Donble
Club Legend
My young fella is in this factory , they run a really good program , they get boys fit and improve the skills and the results in coming years are going to be huge.
Academy: Gold Coast SUNS Gun Factory
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My young fella is in this factory , they run a really good program , they get boys fit and improve the skills and the results in coming years are going to be huge.
Very interesting. I bet the Scotty Clayton is over the moon that PBC run an extremely successful AFL program. We're going to have so many PBC graduates on our list in the near future - Joyce, Scheer, Crossley brothers, Dawson, Foster and probably many more to come! I know in the past they produced guys like Raines, Gilbert, Lock, Wilkinson and the Beams brothers.
South Fremantle in the WAFL. The Dockers already wore it back in one of the old heritage rounds.Palm Beaches jumper
Looks better than ours
It is a little funny that the school that's considered one of the best rugby league schools in the world is now producing AFL players. Obviously being one of the two GC schools to offer an Aussie rules excellence program means they're likely to attract most of the juniors in the southern areas of the coast (including the Tweed) while Helensvale High should be attracting the juniors in the northern suburbs. Unfortunately for Broadbeach and Surfers Paradise, none of the school in the central area of the GC offers an Aussie rules excellence program and that's probably reflected in their recent results. Having said that, I know All Saints is more Aussie rules inclined than your average Gold Coast school and if you look through the history books you'll find Nick Riewoldt and Kurt Tippett both went to All Saints. The Broady Cats are based right next to Merrimac High and the Surfers Demons are less than a kilometre away from Benowa High. I think it's probably time that either Benowa High or Merrimac High start offering Aussie rules excellence programs so they can filter those players into Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach.
Fact - The most famous player to pull on the PBC jumper was definitely 'King' Carey back in 2009. This was back when Wayne actually lived on the GC. Who would have thought both Carey and Capper would live on the Gold Coast at one stage?
speaking of high schools, trent mckenzie & luke russell both finished off year 12 at helensvale, after being selected as underage recruits. from memory nicholls & weller both went to all saints. there was probably more, but they were the ones i could recall.
I think it's great that some of our footy staff are Gold Coast juniors. For example Ashcroft and Kennedy are Surfers juniors and Raines is a PBC junior. All three of those guys ended up with 10+ year careers in the AFL and played over 100 games at the top level. I'm sure it gives our academy boys faith that they too can make it as Gold Coast juniors.
No doubt Harbs will move into an indigenous developmental role for us after his playing days are over and that adds another facet with the indigenous QLD side of things. Jarrod is passionate about indigenous issues and is a proud Queenslander which is something we would desperately need if he wasn't with us. Our list is slowly starting to head back towards locals/Queenslanders and our staff is heading that way too. It's all about creating a community feel and the best way to achieve that is to continue to recruit locals. We are in a fortunate position because we don't share our city with another AFL team so we can definitely create that community feel. Look back at the Eagles or the Crows in the early 90s and you'll see what I'm talking about.
No doubt Harbs will move into an indigenous developmental role for us after his playing days are over and that adds another facet with the indigenous QLD side of things. Jarrod is passionate about indigenous issues and is a proud Queenslander which is something we would desperately need if he wasn't with us. Our list is slowly starting to head back towards locals/Queenslanders and our staff is heading that way too. It's all about creating a community feel and the best way to achieve that is to continue to recruit locals. We are in a fortunate position because we don't share our city with another AFL team so we can definitely create that community feel. Look back at the Eagles or the Crows in the early 90s and you'll see what I'm talking about.
His junior footy club is Burleigh, where his dad is the senior coach next year. It was time for him to pick a QAFL club this year and I know he looked at a couple and then decided on the one that's miles away.
$$$$$ speak
Are you suggesting Labrador are buying the best players available? That's what Southport did for decades and it worked out pretty well for them.
I would have thought you would be zoned to a club if you were a junior in that area by obviously that's not the case. Otherwise Crossley would be playing for PBC or Broadbeach seeing as he was a Burleigh junior.
