Academy: Gold Coast SUNS Gun Factory

U17 & U19 championship game v Tassie tomorrow.

Players selected.

 
Nov 7, 2017
27,654
53,308
Melbourne
AFL Club
GWS
Other Teams
Manchester City, Collingwood AFLW
PMBangers would you be able to elaborate on draft range for the Suns academy kids?
I didn't think I talked them up that much :tearsofjoy:
Hard to predict draft range this far out but Harrington is well in contention for my starting top 20 next year, he and Eckersley are playing in the state 19s squad against Tasmania tomorrow as opposed to the U17s, no shock with their talent but it's always a huge accomplishment for bottom agers to get named and play for the 19s
 

GC2015

Norm Smith Medallist
May 27, 2013
6,521
8,036
AFL Club
Gold Coast
I didn't think I talked them up that much :tearsofjoy:
Hard to predict draft range this far out but Harrington is well in contention for my starting top 20 next year, he and Eckersley are playing in the state 19s squad against Tasmania tomorrow as opposed to the U17s, no shock with their talent but it's always a huge accomplishment for bottom agers to get named and play for the 19s
Sounds like we've got a gem coming through in Harrington and another potential gun in Eckersley. Interesting that both boys play for Broadbeach and Harrington even took part in Broady's drought breaking QAFL senior premiership last weekend. I believe both are a part of local excellence programs as well with Harrington at PBC and Eckersley at Helensvale.

These two could very well end up being our versions of Braeden Campbell and Errol Gulden who were instrumental in Sydney's push up the ladder this year. It's very clear that high end local talent coming through a northern academy gives teams a fantastic opportunity to climb the ladder and we've seen it time and time again with Brisbane - Hipwood/Andrews, GWS - Hopper/Green and Sydney - Blakey/Campbell/Gulden.
 

The Kings Ransom

Premiership Player
Aug 30, 2021
3,421
4,138
AFL Club
Gold Coast
U19 champ game from yesterday

Max Pescud did well


How did Bella go?
I only watched snippets
He scored 2 goals.
Took a really strong pack mark and flew strongly, splitting the pack (something we need in the senior team) at other times.

jack briskey another tall forward with lions academy links was the best tall forward.
 

The Kings Ransom

Premiership Player
Aug 30, 2021
3,421
4,138
AFL Club
Gold Coast
 
Jul 11, 2006
5,805
6,718
Chermside
AFL Club
Gold Coast
Other Teams
See Below

GC2015

Norm Smith Medallist
May 27, 2013
6,521
8,036
AFL Club
Gold Coast
One for the future but now that Steven King is moving here to work as an assistant coach with us, his oldest son Oscar (2027 draft class) will likely become an academy prospect for us from next year onward. You'd think he will become a tall prospect considering Steven stands 202cm but is also father-son eligible for Geelong so we may have a fight on our hands in the future.

A King in our current forward line and a King for the future.
 
Dec 5, 2015
3,758
6,640
Bueng Kan,Thailand
AFL Club
Gold Coast
4 boys selected for the Combine.....


QUEENSLAND (3 invitees)

William Bella (Gold Coast Academy/Queensland, 196cm, 95kg)

Austin Harris (Gold Coast Academy/Queensland, 178cm, 70kg)

Bodhi Uwland (Gold Coast Academy/Queensland, 187cm, 88kg)

NORTHERN TERRITORY (3 invitees)

Andy Moniz-Wakefield (NT Thunder/Northern Territory, 180cm, 73kg)

Ned Stevens (NT Thunder/Gold Coast Academy/Northern Territory, 196cm, 85kg)


Ronald Fejo Jnr (West Adelaide/Northern Territory/South Australia, 178cm, 70kg)





 
4 boys selected for the Combine.....


QUEENSLAND (3 invitees)

William Bella (Gold Coast Academy/Queensland, 196cm, 95kg)

Austin Harris (Gold Coast Academy/Queensland, 178cm, 70kg)

Bodhi Uwland (Gold Coast Academy/Queensland, 187cm, 88kg)

NORTHERN TERRITORY (3 invitees)

Andy Moniz-Wakefield (NT Thunder/Northern Territory, 180cm, 73kg)

Ned Stevens (NT Thunder/Gold Coast Academy/Northern Territory, 196cm, 85kg)

Ronald Fejo Jnr (West Adelaide/Northern Territory/South Australia, 178cm, 70kg)





and all from the suns academy.

None from Brisbane, which is surprising.
 

