2nds Gold Coast Reserves: Title Defense 2024

Jirik13

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The club’s board members met on Tuesday night to discuss a potential revamped NEAFL format that would be split into two conferences.

The league would have Southport play Redland, Aspley and academy teams from the Gold Coast Suns and Brisbane Lions with the winner of the conference to travel to NSW to play the winners of a second conference made up of Canberra, Sydney University and the Sydney and GWS academies.

“Our decision was to wait and see what was exactly on offer and evaluate it all from there.
“My understanding of that it’s not a firm proposal, it hasn’t been funded at all.
“Once it has some detail to it we will have a look at it.
 

briztoon

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Look this might not be a bad idea however I’d want to retain matches vs Victorian teams for our Academies
It’s all about what funding the AFL is willing to provide the academies and NAB League.

My guess would be as little as possible, so this is their solution. Particularly if the academies are expanded to full U19 teams.

There’s been a bit of talk that there might not be a NAB League this year.
 

Sunstar

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It’s all about what funding the AFL is willing to provide the academies and NAB League.

My guess would be as little as possible, so this is their solution. Particularly if the academies are expanded to full U19 teams.

There’s been a bit of talk that there might not be a NAB League this year.
It’s going to come down to the Qld premier for a lot of things , if she keeps the borders closed till well into Sept , that kills off the qld teams competing in any nab league and effectively the neafl. She needs to make a decision as the three qld neafl clubs Redlands , Aspley and Southport plus the overage academy players are in limbo.

The Qafl teams can’t plan either as they don’t know what neafl or academy players will come there way.
 

Mt Isa Mustang

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If we can get some sort of practice matches against the other clubs in the GC hub that would be ideal.

I would suspect we would be more than competitive against Adelaide / Freo reserves - so much more AFL experience.
Port the next step up
West Coast and Brisbane next step again

Would be excellent if this could happen in some capacity.
The club would be crazy not to coordinate some kind of broadcast as well.


Suns reserves lineup

Burgess Graham MClennan
Hanley Hombsch Murdoch
Powell Brodie Sharp
GHS Corbett Holman
Flanders Wright Rosas

Smith Miles Fletcher

Scheonfeld Murdoch Dawson Conroy


Adelaide's reserves lineup ** based off rd 1 lineup

Butts Hartigan Hamill
Mackay Worrell Kelly
Knight Wilson Scholl
Gallucci Mcadam Keays
McHenry Himmelburg Crocker

R: Strachan Poholke Shoenberg

Taylor O'Connor Gallant Macpherson

Fremantle reserves lineup ** based off rd 1 lineup

Carter O'Rielly Pina
Young Watson Thomas
North Blakely Giro
Switkowksi Hogan Frederick
Henry Dixon Butters

Meek Valente Serong

x-x-x-x
 

Sunstar

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If we can get some sort of practice matches against the other clubs in the GC hub that would be ideal.

I would suspect we would be more than competitive against Adelaide / Freo reserves - so much more AFL experience.
Port the next step up
West Coast and Brisbane next step again

Would be excellent if this could happen in some capacity.
The club would be crazy not to coordinate some kind of broadcast as well.


Suns reserves lineup

Burgess Graham MClennan
Hanley Hombsch Murdoch
Powell Brodie Sharp
GHS Corbett Holman
Flanders Wright Rosas

Smith Miles Fletcher

Scheonfeld Murdoch Dawson Conroy


Adelaide's reserves lineup ** based off rd 1 lineup

Butts Hartigan Hamill
Mackay Worrell Kelly
Knight Wilson Scholl
Gallucci Mcadam Keays
McHenry Himmelburg Crocker

R: Strachan Poholke Shoenberg

Taylor O'Connor Gallant Macpherson

Fremantle reserves lineup ** based off rd 1 lineup

Carter O'Rielly Pina
Young Watson Thomas
North Blakely Giro
Switkowksi Hogan Frederick
Henry Dixon Butters

Meek Valente Serong

x-x-x-x
Only players you left out we’re Towey and Murtagh, the problem is some of those players are either still injured or injury prone. Given that most players will be underdone injuries could occur, leaving us down to about 14 listed as per the Aspley neafl practice game. What would we do then do you think , call up Academy or play modified games
 

Mt Isa Mustang

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Only players you left out we’re Towey and Murtagh, the problem is some of those players are either still injured or injury prone. Given that most players will be underdone injuries could occur, leaving us down to about 14 listed as per the Aspley neafl practice game. What would we do then do you think , call up Academy or play modified games

Yeah I just picked the next best 22 - didn't think Murtagh or Towey were in it.