Donble
Club Legend
No reason to pay him as he wont play for them next year.
Did anyone know we had a Daniher-like situation play out on the Gold Coast with the Riewoldts? The Danihers were a family from the Riverina region of NSW and all four ended up playing for Essendon and became quite influential for the Bombers. A similar but less publicised situation played out on the Gold Coast in the 80s and 90s when Riewoldt brothers Ray, Chris and Peter all moved from Hobart to the Gold Coast and became legends of the Coolangatta footy club. Peter Riewoldt was probably the most successful as he played in QAFL premiership teams with Southport as well. Sure enough the fourth brother Joe (Nick's father) followed suit and moved to the Gold Coast in the early 90s but Chris (Jack's father) ended up moving back to Hobart.
To the best of my knowledge Ray, Joe and Pete still live on the Gold Coast so fingers crossed we might have a Riewoldt coming through our academy in the near future!
To the best of my knowledge Ray, Joe and Pete still live on the Gold Coast so fingers crossed we might have a Riewoldt coming through our academy in the near future!
Scotty_222
Norm Smith Medallist
Riewoldt was supposed to be a zone selection for Brisbane.
I remember Eddie Maguire going nuts about it and the AFL changed the Zone perimeter back a 50kms so Brisbane didnt have the
Gold Coast area.
Brisbane rorted the system back in the day. They convinced a 47 year old Barry Lawrence to spend one game sitting on the bench for Southport so St Kilda no longer had exclusive father-son rights to his son Steven, who was about to become draft eligible. Back in those days your father only had to play one QAFL game to be eligible as a father-son and Brisbane used this loophole to essentially steal Steven Lawrence from the Saints. Not long after that the AFL changed Brisbane's zone boundaries so it didn't include Southport and Nick Riewoldt became a Saint. A lot of that had to do with Eddie campaigning against the rorts from the past and the fact that he wanted Nick to become a Pie.
Karma.
Looking back on the way things panned out and seeing as this is the academy thread for GC locals, I wonder how much better off the Suns would have been if they had been able to recruit GC locals instead of the guys they did land. Think about this:
Jared Brennan becomes Nick Riewoldt (Broadbeach)
Campbell Brown becomes Kurt Tippett (Southport)
Nathan Bock becomes Daniel Merrett (Surferrs Paradise)
Josh Fraser becomes David Hale (Coolangatta)
Nathan Krakeour becomes Dayne Beams (Mudgeeraba)
Riewoldt obviously the standout who is still playing and would have solved the Suns' early issues of not having a goalkicking key forward while Lynch developed. Tippett would have been able to play predominately at full forward and could relieve Hale in the ruck, which would have also allowed Dixon to play as a third tall forward against the third best defender every week. Merrett would play a similar role to Nathan Bock so that's probably an even heat but Merrett may not have been as unlucky with injuries as Bock. Hale a definite upgrade on Fraser and (most likely) would have played more years for the club while Hickey, Nicholls and Smith developed. Beams a young star and wouldn't have left after just one season like Krakeour.
The age of these guys and how many games they had played is obviously an important factor as well, but looking back retrospectively, I don't think you could deny that Riewoldt (28yo, 197 games), Hale (26yo, 129 games), Merrett (26yo, 103 games), Tippett (23yo, 65 games) and Beams (20yo, 43 games) were all in the right age bracket and had played enough games at the end of 2010 when you consider what is required to successfully start up an expansion side. Bringing in that senior experience with leadership qualities would have served perfectly at the beginning while the younger guys battle it out in the reserves to earn their place and then eventually take their place in the best 22. Competition for spots is an important factor in eventually reaching the holy grail.
Recruiting those guys and putting the captaincy on Riewoldt would have created a sense identity for the community as they were going to Carrara to watch locals pull on the red and gold guernsey every second week. I know it's all well and good to say this now but perhaps it's something the club should keep in mind going forward with their academy. No one can deny the quality of players that have come out of the Gold Coast in the past, and considering the fact that the population is growing at an enormous rate, we can expect that to continue.