GC2015

Norm Smith Medallist
May 27, 2013
6,521
8,036
AFL Club
Gold Coast
QUEENSLAND (3 invitees)

William Bella (Gold Coast Academy/Queensland, 196cm, 95kg)
Good to see Bella has grown a little more this year which is a little surprising considering his famous uncle Martin was was barely 6 foot. Will was listed at 194cm at the start of this year and now he's 196cm which makes him the same height as some of the best key forwards in the league like Jeremy Cameron. We know Will is a big boy and he's only 1kg lighter than Jeremy Cameron at 18 years of age (Cameron is 28) but I think we'd want him to put on a bit more so he can really dominate in the power forward mould of a guy like Tom Hawkins who is 198cm/103kg. I'd expect the club to want Bella up around the 100kg mark so he can genuinely compete at the AFL level. This is all said under the assumption that we're going to academy draft young William and have the feel good story of a brother-sister combo at our club.
 

The Kings Ransom

Premiership Player
Aug 30, 2021
3,421
4,138
AFL Club
Gold Coast
4 boys selected for the Combine.....


QUEENSLAND (3 invitees)

William Bella (Gold Coast Academy/Queensland, 196cm, 95kg)

Austin Harris (Gold Coast Academy/Queensland, 178cm, 70kg)

Bodhi Uwland (Gold Coast Academy/Queensland, 187cm, 88kg)

NORTHERN TERRITORY (3 invitees)

Andy Moniz-Wakefield (NT Thunder/Northern Territory, 180cm, 73kg)

Ned Stevens (NT Thunder/Gold Coast Academy/Northern Territory, 196cm, 85kg)

Ronald Fejo Jnr (West Adelaide/Northern Territory/South Australia, 178cm, 70kg)





Uwland at 187cm and 88kg is very solid.
Plays quite strong too.
Could become a bit of an enforcer in the back line.


Budarick
Lemmens
Uwland
Ballard
Collins
Another tall

Would be a pretty good, tough, defensive unit.
 

SUN OF A GUN

Senior List
Dec 1, 2019
258
354
AFL Club
Gold Coast
Semi finals of the AFL Schools Cup yesterday at Bond Uni.

Senior Boys: PBC v Marymount and Helensvale v Cavendish Road. Predictably, PBC and Helensvale advanced to the state finals. A few of our 2022 draft eligible Academy boys shone.

Helensvale: Eckersley was a force at full forward. Kicked three, but could have finished with five. Unusual seeing him in the forward line, usually mid / CHB for club and state. Big bodied type, strong at the contest and kicks impeccably off either foot.

PBC: Harrington was damaging at ground level, accumulating a tonne of touches. Kicked some astounding goals on the run. Finished with 3 or 4. Burnt a few open teammates with low percentage snaps, instead of spotting up a target.

Marymount: Dawson dominated in the ruck in a team well beaten by PBC. The 195cm tall played CHF at state level this year. His tank and agility for a big man were impressive. Took a number of big contested marks and his tap work was excellent.


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com
 
Last edited:

Sun Stormer

Mature Age Recruit
Jul 27, 2018
1,094
1,206
Gold Coast
AFL Club
Gold Coast
Sounds like we've got a gem coming through in Harrington and another potential gun in Eckersley. Interesting that both boys play for Broadbeach and Harrington even took part in Broady's drought breaking QAFL senior premiership last weekend. I believe both are a part of local excellence programs as well with Harrington at PBC and Eckersley at Helensvale.

These two could very well end up being our versions of Braeden Campbell and Errol Gulden who were instrumental in Sydney's push up the ladder this year. It's very clear that high end local talent coming through a northern academy gives teams a fantastic opportunity to climb the ladder and we've seen it time and time again with Brisbane - Hipwood/Andrews, GWS - Hopper/Green and Sydney - Blakey/Campbell/Gulden.

Cody Harrington certainly has the skills and grunt to give it a real go - may be a little small but still time to grow. Eckers had an injury interrupted season - has the skill and size to make a good push. Marlin (Fish) Corbett is another I like - also injury and covid restrictions really killed him this year. He comes from Byron so missed a lot of footy. Two names for the next year (2023) to really follow are Jed Walter and Will Graham - Jed is a bull already at just 16 while Will is the type of 'take no prisoners' player the Suns desperately need. Some definite talent starting to come through over the next couple of years.
 

GC2015

Norm Smith Medallist
May 27, 2013
6,521
8,036
AFL Club
Gold Coast
Semi finals of the AFL Schools Cup yesterday at Bond Uni.

Senior Boys: PBC v Marymount and Helensvale v Cavendish Road. Predictably, PBC and Helensvale advanced to the state finals. A few of our 2022 draft eligible Academy boys shone.

Helensvale: Eckersley was a force at full forward. Kicked two, but could have finished with four. Unusual seeing him in the forward line, usually mid / CHB for club and state. Big bodied type, strong at the contest and kicks impeccably off either foot.

PBC: Harrington was damaging at ground level, accumulating a tonne of touches. Kicked some astounding goals on the run. Finished with 3 or 4. Burnt a few open teammates with low percentage snaps, instead of spotting up a target.