The travelling clubs will be even more limited - unsure if they'll bring their full list etc.
I'd say if anything the limitation will be on the away sides staying here than on us.
 

GC2015

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“At the moment, the NEAFL doesn’t look like it’s going to come back,” Greg Swann told Fox Footy.

“All the northern state clubs need somewhere to play so we’ve been pushing to perhaps join with the VFL, or an AFL reserves, or an eastern-seaboard AFL reserves.

“If 10 teams in Melbourne run a comp then us four would probably join it, or that’s what we’ve been pushing to do.”
It's looking increasingly likely that the NEAFL will disband this year. I think an eastern-seaboard AFL reserves competition is ideal which would push Southport, Aspley and Redland back into the QAFL. There are currently 9 teams in the QAFL so adding an extra three would mean 12 total and that's probably okay. Although they may choose to remove one Brisbane team and one Gold Coast team to keep it to 10 teams.

I am strongly of the belief that our club would benefit greatly from joining a 14-team eastern-seaboard AFL reserves competition. We desperately need a stronger second tier league to compete in for our younger players to develop in a similar trajectory to other states. Do you guys agree?
 

GC2015

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Are the standalone teams better off in the QAFL than what they had been in the NEAFL?
I believe so. One of the early issues with the NEAFL was that local teams with less money were finding it really hard to keep up with the travelling expenses - flying from Gold Coast to Sydney, Canberra and Darwin every second or third week. So they reduced the amount of teams in the NEAFL to just the ones with money (ie. Southport and Aspley) but I still think it's a pretty big drain on their coffers these days. You also have to remember that NEAFL teams aren't permitted to have a reserves team or an U19 team so it's very difficult for these clubs to develop juniors these days.

Before the NEAFL was established, Southport was an absolute powerhouse club that attracted the best talent from the Gold Coast and they would regularly win back-to-back premierships in the QAFL. They were also considered a strong factory for junior talent that would later be drafted into the AFL. I have no doubt they will return to their glory days within a few years if they re-join the state league because they still make a lot more money than other QAFL clubs and their facilities are possibly the best in Australia for a non-AFL club. The standard of the QAFL would obviously rise as well and that's a good thing for local footy.

Selfishly, I believe sending Southport back to the QAFL would be a great outcome for the Suns as well. Allowing GC academy juniors to go through the Southport developmental system where they have access to amazing facilities and good coaches can only result in an increase of AFL calibre talent and we stand to benefit the most from Southport returning to the QAFL.
 
I believe so. One of the early issues with the NEAFL was that local teams with less money were finding it really hard to keep up with the travelling expenses - flying from Gold Coast to Sydney, Canberra and Darwin every second or third week. So they reduced the amount of teams in the NEAFL to just the ones with money (ie. Southport and Aspley) but I still think it's a pretty big drain on their coffers these days. You also have to remember that NEAFL teams aren't permitted to have a reserves team or an U19 team so it's very difficult for these clubs to develop juniors these days.

Before the NEAFL was established, Southport was an absolute powerhouse club that attracted the best talent from the Gold Coast and they would regularly win back-to-back premierships in the QAFL. They were also considered a strong factory for junior talent that would later be drafted into the AFL. I have no doubt they will return to their glory days within a few years if they re-join the state league because they still make a lot more money than other QAFL clubs and their facilities are possibly the best in Australia for a non-AFL club. The standard of the QAFL would obviously rise as well and that's a good thing for local footy.

Selfishly, I believe sending Southport back to the QAFL would be a great outcome for the Suns as well. Allowing GC academy juniors to go through the Southport developmental system where they have access to amazing facilities and good coaches can only result in an increase of AFL calibre talent from the Gold Coast.
And the standard in QAFL would be higher I would imagine, because you would be having ex-AFL players playing after their careers but have the experience, so the ability to learn off players that have been in the system can only be good.
 

