppable with 6.1 and was the clear BOG. His size, skill and athleticism are well above this level of footy and GWV had no answer. Walters long range goal kicking was on song, and his ability to snap goals on the run at full speed was awesome to watch. I imagine there would have been a number of scouts at the game, and they all would have been licking their lips. Hudson at 191cm was undersized at FF, but they look to be trying to get games into him at this level. Dawson was far more threatening coming off the bench.

Rogers and Lombard were good in the guts, as was young Addinsall. Graham tackled himself to a standstill, but was noticeably limping in the last quarter. Hay had little impact on the wing on his return to the team after injury.

Williams was a rock behind the ball, marking everything that came his way and finding outlets by foot. Kid reminds me of Collins from the seniors, just needs a few more cm of height and the mo. Uwland had 18 disposals off half back, but doesn’t seem to have the leap or hardness at the footy of Bodhi yet, but he is only 15. Eckersley disappointing at CHB with only 8 touches.

Could easily be 10+ players from this team selected in the Allies squad, but I am lead to believe only 6 Suns will be named.

I must say I'm very impressed with the amount of information that's shared in this thread. I'd go as far as to say we have the most informative academy thread of all northern clubs and it's probably by a fair stretch as well. It's just so exciting to have three first round talents coming through our academy in the same year and it's extremely likely that we'll never see this again so the great amount of interest in our academy is very much justified but I'd like to hope we can keep it going for at least a few more years considering other talents coming through like Lombard, Nancarrow, Addinsall and Murray.

 

[SandyToes]

Ethan Read shaping to be a Tim English type ruck. Veryyyyy unique. How awesome and what a ******* stat line, had no idea he could do that.

He got the exit row
Not sure what Jed had to do to earn it
Lots of banter from the happy lads about that!

 

[Southern Sun]

6 academy players named in the u 18s allies squad.

 

[RedmanWasHere]

The other day, I had one of your club’s academy players follow me on Insta.

Pretty chuffed I say.

 

[Jen2310]

The other day, I had one of your club’s academy players follow me on Insta.

Pretty chuffed I say.

Not even "one" of them, but THE one haha.

 

[RedmanWasHere]

Not even "one" of them, but THE one haha.

Thought I'd play it down but, yep, I'm happy about Jed.

 

[The Kings Ransom]

Thought I'd play it down but, yep, I'm happy about Jed.

What kind of stuff do you post on Instagram?

 

[RedmanWasHere]

What kind of stuff do you post on Instagram?

Nothing interesting.

I joined in mid-2014 and have only 70+ posts.

 

[GC2015]

6 academy players named in the u 18s allies squad.

Allies squad named for 2023 U18 Boys Championships

Allies squad confirmed for 2023 AFL National Championships – U18 Boys; ten AFL Academy members featured

www.afl.com.au

Jake Rogers (Broadbeach), Leonardo Lombard (Broadbeach), Jed Walter (Palm Beach Currumbin), Will Graham (Palm Beach Currumbin), Ethan Read (Palm Beach Currumbin) and Nick Williams (Surfers Paradise) for anyone that's wondering. Awesome to see bottom ager Lombard making the team after announcing himself on the national stage last year when he was selected as a member of the U16 All Australian team. A little disappointing to see Caleb Nancarrow didn't make the team but he still seems to be adjusting to the U18 level and will probably be more in line for Allies selection next year. We have updated heights for the boys now as well:

Jake Rogers - 172cm
Leonardo Lombard - 178cm
Jed Walter - 195cm
Will Graham - 186cm
Nick Williams - 191cm
Ethan Read - 200cm

Should be interesting to see how our boys go in the National Championships this year with so much representation in the Allies squad. Here are the games our boys will be competing in:

11:00am, Sun, June 4 v South Australia @ Thebarton Oval, SA
12:05pm, Sun, June 11 v Western Australia @ Thebarton Oval, SA
2:00pm, Sun, July 2 v Victoria Metro @ Brighton Homes Arena, QLD
1:35pm, Sun July 9 v Victoria Country @ RSEA Park, VIC

 

[The Kings Ransom]

Does anyone know if either Clay Shadforth or William Rowlands are eligible to be listed under the Darwin package?

Both listed as having Darwin based clubs as their origins.

Might be another couple to keep an eye on.

 

[GC2015]

Does anyone know if either Clay Shadforth or William Rowlands are eligible to be listed under the Darwin package?

Both listed as having Darwin based clubs as their origins.

Might be another couple to keep an eye on.