TJ Hendricks
All Australian
I get so excited when I see a new Matchu post.... I know I'm about to learn me something new.
Thanks. I think it's important to understand the history so the same mistakes aren't made in the future. The Suns 'went all in' (so to speak) in 2010 with all those draft picks and it's come back to bite them in some ways with a lot of those guys leaving or being delisted over the last six years. Swallow, Day and Lynch are the only ones that remain from those eight top 13 picks they had in 2010. I understand they were forced to draft guys that weren't locals and there's always going to be the flight risk factor attached when you don't draft a Queenslander, but the academy now provides a great resource to avoid this issue. Now we have a similar situation playing out with the club having four top 10 picks in next week's draft so it's important they don't mess it up by drafting more flight risks and potentially losing out on their academy talent in the future.
The Suns have to be careful over the next few years when it comes to their academy. We know they have Crossley, Dawson and Foster coming through next year, which could be difficult if they are forced to go into deficit due to Scheer being bid on early next week. If Scheer is bid on in the first round then suddenly the club doesn't have a first round pick next year. Having extra second round picks helps but those are going to disappear pretty quickly if another club decides (for example) they want a quality ruckman and bid on Crossley with a top 10 pick. So let's say Richmond finish 14th next year and the Suns' highest pick next year is 23 (815 points) due to Scheer being bid on in the first round this year. Then let's say Crossley is bid on at pick 7 (1644 points). Well there goes pick 23 and most likely the pick after that as well. That's the situation even before you start thinking about Foster or Dawson.
Adding to that issue, the Suns also have to worry about the following year with kids like Bailey Scott coming through. So again they have to be careful with going into deficit and trading future picks. Scott is a local but his father (Robert) played more than 100 games for both North Melbourne and Geelong so Bailey is father-son eligible for both of those clubs along with being academy eligible for the Gold Coast. Word is the kid can definitely play and could go high in the draft so the Suns must priortise that if they believe in his ability and that they can secure him. North and Geelong could make life difficult for the Suns by essentially turning it into an auction for Scott but you'd hope Bailey elects to go to the Suns instead.
But at what cost? Of course it's great to see the academy bearing fruit these days but you don't want to be constantly chasing your own tail by going into deficit. The AFL may even have rules in place that state you can only go into deficit so many times over a certain amount of time, so that's another factor. Anyway, the point is, the club needs to find a balance between prioritising locals through their academy zone access and drafting guys outside of QLD that could be flight risks. Look at the situation GWS is in and you'll see what can potentially happen. There's no way GWS are going to be able to continue drafting all these kids out of their academy. They WILL miss out on some over the next few years because they are going to continue to finish in the top 8, which means their first pick each year will fall outside the top 10. The only way around this is to continue trading but I think it's also important to have stability in your playing group and not constantly turn into a revolving door every year.
It's going to be an interesting few years for the Suns in regards to their academy.
A bit more information on academy players (found here) with fathers that played a bit of local footy:
Harris Newton (ruck/forward)
Junior club(s): Southport, Surfers Paradise
Senior club(s): Surfers Paradise
Junior club(s): Burleigh
Senior club(s): Burleigh
Junior club(s): Burleigh, Palm Beach Currumbin
Senior club(s): Palm Beach Currumbin
Junior club(s): Surfers Paradise, Labrador, Southport
Senior club(s): Labrador
Junior club(s): Burleigh
Senior club(s): Burleigh
Bit of a mixed bag with fathers from basketball and even kayaking along with the footy playing fathers.
