Tasmania
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When though? Itâs starting to feel like any window that might have been there for the Suns to play finals in the near future has slammed shut
Iâve always liked the idea of Tas having their own team, but donât want it to be a 19th side. Iâve previously thought NM would be the ones to make the move - 10 teams in Melb and low membership/crowds.
It would be disappointing to have QLD lose their second side and a guaranteed local match each week.
These Tasmania conversations go around in circles. It will not be Gold Coast. The Gold Coast has injected so much into community and grass roots football. Removing that team would only detract from younger people in QLD from playing the game. If the AFL want to expand the competition they need the talent. That talent canât all come from Victoria. It is so vital for the AFL to have that second, and even perhaps a third in 10-20 years time, to get that talent into the AFL system.
What is required is more personnel to drive success at the Gold Coast. Ask mark williams to go up. He was vital to the success of port Adelaide, GWS, richmond and now Melbourne. Or even Mick Malthouse. Another really successful personality that can drive culture.
Putting it in the too hard basket is just not an option or abandoning the team is just not going to happen.
Tasmania will be given its own team and it will be this decade. There will be 19 teams for a bit itâs just going to happen.
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Iâd say Gold Coast are in the same position Freo are in - being the weaker team out of two in an area on the other side of the country. Both teams suffer from attracting and maintaining talent - if youâre willing to go live in WA or Queensland, youâll want to do that for a side thatâs a premiership contender.
Itâs very hard to build from there - Freo have gotten close, but then often fallen away dramatically afterward, once the perception that they are out of their window washes across.
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The Gold Coast have to be a contender to move, alongside any of the other AFL controlled clubs if the desire to have a Tasmanian team is there, but not to award a 19th franchise. Thatâs not necessarily a reflection of the performance of any particular team over another, rather one where the AFL will want to limit the need to financially support another team.
Moving a team is fraught with danger - especially one that has an established supporter base and history. As much as I think that the game is too Melbourne centric for a national code, I really canât see it being a Melbourne based team that it is told to relocate.
Also, why does it have to be Tasmania (and possibly only them) - why not the NT, or a 3rd SA/WA club? It would be good to see some kind of roadmap for expansion (at the moment it will probably have a lot of asterixes) and an assessment whether the current teams in NSW/QLD have a real future and could operate without AFL intervention
Iâm not convinced the time is right to expand - thatâs not a slight against Tasmania (or any other expansion location). Iâd rather see greater efforts into ensuring that the current clubs can survive into the future first - especially those clubs that are reliant on AFL help
People have to want to go to the GC too - weâve already seen that forcing players to go there has been far from succesful. By all means ask performance personnel whether they are interested, but dont be surprised if they tell you to get nicked.
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Correct, itâs not a destination club.
They should rebrand themselves to North Queensland for more appeal plus play some games in Cairns.
Or just Queensland. Play everywhere other than Brisbane. Take a game to Darwin and Alice as well.
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Split home games between Cazalyâs and Metricon plus a game in Darwin and Alice Springs
Do people want to consider what the suns members, Gold Coast footy community feel about this? The suns coming into the AFL has done wonders for grassroots football on the GC but no one wants to give that perspective a thought. We love our club and want our club to stay on the Gold Coast. Why do people just want to throw us around. We are a club ON THE GOLD COAST NOT ANYWHERE ELSE!! What if it was your club being thrown around? You wouldnât like it.
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The one place I could only see Gold Coast moving games to is the Gabba and that is only because of the upgrades the government are doing to the stadium.
Brisbane play at the Gabba. You wonât get some Gold Coasters travelling up to the Gabba to watch the Suns play.
Lions- Gabba
Suns- Metricon
It is as simple as that
Frankly, they potentially mean nothing - sport is a business and if the business conditions are no longer conducive to operating in a market the AFL will more than likely look to exit (be it by relocation or closure). Being controlled by the AFL probably puts you (and other AFL controlled clubs) at greater risk as well
Member numbers arent great - but thats not a surprise for a club that has underperformed as much as the Suns have. For all of the effort to artificially assist the expansion clubs (both the Suns and the Giants), it cant really be called a success
There are a number of clubs that would be considered (frankly the sooner Collingwood are fired into the sun, the better) - but as one of the weakest performers (on both on and off field metrics), the reality is that the Suns are at potential risk, its not a great position to be in but its the reality.
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20,000 this season a record. Every year in the past few years we have increased our membership numbers. The true numbers to look at is the participation numbers on the GC since 2011 but that would be too hard for some to look it. It is fair easier to pick on us for our performance on field
When you say off field we are weak⌠We arenât. Again I point to the impact the Suns have had in the community.
Fans could return to the AFL matches in Victoria next weekend.
Iâm not saying it will happen but itâs more likely than then moving to Tasmania or folding. Teams share grounds all over australia so the fact brisbane play there is irrelevant. And brisbane isnât that far away from the Gold Coast. Potentially but that time there might be a bigger base of supporters in brisbane as well.
No itâs not, itâs accepted that participation numbers are increasing for juniors on the gold coast but isnât translating into support for the Suns.
Why is it so? What attracted you to become a member? Has your support rubbed off on others?
Herald Sun reports 30k.
I support the club since 2011 because I wanted to be part of a club from the start and call them MY TEAM!!!
I am a SUNS member who lives in Melbourne and always an outnumber at the games I attend in Victoria but I still attend because I want to go out and support my team.
The way the sporting landscape works in Queensland is that people donât really purchase memberships as that is a commitment to attend games. Usually they would instead purchase a ticket to attend the game. AFLQ juniors matches are also played on Sunday which makes attending the SUNS matches on a Saturday afternoon and sometimes twilights very hard and night games the standard isnât too good given the dew.
Out of all our home games this year, four of them have been in the afternoon, with the other two at night (when it is late and families donât go out to the games)
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