Hmm that is odd that they aren't in our academy. You'd think earning Allies selection would mean they are good enough to be in our academy... Have we lost access to NT players and it hasn't been announced publicly yet?

On another note, an interesting story relating to our Far North QLD academy came out yesterday. Cairns native Hamiso Tibuai-Fidow was selected to represent the Queensland State of Origin team yesterday and in doing so unseated one of the mainstays in the team in Dane Gagai/Kalyn Ponga. What's really interesting about Hamiso is that he was playing our code of football just four years ago, was a member of our Far North Academy back then and was offered the opportunity to relocate to the Gold Coast at 16 years of age to pursue a career in the AFL.

The article below reveals 'Hammer' was very close to accepting our offer after a best on ground performance for the Manunda Hawks in the Cairns AFL U15 grand final and many involved in the program believe he would have made it to the top level if he had chosen the sherrin. Anyone who has seen him play in the NRL knows he's a seriously talented athlete so I think it's definitely possibly he would have made it to our senior list. Funnily enough, Alex Davies was a teammate of his at Manunda and they also played alongside current professional basketball player Tamuri Wigness (who we tried to recruit as well).

It seems like this is our very own version of the Kalyn Ponga story (Ponga turned down the Lions) and instead of joining us he goes on to become highly successful in one of the rugby codes. Hamiso said the main reason he resisted the offer to relocate to the GC and join our academy was that he grew up playing rugby league and that's the sport his family wanted him to play. I dream of a day where these incredible Queensland athletes choose us instead of league/union but I understand we need to win more often for that to become a reality. Anyway, here is Hamiso playing Aussie rules for a North QLD representative team a few years ago:

State of Origin star reveals how close he came to joining the AFL

Queensland superstar Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow was on the verge of committing to AFL, before a 'gut feeling' convinced him his future lay in rugby league.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[The Kings Ransom]

Hmm that is odd that they aren't in our academy. You'd think earning Allies selection would mean they are good enough to be in our academy... Have we lost access to NT players and it hasn't been announced publicly yet?

On another note, an interesting story relating to our Far North QLD academy came out yesterday. Cairns native Hamiso Tibuai-Fidow was selected to represent the Queensland State of Origin team yesterday and in doing so unseated one of the mainstays in the team in Dane Gagai/Kalyn Ponga. What's really interesting about Hamiso is that he was playing our code of football just four years ago, was a member of our Far North Academy back then and was offered the opportunity to relocate to the Gold Coast at 16 years of age to pursue a career in the AFL.

The article below reveals 'Hammer' was very close to accepting our offer after a best on ground performance for the Manunda Hawks in the Cairns AFL U15 grand final and many involved in the program believe he would have made it to the top level if he had chosen the sherrin. Anyone who has seen him play in the NRL knows he's a seriously talented athlete so I think it's definitely possibly he would have made it to our senior list. Funnily enough, Alex Davies was a teammate of his at Manunda and they also played alongside current professional basketball player Tamuri Wigness (who we tried to recruit as well).

It seems like this is our very own version of the Kalyn Ponga story (Ponga turned down the Lions) and instead of joining us he goes on to become highly successful in one of the rugby codes. Hamiso said the main reason he resisted the offer to relocate to the GC and join our academy was that he grew up playing rugby league and that's the sport his family wanted him to play. I dream of a day where these incredible Queensland athletes choose us instead of league/union but I understand we need to win more often for that to become a reality. Anyway, here is Hamiso playing Aussie rules for a North QLD representative team a few years ago:

State of Origin star reveals how close he came to joining the AFL

Queensland superstar Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow was on the verge of committing to AFL, before a 'gut feeling' convinced him his future lay in rugby league.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Was sandy Brock ever part of our academy though?

Don’t recall hearing anything about him until the draft.

 

[lommy]

Was sandy Brock ever part of our academy though?

Don’t recall hearing anything about him until the draft.

Yeah think it’s just zone selection


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[GC2015]

An interesting story relating to our Far North QLD academy came out yesterday. Cairns native Hamiso Tibuai-Fidow was selected to represent the Queensland State of Origin team yesterday and in doing so unseated one of the mainstays in the team in Dane Gagai/Kalyn Ponga. What's really interesting about Hamiso is that he was playing our code of football just four years ago, was a member of our Far North Academy back then and was offered the opportunity to relocate to the Gold Coast at 16 years of age to pursue a career in the AFL.