GC2015

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And the standard in QAFL would be higher I would imagine, because you would be having ex-AFL players playing after their careers but have the experience, so the ability to learn off players that have been in the system can only be good.
100%. Southport had a good history of doing that before the NEAFL was established. For example; Warwick Capper played in Southport's '92 flag a year after he retired from the AFL, Gary Dempsey did the same thing in their '87 premiership a few years after his AFL career ended and Paul Dimattina joined the party for their '05 flag. These days it's mostly just delisted Suns players like Matt Shaw, Andrew Boston, Seb Tape and Josh Hall playing for Southport but you do get the occasional ex-AFL player from other clubs like Josh Williams from North, Haydn Kiel from Hawthorn/Brisbane or even Josh Hunt from Geelong/GWS a few years back. Even ex-Suns assistant coaches Matthew Primus and Matthew Lappin coach at the Sharks these days. So there's plenty of ex-AFL talent around the club and you can imagine how valuable that would be to a junior coming through the ranks at Southport and playing alongside these guys when they make their senior QAFL debut at 15/16/17 years of age. Then you add on the fact that those kids will also be placed in the Suns academy and receive top class training from us and I really think you'll start to see a lot more top level talent coming out of the GC in the next few years if Southport do re-join the QAFL.
 
100%. Southport had a good history of doing that before the NEAFL was established. For example; Warwick Capper played in Southport's '92 flag a year after he retired from the AFL, Gary Dempsey did the same thing in their '87 premiership a few years after his AFL career ended and Paul Dimattina joined the party for their '05 flag. These days it's mostly just delisted Suns players like Matt Shaw, Andrew Boston, Seb Tape and Josh Hall playing for Southport but you do get the occasional ex-AFL player from other clubs like Josh Williams from North, Haydn Kiel from Hawthorn/Brisbane or even Josh Hunt from Geelong/GWS a few years back. Even ex-Suns assistant coaches Matthew Primus and Matthew Lappin coach at the Sharks these days. So there's plenty of ex-AFL talent around the club and you can imagine how valuable that would be to a junior coming through the ranks at Southport and playing alongside these guys when they make their senior QAFL debut at 15/16/17 years of age. Then you add on the fact that those kids will also be placed in the Suns academy and receive top class training from us and I really think you'll start to see a lot more top level talent coming out of the GC in the next few years if Southport do re-join the QAFL.
I believe John Anthony and Jason Cloke (ex Pies) play for the QAFL as well.
 

GC2015

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I believe John Anthony and Jason Cloke (ex Pies) play for the QAFL as well.
Ah yes. Clokey is running around for Broady these days and Jack Anthony has been a huge contributor to Palm Beach's premiership seasons in recent years. You'll find there are plenty of former AFL players running around in the QAFL, particularly on the Gold Coast. Probably the most significant player to lace up his boots in the QAFL in recent years would have been Barry Hall when he was playing full forward for Labrador back in 2017. Poor Caleb Graham had to line up on Big Bad Barry in the 2017 QAFL Grand Final and he had only just turned 17 :huh: Luckily he wasn't one of the two Palm Beach players that were smacked in the face by Barry that day. Also, Wayne Carey lined up for Palm Beach in his late 30s a decade ago but tore his calf muscle 5 minutes into his first game.

I'm sure the beach lifestyle and warm weather over the winter months is a huge pull for these guys once their AFL careers end. The difference next year will be that Southport legitimately have enough money to compete with contracts on offer in the VFL/SANFL/WAFL so I can only assume we'll see even more ex-AFL players in the QAFL next year.
 

GC2015

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Ahh Bazza Hall. Who could pull a punch when he felt like it on the footy field.

I used to call Jack Anthony, Jack-in-the-Box. He used to pop up and just kick straight through the posts. Was very reliable for a period of them, then got the yipps.
I just looked up Anthony's stats and he was actually the leading goalkicker for Collingwood in 2009 which is a huge achievement in a prelim year. He doesn't seem to have any issues kicking goals in the QAFL. 2018 - 53 goals in 11 matches, 2019 - 47 goals in 11 matches. Must be fun for these guys to go out and regularly kick bags of 5 or 6 with minimal training.

