Is Rainsford Stone a player or our new major sponsor?
Picked on name value alone.
Was at match - without being over critical - Dawson had 2 set shots for goal within 40m in the first 10 minutes of the game- missed both.
Interesting observation. How did Crossley go coming off glandular fever?
Conditions didn't suit him (or Ballenden for that matter).
I think it was one of the state coaches that said Crossley had been working to gain his fitness back after his bout with glandular fever but it sounds like he might be playing catch up for most of the year. Bit of a shame but it could be a good thing for the Suns if he slips down the draft order.
Awesome to see the TSI lad Timakoi Bowie having an impact. I feel like the Cape and the Gulf of Carpanteria areas are a massively untapped resource for us. You only have to look at one of the players from there named Charlie Cameron. He played very well yesterday and it's a bit of a shame that he's not playing for us because I think we could really use an explosive small forward with freakish abilities that crumbs lots of goals. I know we have Ah Chee and Matera but they don't kick enough goals for my liking and are rarely front and centre to pick up the crumbs from Lynchy or 2 metre Peter. Hopefully Bowie can fill that need for us!
Burke is an indigenous footballer from AFL house in Cairns, he has a heap of talent but has always played as a key forward. He would only be considered a medium forward by AFL standards. Great mark for his size and nice kick of the footy but still developing toughness in his game.
Thanks for the info. I wonder if young Burke still has a few cms of growth left in him to get him up to the AFL standard (190cms+) for a key position player. Do you know if he has a big vertical leap and is he lightning quick for his height?
I think the difference in standard between state leagues means kids in QLD and NSW are always going to start behind their counterparts in the southern states. Then you add in elite coaching and training facilities in their teenage years and suddenly QLDers and NSWelshmen have the opportunity to catch up to the rest of Australia. We saw how much of an impact the GWS academy had on the Riverina area and that no doubt had a lot to do with the standard of local footy being quite high. Areas north of Canberra and west of the Northern Territory/Broken Hill don't have the luxury of a strong local competition so the academies are designed to give them every opportunity to catch up in terms of development. However, when you're always playing catch up, it's very difficult produce elite talent.
Agree totally - ability for our Academy players to play against AFL listed players while still underage helps enormously.
I believe every NEAFL player on the Gold Coast is assigned a QAFL club in case they aren't picked for the Suns reserves/Southport. Crossley played for Labrador last year and only just missed out on playing in their premiership winning grand final. However, I think Crossley is probably beyond the QAFL level now and will likely only play for the Suns reserves/Southport in terms of local footy this year. His old man, Troy, was a Southport legend so there was a push for him to play for the Sharks last year that you can read about here.
There was an article on Kane in the local GC Bulletin as well. It'd be great to see some more players coming out of Central Queensland because there has really only been Zac Smith to date. The Capricornia/Central Queensland region is a tough one because it doesn't have a big population (around 250k) and is rugby league mad. When you think about it, the Gold Coast's zone sort of forces the club to draft country/regional players whereas Brisbane is full of city boys.