Harris Newton (ruck/forward)
Junior club(s): Southport, Surfers Paradise
Senior club(s): Surfers Paradise
- Grandfather Neville Crowe captained Richmond from 1963-1966, and father Richard played for Hawthorn in the VFL
- Can complete a rubik’s cube in under two minutes
- Ruckman with elite endurance who presents well around the ground
Junior club(s): Burleigh
Senior club(s): Burleigh
- Kicked five goals as a bottom age player in his Burleigh Under 14 premiership
- Aggressive tall player, who influences the contest around the ground
- Father Tony is a Queensland football legend, having a distinguished career at Burleigh and Southport
Junior club(s): Burleigh, Palm Beach Currumbin
Senior club(s): Palm Beach Currumbin
- His Father Daniel won two Olympic medals (bronze 1996 and silver 2000) kayaking
- Was the Australian Under 17 single ski silver medalist
- Clean freak
Junior club(s): Surfers Paradise, Labrador, Southport
Senior club(s): Labrador
- Labrador senior premiership player in 2015
- Very good rebound defender, who can also lock down on an opponent
- Father Mick is a three time Labrador premiership player
Junior club(s): Burleigh
Senior club(s): Burleigh
- Credits his coach since Under 12’s at Burleigh, Troy Crossely with a lot of his development.
- Not just a good footy player, also a member of the Palm Beach Currumbin School Academic Excellence Program
- Father Paul played NBL basketball
Bit of a mixed bag with fathers from basketball and even kayaking along with the footy playing fathers.
Footythewinner
Draftee
- Aug 2, 2016
- 3
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Not all the Gold Coast academy players have the same background and schools. Josh Gore who may have taken the mark of the under 15 Australian championships was apparently born in WA , goes to Benowa High and won the Surfers Paradise Club Champion award this year. I agree though Palm beach is becoming the powerhouse of the coast
Something to keep an eye on here when considering local indigenous talent...
Eagles achieve perfection
Eagles achieve perfection
So indigenous players Damien Burke (188cm) and Timakoi Bowie (179cm) will move to the GC in 2017 to increase their chances of being picked up in their draft eligible year. Burke hails from Hope Vale in the Cape York region and Bowie comes from Badu Island in the Torres Strait. It's great to see indigenous QLD kids coming through the Gold Coast academy and I dare say that wouldn't be the case if the AFL Cape York House had not been created a few years ago. It also provides the Suns with a virtually untapped resource of freakishly talented indigenous footballers.
Scotty_222
Norm Smith Medallist
Enough to make Scotty Clayton wet..
Scotty_222
Norm Smith Medallist
We wont have access to them will we?
Havent been in the academy long enough?
Havent been in the academy long enough?
My understanding is that juniors only have to reside in the academy zone for five continuous years, not necessarily be included in the academy program the entire duration of those five years. Sometimes players don't kick on until they are 17 so it would be a bit silly to say that a player can't be academy drafted by the club that has zonal access to him purely because he only joined the academy in his final year of junior football, despite residing and playing in Queensland the entire time.
I suppose the idea is that all junior clubs in NSW and QLD are essentially working in conjunction with the northern academies to produce AFL players. So as long as their pathway includes the required years of residence then there shouldn't be a problem because that player is a product of that zone, regardless of whether they made the academy team at the age of 13.
RememberRoyce
Club Legend
- Dec 15, 2014
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Fact - The most famous player to pull on the PBC jumper was definitely 'King' Carey back in 2009. This was back when Wayne actually lived on the GC. Who would have thought both Carey and Capper would live on the Gold Coast at one stage?
But he only lasted on the ground for 3 minutes. I live right near the ground and turned up 5 minutes after the bounce....he was already off injured. I think it was more of a fund raiser for Palmy.
On topic, not sure if it's been mentioned here, there are 4-5 of next years potential draftees who have been taken out of the academy for Dec/Jan and are training with the seniors before the u18s gets going with its new format in Feb.
princy_99
All Australian
- Sep 7, 2015
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If u don't mind me asking do u know who the players are?
RememberRoyce
Club Legend
- Dec 15, 2014
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Crossley, Dawson, Foster, Davidson & Simmington.
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