I probably should point out that Jack Anthony originally moved to the Gold Coast in 2014 to play for Southport in the NEAFL and even retired halfway through 2017 while the Sharks were very uncompetitive. As they often do, he quickly came out of retirement to sign for Stawell in Victoria's Wimmera league but things didn't pan out the way he thought they would down there so he returned to the Gold Coast around Easter time in 2018 and signed for the reigning premiers Palm Beach. He then led Palmy to their second consecutive premiership and of course played in another QAFL Grand Final last year but weren't able to get over the line against Surfers Paradise in the GF. He was supposed to play for Palm Beach this year as well.

Back on topic. What does every else think of us potentially joining an eastern-seaboard AFL reserves competition and Southport returning to the QAFL?
 

Jirik13

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Gold Coast CEO Mark Evans agreed saying critical work needed to be done before a definitive decision could be made on the second tier.

“Certainly it’s possible the four teams could join an eastern seaboard reserves competition,” Evans said.
“We need to make sure the lists of the (four northern states) clubs have the same opportunity to be strong as the Victorian lists do.

“What do we want from a league? Is it for state league clubs to chase a premiership with older players through the system? Or a development league that caters for future draft prospects who miss out because of smaller lists and fewer players taken at the drafts, and gives reserves players at AFL clubs a chance at senior footy?
“If it was billed as a development league then it would make more sense for us (in Queensland and NSW) to play each other more regularly.”

 
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Sunstar

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They are talking about playing scratch matches and pooling together players if one team is short of players Ie Peter Wright May play for Adelaide. Do not like that one bit , better to get a pool of 20 of Qld best young footballers and bring them into quarantine and farm them out to teams when required
 

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Goodguy72

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They are talking about playing scratch matches and pooling together players if one team is short of players Ie Peter Wright May play for Adelaide. Do not like that one bit , better to get a pool of 20 of Qld best young footballers and bring them into quarantine and farm them out to teams when required
Totally agree a player could be played out of position by another club and get injured or a player like Powell may not be managed in terms of minutes coming back from his knee injury. With almost zero covid in the states let the kids have a chance to prove what they have got
 

Jirik13

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They are talking about playing scratch matches and pooling together players if one team is short of players Ie Peter Wright May play for Adelaide. Do not like that one bit , better to get a pool of 20 of Qld best young footballers and bring them into quarantine and farm them out to teams when required
Next 4 rounds is no problem. Scratch matches between QLD hub teams and Suns and Lions are perfect for Suns. Compare that with GWS and Swans who can play only each other at the moment as visiting clubs can fly over only players for the game at the moment. Injuries should not be a big issue for these 4 rounds. You can play just 15-16 players or whatever. After round 5 it's still open. We could play scratch matches only against Lions.

Not realistic to quarantine young footballers as a farm. You need QLD government exemption, cost is enormous issue for AFL. How long would you keep them in quarantine? In what facilities, only training and waiting for a call? For scratch matches AFL will not even provide umpires. That's how dire it is.

I don't think you will see any mixing of AFL listed players with outside players for the whole season.

 
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Goodguy72

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Next 4 rounds is no problem. Scratch matches between QLD hub teams and Suns and Lions are perfect for Suns. Compare that with GWS and Swans who can play only each other at the moment as visiting clubs can fly over only players for the game at the moment. Injuries should not be a big issue for these 4 rounds. You can play just 15-16 players or whatever. After round 5 it's still open. We could play scratch matches only against Lions.

Not realistic to quarantine young footballers as a farm. You need QLD government exemption, cost is enormous issue for AFL. How long would you keep them in quarantine? In what facilities, only training and waiting for a call? For scratch matches AFL will not even provide umpires. That's how dire it is.

I don't think you will see any mixing of AFL listed players with outside players for the whole season.


No umpires or suspensions , don't like that either what if you have a Hall / Staker thing happen..

Tempers will still fly during those matches , think with so little covid cases they should at least have umpires (who could be tested the day before)
 
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