Are they rebuilding? They keep bringing in older players such as Matthew Wright, Rhys Palmer, Billy Smedts and Dan Gorringe.
Are they trying to play winning football? Their team selection often suggests otherwise. Picking younger players who haven't earned their spot in the side through mediocre performances in the VFL over more in form players.
See how easy that was?
Gold Coast are having player retention issues because they failed to develop strong Leaders, thereby creating a very ordinary culture. Their early game plan was "Give it to Gary" and as a result they've failed to develop their younger mids properly.
In the last couple of years they've changed up the captaincy, recruited senior players who work hard, drafted multiple high-end kids and secured most of them with contract extensions. They're in almost exactly the same spot as us, without the luxury of being a Melbourne-based club which generates more options for trading in "homesick" young kids. If they can get the right coach on board (because I don't believe Eade is the right man for the job) they'll find success isn't too far off.
We took Rhys Palmer on to get another trade through. We also needed to meet the minimum AFL player payments. You have one in Matthew Wright who is 27 and will likely retire before we push. Gorringe is still 24 and in his second season with the club meaning we got him when he was 22 turning 23. Smedts is 24. Had the latter two come on they'd be in the right age range to be contributors when we were ready to contend. Let's say that's 2020 when we make finals. Both would be 27 with 3-5 years left in them
if they were good enough (Smedts is a depth player, Gorringe worth a gamble but will be cut).
You cannot say that about any of the Gold Coast older players. Rosa (30), Barlow (29), Hanley (28, 6 months) are all older than the oldest player that we've added. All three of them were acquired when they were older than what Matthew Wright is
now. They've also invested far more into all three of them than what we did
any of them save for Palmer's salary. They only got Grant in because their head of recruiting, Scott Clayton, believed Jarrod to be the next best player in his draft class to Kreuzer and Cotchin.
We've picked young players but for the most part our selections have been on merit. Most of them have stood up when they've been selected. You cannot say the same thing about the Gold Coast Suns team selections. Well, you can, but you'd be about as dead wrong as you were about Carlton picking up players comparable in age to the Gold Coast Suns.
I live down the road from the Gold Coast Suns. I am a paid up member. Whenever they have a members invite function to talk to their board and presidency, which they've done with some regularity over the past couple of seasons, I've signed up to attend more so out of interest than anything else. It's always interesting to see how a professional sports organization is managed.
The Suns are a mess on and off the field. It wasn't that long ago that the media were all over GAJ for half-hearted efforts. The Suns players still cop it from their fans who are displeased with their perceived effort. The club freely admit that the overwhelming majority of their cashed up members support the Gold Coast Suns second to another AFL club (e.g. Victorian and South Australian expats).