Hey suns fans this is really random but I'm interested to know what made you become a gold Coast suppper? Do you get to games regularly each year at PFS? My brother is new to AFL (he's a massive NRL fan) and has chosen gold Coast as his AFL club while living there. I've been to the stadium and it's a beautiful city. Great people and be amazing if they play finals next year

My thoughts: good riddance Luko

I live in the United States and have never been to Australia. I started watching footy basically on accident, and picked Gold Coast for my team because hey, why not. Typically in the States teams that are geographically close are the biggest rivals, and I sense that the Adelaide clubs are rivals, as are the Dockers and the Eagles.

So my question is, as someone relatively new to the sport, is Brisbane considered a primary rival to the Suns? Should I be upset that they won?

So we've finally got our results for the 2024 r/gcfc MVP. Firstly I have to give a big thanks to everyone who voted of course. There's been a very noticeable increase in participation which makes it much more interesting.

The first thing I want to point out with the results is that we got a perfect 10/10 for predicting the players that would make up the top 10 in the Club Champion! A bit out of order, but 3/10 in the right spot. Bravo.

I originally begun working on a video presentation to reveal these results, which would show highlights from the season alongside a live leaderboard, similar to the Brownlow. It was too ambitious so I gave up and went back to a plain table.

This might be a lot to take in, so the blue column is the one that matters.

https://preview.redd.it/g5awo4lwnbod1.png?width=1215&format=png&auto=webp&s=a1dd66d61e5e97a38479b60eb61796ded35e5793

It really could have gone to either of the top 3. Rowell and Anderson started very strong but flatlined a bit whilst Flanders made up lots of votes quickly towards the end.

• As of round 11, Flanders was on 7 and Uwland on 2 whilst Rowell was on 29 and Anderson 23.
• In the final round, Rowell and Anderson were tied on 40 and Flanders still in reach on 35.

There were a couple rounds like the one against North where no one really deserved votes but I don't think they would've had much effect on the end result with the winner, only the difference in votes.

r/gcfc MVP History

https://www.afl.com.au/news/1207137/end-of-the-day-inaugural-sun-sam-day-not-offered-new-deal

Now that the torture is over and we don’t have to prepare ourselves for the carnage that is Suns’ footy every week, its time for end of season awards. Just one award really the Player of the Year.

I wrote out a big preamble of how I decide it last year so I’ll put that here next so you can decide if my methodology is worth anything.

For every game I re-watch it and take notes on all the positive and negative actions each Suns player makes during the game, a positive point or a negative one. I give extra points for actions that contribute directly to goals or goal-scoring chances or goal-saving marks, I punish a player who is responsible for conceding directly and turnovers either way are also important. Missing chances you should score is costly and key defenders get equal credit for intercept marks they take on their matchup and for ones they lose so I get a good sense of whether they beat their man overall.

This is obviously very subjective and only shows a certain dimension of how someone played. To take an example from the last round Ben Long accumulated 21 points worth of positive actions and 7 negative including 4 extra-credit actions (his three goals and a kick inside 50 that was marked) he had one poor kick which cost him double. That amounted to 7.5/10 for the game which is decided by a sort of fluid scale in my head which I can’t really justify but I think it is consistent enough. I average those ratings over the year to rank each player and to qualify for the title they have to have played 17 games with significant time on ground, I haven’t decided on how to account for the sub yet so apologies to David Swallow for not yet truly judging his season. If anyone would like to see any of these player ratings in any detail let me know, I haven’t figured out a visually interesting or simple way to incorporate it into what I write on here, its just a big spreadsheet and some paperwork at the moment.

The ratings are quite harsh, most games are pretty average so are close to a 5/10 and it is very difficult to give a 10/10 it would have to be one of the best games ever. I think the highest ratings I gave this year was 9/10 to Anderson and Lukosius for their performances in Darwin against Geelong where they both had over 35 positive actions. I like the idea of a 10/10 being pretty much unattainable unless you kick 10 or something.

It’s obviously a flawed and subjective system but I think it creates a pretty good idea of who the best players in a game were. I have shifted the emphasis on certain things with each game I do it for, this year I have tried to give more credit for really impressive individual actions which should be worth more than just 1 point. I think it is also effective in punishing those 30 disposal games where a player uses the ball poorly because I only credit a disposal if I think it was useful enough. This probably hurts Noah Anderson who always comes out lower in my ratings than the consensus and credits Rowell more who is more conservative but wins harder ball.

Anyway, that’s how it all works. My Gold Coast Suns Player of the Year is……

Sam Flanders

It was a fantastic season for Sammy Flanders who finished with 6.7/10 from 22 games. That included 9 games as a midfielder, 7 off half-back, 3 at half-forward and a couple more where I didn’t lock him down to one spot. He stood out most in the midfield and as a forward late in the year. His best ratings came in R19 vs the Giants and in that last round against the Tigers. In Round 19 his 34 effective disposals, 9 clearances and 7 inside 50s led a strong Suns midfield that failed to put enough points on the board despite their success. Last weekend his 2 goals, 6 clearances, 14 score involvements and 23 effective disposals is the kind of game we dream of from Suns forward/mids.