The article below reveals 'Hammer' was very close to accepting our offer after a best on ground performance for the Manunda Hawks in the Cairns AFL U15 grand final and many involved in the program believe he would have made it to the top level if he had chosen the sherrin. Anyone who has seen him play in the NRL knows he's a seriously talented athlete so I think it's definitely possibly he would have made it to our senior list. Funnily enough, Alex Davies was a teammate of his at Manunda and they also played alongside current professional basketball player Tamuri Wigness (who we tried to recruit as well).

It seems like this is our very own version of the Kalyn Ponga story (Ponga turned down the Lions) and instead of joining us he goes on to become highly successful in one of the rugby codes. Hamiso said the main reason he resisted the offer to relocate to the GC and join our academy was that he grew up playing rugby league and that's the sport his family wanted him to play. I dream of a day where these incredible Queensland athletes choose us instead of league/union but I understand we need to win more often for that to become a reality. Anyway, here is Hamiso playing Aussie rules for a North QLD representative team a few years ago:

State of Origin star reveals how close he came to joining the AFL

Queensland superstar Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow was on the verge of committing to AFL, before a 'gut feeling' convinced him his future lay in rugby league.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Nice to see former member of our academy Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow scoring the opening try in State of Origin this year. Would have preferred him to be playing against Adelaide for us this weekend instead of playing in Adelaide tonight but happy for the young lad nevertheless.

 

[The Kings Ransom]

Gold Coast Suns QLD Academy

central.rookieme.com

Harrison Arnold, former academy graduate picked up by Sydney after playing with Lions VFL side.

Tall defender.

 

[MarcLocksCrustySock]

Gold Coast Suns QLD Academy

central.rookieme.com

Harrison Arnold, former academy graduate picked up by Sydney after playing with Lions VFL side.

Tall defender.

Remember seeing his name in the reserves a few times but never knew much about him!

 

[The Kings Ransom]

Remember seeing his name in the reserves a few times but never knew much about him!

Turned out a pretty good group!

Budarick, Ace, Graham, Scott, Conroy and now Arnold all made it onto AFL lists.

 

[CaptTom]

Was sandy Brock ever part of our academy though?

Don’t recall hearing anything about him until the draft.

Brock and Johnson were included in the academy in the months before the draft.

Its a loophole

 

[The Kings Ransom]

Brock and Johnson were included in the academy in the months before the draft.

Its a loophole

So do you think these guys listed for allies with Darwin affiliated clubs could also potentially be eligible?

 

[GC2015]

Gold Coast Suns QLD Academy

central.rookieme.com

Harrison Arnold, former academy graduate picked up by Sydney after playing with Lions VFL side.

Tall defender.

Interestingly, Arnold becomes just the second Mackay player drafted into the AFL after David Armitage in 2006. Similar pathway into the AFL for both of them playing junior footy for the Eastern Swans in the AFL Mackay competition before moving south at 16 to chase the dream when Arnold moved to the GC to continue his development journey with Broadbeach/our academy and Armitage moved to Brisbane to play for Morningside. Hopefully this is the beginning of more AFL talent from Mackay finding its way into the AFL and we get a few hidden gems from the central north.

I reckon Arnold will get a look in pretty soon considering the Swans have next to no tall defenders that are healthy at the moment.

 

[SUN OF A GUN]

Probably one thing the Lions do well is bring in VFL only players. Usually keep on a few of their Academy talent for VFL only too

Great to see a Qld kid stay and play VFL in Qld and make an AFL list.

Not something we really need to consider with our list size at the moment.


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

 

[GC2015]

Probably one thing the Lions do well is bring in VFL only players. Usually keep on a few of their Academy talent for VFL only too

Great to see a Qld kid stay and play VFL in Qld and make an AFL list.

Not something we really need to consider with our list size at the moment.

A big factor is the Southport Sharks. I'd estimate around 70% of Southport's list is made up of former players from our senior list and/or academy. The city of Brisbane doesn't have a VFL equivalent after Aspley withdrew from the competition so the players who could be a chance to be drafted either sign for the Lions reserves or play in the QAFL for a team like Morningside but you rarely see mature age players being drafted out of the QAFL.

 

[briztoon]

A big factor is the Southport Sharks. I'd estimate around 70% of Southport's list is made up of former players from our senior list and/or academy. The city of Brisbane doesn't have a VFL equivalent after Aspley withdrew from the competition so the players who could be a chance to be drafted either sign for the Lions reserves or play in the QAFL for a team like Morningside but you rarely see mature age players being drafted out of the QAFL.

Or they head to SA and play in the SANFL.

 

[GC2015]

Or they head to SA and play in the SANFL.

Sure, but that wasn't the point of the post. The point was that there's only one team in Brisbane that competes in the VFL and there's two on the Gold Coast.