Analysis Single Malt GC Sporting Updates (TITANS NEWZ)

GC2015

Norm Smith Medallist
May 27, 2013
6,521
8,036
AFL Club
Gold Coast
fantastic news... who is this?
Had a little look into his background. He appears to have almost exclusively written stories as a rugby league reporter and was even employed by the NRL to cover QLD teams for four years between 2013-17. This is a really big step forward for us to have members of the local media with rugby league backgrounds willing to support us and presumably write stories about us.

Is the tide turning? Are we finally starting to be accepted by the whole Gold Coast community as opposed to just those who come from traditional footy backgrounds? We can only hope. There are sooooo many benefits to having that kind of city-wide acceptance and support. Let's hope other members of the GC media and public jump on board too!
 

The Victorian

Norm Smith Medallist
Oct 23, 2018
7,088
6,402
Victoria
AFL Club
Gold Coast
Other Teams
Storm, Western Utd
Had a little look into his background. He appears to have almost exclusively written stories as a rugby league reporter and was even employed by the NRL to cover QLD teams for four years between 2013-17. This is a really big step forward for us to have members of the local media with rugby league backgrounds willing to support us and presumably write stories about us.

Is the tide turning? Are we finally starting to be accepted by the whole Gold Coast community as opposed to just those who come from traditional footy backgrounds? We can only hope. There are sooooo many benefits to having that kind of city-wide acceptance and support. Let's hope other members of the GC media and public jump on board too!
As I always have said. We have a benefit like Geelong being the only side in the city. We have the opportunity to be the true community club for the entire coast to be proud of and proud to call us their team
 

GC2015

Norm Smith Medallist
May 27, 2013
6,521
8,036
AFL Club
Gold Coast
As I always have said. We have a benefit like Geelong being the only side in the city. We have the opportunity to be the true community club for the entire coast to be proud of and proud to call us their team
You're absolutely right about the unique opportunity here but you would be shocked to learn how set in their ways some people are here and I'm not just talking about rugby league fans either. The gAyFL mentality is very much still alive on the Gold Coast (especially in the schools) and that's something we need to overcome to be truly accepted by the whole community. It's easy to compare Geelong to the Gold Coast because of its close proximity to a major city and just assume it is an extension of the Brisbane rugby league culture in the same way Geelong is an extension of the Melbourne football culture but that's not actually the case. Brisbane is mostly made up of Queenslanders who are very passionate about their city/state and their beloved Broncos (and to a lesser degree the Heat, Reds and Lions) but the Gold Coast is mostly made up of Sydneysiders and Melburnians who already have allegiances to other teams and are usually set in their way in terms of the sport/team they follow. Have you ever tried to convince the average rugby league fan in Sydney that Aussie rules is a game worth getting behind? Don't even bother. Mr Bods is very much in the minority when it comes to supporting both Gold Coast teams and that's a shame.

We're really fighting two battles on the Gold Coast: the majority of sports fans on the GC are rugby league fans because of their historical Sydney/Brisbane connections and the Aussie rules fans who do live here already have a team in the AFL and are often unwilling to switch, particularly if the local team is underperforming. So how do we win over these ex pats from Sydney and Melbourne who make up most of the Gold Coast population? Winning is a great start. If there's one thing we know about the Gold Coast it's that we love a winning team (see the Titans back in 2009/10 or even us in 2014). Some rugby league people on the Gold Coast will never give the Suns a chance because they believe it's essentially dining with the devil in sports terms and that's okay but I do believe there are enough people who are willing to jump on board while we're winning for us to become a regional/community force akin to Geelong. The current generation of primary schoolers on the Gold Coast who will attend Suns games over the next few years while we're hopefully really competitive will drive the next wave of local players and supporters for us because these kids will dream wearing the red and gold one day as they have so many fond memories of superstars like Matt Rowell playing for the Suns while they were kids.

Winning is how we change their minds.
 

The Victorian

Norm Smith Medallist
Oct 23, 2018
7,088
6,402
Victoria
AFL Club
Gold Coast
Other Teams
Storm, Western Utd
You're absolutely right about the unique opportunity here but you would be shocked to learn how set in their ways some people are here and I'm not just talking about rugby league fans either. The gAyFL mentality is very much still alive on the Gold Coast (especially in the schools) and that's something we need to overcome to be truly accepted by the whole community. It's easy to compare Geelong to the Gold Coast because of its close proximity to a major city and just assume it is an extension of the Brisbane rugby league culture in the same way Geelong is an extension of the Melbourne football culture but that's not actually the case. Brisbane is mostly made up of Queenslanders who are very passionate about their city/state and their beloved Broncos (and to a lesser degree the Heat, Reds and Lions) but the Gold Coast is mostly made up of Sydneysiders and Melburnians who already have allegiances to other teams and are usually set in their way in terms of the sport/team they follow. Have you ever tried to convince the average rugby league fan in Sydney that Aussie rules is a game worth getting behind? Don't even bother. Mr Bods is very much in the minority when it comes to supporting both Gold Coast teams and that's a shame.

