So apparently the Southport Sharks have been trying to get a license since the Lions Merged. Port Adelaide rightly got the nod over them first. But why did they start a new team a 10 minute drive away from where the sharks are? They wouldnt have had to create a reserves team because they already had a good one. Would have cost a lot less money to set up. They also already had a good following. I see a lot of sharks supporters at their vfl games. So why wouldn't they give them a license?
Southport Sharks
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Because there's a lot of people at the Gold Coast and the rest of QLD who hate Southport. The Suns are meant to be the Eagles of the Gold Coast and the anti-Lions.
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Southport is literally next to the gold coast and woulf have cost less money to set up. I think it should have gone to Southport.
I don't, Southport is tiny compared to the Gold Coast, and the game has been growing well at the Gold Coast since they've come in and they're producing plenty of good talent. If the Suns start playing finals I think they're gonna end up being a financially successful club.
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It's been ten years and the sharks could have done just as much of not more.
Shane Heard
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Southport FC is just a giant pokie venue with a footy field next to it
Soulless
Soulless
Like everything in Queensland
Wasn't it just so the AFL would have full ownership and control over everything including IP, branding, merch, decision making etc etc?
I'm sure the AFL had more than one bullet point under the 'W' in their SWOT analysis on giving Southport the licence.
Good following? They’re a local club with a few hundred people at their games.
The Suns draw 10k - 15k and have since Day 1.
But in answer to your question, the AFL has never looked to promote existing clubs into the league, preferring to create new ones. I think their view is that they want to capture as many supporters as possible, not just those of one existing local club.
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Bingo
boncer34
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The Suns opposition draw*
Attendances would've been the same if it was Southport or not.
Bjo187
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I do agree with this, they would have been called the gold coast sharks, had a successful culture, different colour playing strip and would have cashed in on their good facilities (not tin sheds) and hugely profitable social club (not losing money by the truckloads).
99 percent of people on the coast wouldn't care they were previously a club they disliked at amatuer footy level, the gold coast sharks afl club wearing red and yellow would just seem like an AFL club that represents the gold coast after a year or two in the big league.
The suns have finally got their act together and will come good, but they could already have been a powerhouse on and off field by now if the sharks were used instead, they basically lost a decade of building potential support the way the afl stuffed things up.
99 percent of people on the coast wouldn't care they were previously a club they disliked at amatuer footy level, the gold coast sharks afl club wearing red and yellow would just seem like an AFL club that represents the gold coast after a year or two in the big league.
The suns have finally got their act together and will come good, but they could already have been a powerhouse on and off field by now if the sharks were used instead, they basically lost a decade of building potential support the way the afl stuffed things up.
Well that is different to straight up Southport with the same name and colours. Probably would’ve worked well. It’s surprising to me we still don’t have a Sharks mascot in the AFL.
Bjo187
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You make that the condition of entry. Obviously they can't wear black and white anyway and the name has to reflect the whole city, not just a suburb.
Funnily enough their jumper in red and yellow would still look better than the current suns jumper and their home ground if redeveloped is in a much better location than Carrara stadium.
At the time I was actually on board the AFL creating a whole new club, but at the time we weren't made aware of the absolute cluster * the afl were going to make of the situation. The players didn't even have a proper gym. Thank god Tony Cochrane came along, they'd still be doing weights in shipping containers or whatever it was.
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They could have done this, but it would have ensured that many GC footy people who have ties to Broadbeach, Palm Beach, Surfers, Labrador etc would have never supported the Sharks in the AFL. Wouldn’t be the smartest move to make for a club based in one the smallest markets in the league. They decided it would be better off creating a new entity to bring people together instead of being divisive from the start.
Exactly. Think Port Adelaide on a much smaller scale. Would South Australian footy people from clubs like Norwood & Glenelg have started supporting Port if they had entered the league in 1991 like originally intended? The answer is definitely no for the most part. The same can be said about Gold Coast footy people from clubs like Broadbeach, Surfers Paradise and Palm Beach. As someone who actually played junior footy on the Gold Coast I can confirm hatred towards Southport is a very real thing and has been for decades.
Behind the scenes, there was probably a power struggle at play as well. I can't imagine the Sharks would have wanted to hand over full control of their club IP but the AFL would have demanded it. Although it should be pointed out that the Sharks have their fingerprints all over of the Suns in their formative years with the sharing of board members (RIP Doc Mackenzie), a 10-year sponsorship agreement, coaches, juniors etc.
One side of the ground is a hotel, there’s no stadium going there.
Bjo187
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Obviously you'd move the ground to the right, or downwards or whatever, plenty of land surrounding the ground to have made it work.
Caligo
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Southport has produced an incredible number of AFL quality juniors, averaging about 1 a year until the GC academy really got up and running about 5 years ago, and some of the best players of the modern era like Reiwoldt and Beams.
The Sharks should have been the 17th afl franchise.
The Sharks should have been the 17th afl franchise.
Shane Heard
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2 stars. Wow. They’re no Sandringham footy factory.
Caligo
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True, but I still think they have a really impressive record for a club not in a major city and not in a footy state. They deserved the 17th licence. It isn't easy producing a player good enough to get drafted every year for 25 years straight (on average).