Marymount: Dawson dominated in the ruck in a team well beaten by PBC. The 195cm tall played CHF at state level this year. His tank and agility for a big man were impressive. Took a number of big contested marks and his tap work was excellent.


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com
Great breakdown and thanks for sharing this info. Much appreciated.

Many future Suns players have and will continue to compete in the AFL Schools Cup so it's always great to read who performs well. I remember when Budders was lighting it up for Helensvale but it wasn't enough to beat the might of PBC back then.

It's also great to see how much Marymount have come along. They seem to be one of the stronger schools these days.

The grand final takes place this weekend.

Cody Harrington certainly has the skills and grunt to give it a real go - may be a little small but still time to grow. Eckers had an injury interrupted season - has the skill and size to make a good push. Marlin (Fish) Corbett is another I like - also injury and covid restrictions really killed him this year. He comes from Byron so missed a lot of footy. Two names for the next year (2023) to really follow are Jed Walter and Will Graham - Jed is a bull already at just 16 while Will is the type of 'take no prisoners' player the Suns desperately need. Some definite talent starting to come through over the next couple of years.
Will Graham is Caleb's brother, right? Is he tall like Caleb?
 

Sun Stormer

Mature Age Recruit
Jul 27, 2018
1,094
1,206
Gold Coast
AFL Club
Gold Coast
Great breakdown and thanks for sharing this info. Much appreciated.

Many future Suns players have and will continue to compete in the AFL Schools Cup so it's always great to read who performs well. I remember when Budders was lighting it up for Helensvale but it wasn't enough to beat the might of PBC back then.

It's also great to see how much Marymount have come along. They seem to be one of the stronger schools these days.

The grand final takes place this weekend.


Will Graham is Caleb's brother, right? Is he tall like Caleb?
No - Will is not Caleb's brother. I asked to make sure.
 

GC2015

Norm Smith Medallist
May 27, 2013
6,521
8,036
AFL Club
Gold Coast
No - Will is not Caleb's brother. I asked to make sure.
What a coincidence considering Caleb does have a younger brother named Will who plays footy and moved to the Gold Coast when Crab was drafted.

Either an incredible coincidence or someone has given you incorrect information.
 

GC2015

Norm Smith Medallist
May 27, 2013
6,521
8,036
AFL Club
Gold Coast
Well done to Gold Coast teams competing the the AFLQ Schools Cup prelims today - Senior Male A: PBC 7.10 (52) def. St Laurence's 1.8 (14), Senior Male B: Helensvale def. St Augustine's, Senior Female A: Varsity College def. St Andrew's.

Special shoutout to Marymount College as well. They finished runner up in the Primary Male and 3rd in the Primary Female division.

Outside of Helensvale, southern Gold Coast teams seem to be the ones performing well in the state cup these days.


245312545_3033861683551472_817682712847184655_n.jpg


245262425_3033861676884806_9014487616830929211_n.jpg


245605395_3033861716884802_3909731632253800342_n.jpg
 

GC2015

Norm Smith Medallist
May 27, 2013
6,521
8,036
AFL Club
Gold Coast
Our city won another four state championships at the AFLQ Schools Cup today:

Senior Male: Helensvale 4.4 (28) def. PBC 1.7 (13). BoG - Finn Brown.
Senior Female: PBC 9.5 (59) def. Varsity College 4.3 (27). BoG - Caitlin Thorne
Junior Male: PBC 19.4 (118) def. Ambrose Treacy College 3.3 (21). BoG - Jack Javonovic.
Junior Female: PBC 7.11 (53) def. Varsity College 4.4 (28). BoG - Allanah Welsh.







 
Our city won another four state championships at the AFLQ Schools Cup today:

Senior Male: Helensvale 4.4 (28) def. PBC 1.7 (13). BoG - Finn Brown.
Senior Female: PBC 9.5 (59) def. Varsity College 4.3 (27). BoG - Caitlin Thorne
Junior Male: PBC 19.4 (118) def. Ambrose Treacy College 3.3 (21). BoG - Jack Javonovic.
Junior Female: PBC 7.11 (53) def. Varsity College 4.4 (28). BoG - Allanah Welsh.








Finn Brown? Haven't heard his name talked up at all.
 

GC2015

Norm Smith Medallist
May 27, 2013
6,521
8,036
AFL Club
Gold Coast
Finn Brown? Haven't heard his name talked up at all.
Perhaps he just played really well in this particular game but had a fairly average season overall? The winner of the AFLQ Schools Cup Grand Final BoG award is usually a pretty indicator of future AFL players:

2020 - Will Bella (PBC)
2019 - Shaye Walsh (Helensvale)
2018 - Ashton Crossley (PBC)
2017 - Jacob Dawson (PBC)
2016 - Brayden Crossley (PBC)
 
Last edited:
Back