We're really fighting two battles on the Gold Coast: the majority of sports fans on the GC are rugby league fans because of their historical Sydney/Brisbane connections and the Aussie rules fans who do live here already have a team in the AFL and are often unwilling to switch, particularly if the local team is underperforming. So how do we win over these ex pats from Sydney and Melbourne who make up most of the Gold Coast population? Winning is a great start. If there's one thing we know about the Gold Coast it's that we love a winning team (see the Titans back in 2009/10 or even us in 2014). Some rugby league people on the Gold Coast will never give the Suns a chance because they believe it's essentially dining with the devil in sports terms and that's okay but I do believe there are enough people who are willing to jump on board while we're winning for us to become a regional/community force akin to Geelong. The current generation of primary schoolers on the Gold Coast who will attend Suns games over the next few years while we're hopefully really competitive will drive the next wave of local players and supporters for us because these kids will dream wearing the red and gold one day as they have so many fond memories of superstars like Matt Rowell playing for the Suns while they were kids.

Winning is how we change their minds.
Great insight. I'll admit- I didn't know this due to living down in Melbourne. From the times I have came up to the coast though (as I mention in the GWS/GCS comparison thread), I had people stop me on my way in to wish the club luck and on the way home to see how we went! I think the Gold Coast Bulletin is doing a great job to expand footy coverage across the coast (not just footy content but SUNS coverage!). I definitely agree that the kids are our next generation of hard rusted Suns fans which will be fantastic for the GC Community!
 

GC2015

Norm Smith Medallist
May 27, 2013
6,521
8,036
AFL Club
Gold Coast
Great insight. I'll admit- I didn't know this due to living down in Melbourne. From the times I have came up to the coast though (as I mention in the GWS/GCS comparison thread), I had people stop me on my way in to wish the club luck and on the way home to see how we went! I think the Gold Coast Bulletin is doing a great job to expand footy coverage across the coast (not just footy content but SUNS coverage!). I definitely agree that the kids are our next generation of hard rusted Suns fans which will be fantastic for the GC Community!
I think people here are curious about the performances of our teams in general but converting that minor interest into a fully fledged member who will attend every home game has proven to be a very difficult task for both the Suns and Titans. It hurts me to write it but I think most people on the GC are just so used to the local sports teams losing and finishing towards the bottom of the ladder that you really had to be a fanatic to keep that interest going. Everyone loves a winning team though so I expect some of those casual sports fans on the Gold Coast to jump on board if we keep this kind of winning form up.

The GC Bulletin give us a fair go so I can't complain there. I would say they still cover rugby league more than Aussie rules (NRL has its own section on their website and AFL doesn't) but News Corp own that newspaper and they have strong ties to the NRL in Queensland so it's not that surprising. The local 5:30pm news on Channel 9 and 7 usually do at least one story on us every weeknight and that's been great for us. I've also noticed the local radio stations like Triple M and HIT FM have been talking about us a fair bit lately. Overall I think we get good coverage at a local level but I'd like to see that ramp up now that we're winning more regularly.

It would have been nice for us to have built a generation of rusted on Suns fans 10 years ago when we entered the league but there's no quicker way to lose casual fans in sport than to lose on a regular basis. Unfortunately we probably missed out on a full generation of potential rusted on Suns supporters over the last decade because of our poor results on field. We have a great opportunity to right a lot of those wrongs with this current crop of talent though so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
 
tonight's attendance will be interesting. is the cap still around 6000? or has it lifted to 12000?

I can't find anything any more recent than when it was raised to 6500.

First test in regards to a Thursday night crowd on the Gold Coast isn't helped by the expected rain. Will be interested to see how many people turn up.
 
Been stood up by my offspring so off to the footy on my own where I will either laugh or cry into my beer as results dictate.
 

Gorringe Can Suck One

Team Captain
Oct 31, 2019
443
563
AFL Club
Gold Coast


I will wait for something official but in the meantime go and look at the current meltdown of self entitled Drongoes fans 😂

Honestly Broncos fans are the dumbest *s across both codes. No team across the AFL or the NRL has fans that can stand up to the sheer thick-headedness of Broncos fans.
 
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