He is one of those players who just has a knack for finding the ball which will always be valuable, his recently revealed scoring ability, assuming it can continue into more serious games next year is a massive bonus. He helped himself rating-wise by not having any truly awful games, he had a few 5/10 games when he played in defence as his ball use was inconsistent. But in the midfield he was a steady presence who took the pressure off the big names who are usually expected to dominate.

In 2nd is…

Matt Rowell

Rowelly backed up his 2023 season with another good season rampaging around the middle for a 6.6/10 season. He started the season like a house on fire and looked like he was going to be the engine of a finals team, but he started to drop off a bit after R7. He then had a bit of an up and down season where he either had his way with his opposition and won plenty of ball, or he was kept very quiet. Lifting those troughs in performance will hugely benefit the Suns and likely make him an All-Australian for the first time because his best is some of the most frightening and physical contested footy in the league.

In 3rd is…

Mac Andrew

Mac really broke out once he came into the side in R4 after the bye. He took up that intercept defending role and ran with it. You could see his reading of the game has improved drastically and he doesn’t have half as many clangers as he did through his first 20 games. The broader AFL really took notice when he clamped Charlie Curnow for a half in Vicotria in R12 it showed he could take on assignments as well as fly around more freely. I think he ended up rating higher than Collins because he was able to use the ball a bit better and without the big matchups he didn’t risk taking a big ratings hit against a great key forward. Weirdly his worst game came in the win against the Pies. Looking at my notes he seemed to have a bad day in the marking contest either spoiling poorly or failing to take balls that hit him in the hands, but frankly I don’t remember well enough.

He could have finished higher if I had access to a full replay of the West Coast game in Perth. I can’t get hold of the first half of Q1 when he scored a couple of goals. I gave everyone else a rating but thought it would be unfair to fully judge his game so I will adjust everyone’s notes at some point once I’ve seen that portion of the game. So apply that asterisk as you see fit

I thought I would show the rest of my PoY Top 10 which shows the order they came in. Their rating over the season is the primary measure but when I felt I couldn’t split players I used the number of games they had at at least 6.5/10 and the number of games they played total. This rating usually amounts to a good game in most cases so I think it is a useful basis to split the tough ones.

Flanders 6.7 - 15/22

Rowell 6.6 - 15/23

Andrew 6.5 - 13/18

Anderson 6.19 - 13/23

Uwland 6.16 - 13/21

Miller 6.3 - 12/17

Collins 6.15 - 10/23

King 6.13 - 10/22

Long 6.08 - 8/17

Powell 6.08 - 7/18

Herald Sun journalist Jon Ralph believes the future of Jack Lukosius isn’t as clear-cut as first envisaged.

Multiple reports this season have linked Lukosius to the Adelaide Crows given he is out-of-favour under Damien Hardwick at the Gold Coast, but Ralph reported on Fox Footy’s Midweek Tackle that the Suns utility could be prepared to take a pay cut to remain at the Suns.

“Damien Hardwick is, I think throwing the toys out of the cot. We know that premiership statement, ‘we’ve got all the premiership players here, I’m loving these new toys’. Jack was one of his brand spanking new toys and then he didn’t play the right way. He wasn’t as robust enough physically, so a year on, he’s sick of him,” Ralph began.

“I think Adelaide desperately came to try and secure him, they’ve been monitoring him since he was drafted, I just don’t think he really wants to leave the Gold Coast. He’s back-ended on his contract, two more years of about $950,000.”

The Suns have secured a host of young talent in recent years, boasting four Academy jets from last year’s intake and they’ll add another in Zeke Uwland in 2025.

The likes of Mac Andrew and Jed Walter are only going to command more money as they flourish in the years to come.

“I think Gold Coast has a lot of incoming signings that they would like to use that money on. I think he’s prepared to take a pay cut,” Ralph said.

“I don’t know what Gold Coast would think of that, does Dimma have any obligation to say, ‘you’re my player, you didn’t turn out to be the player that I wanted to, I roll my sleeves up and I improve you as a player’, or does he cast him aside?”

The playing future of Lukosius remains up in the air and will be a big watch during this year’s trade period.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/the-port-star-who-could-do-a-tom-barrass-suns-utility-to-take-pay-cut-trade-whispers/news-story/4e5540d9c0358dfdd9bf4c60bbbaa364

5:05pm @ Carrara

This is the place to discuss tonight’s match.

After the match, put in your votes using the 3-2-1 system.

• BNF top 5-10

• Most Improved

• Players Player?

• Emerging

• VFL POTY

• Most Professional

Sam Day looks like an older version of Pewdiepie

COLLINGWOOD'S John Noble has requested a trade to Gold Coast for family reasons.

Noble, who is originally from South Australia, informed the club on Tuesday that he wishes to move to Queensland to be closer to family.

A success story from the 2019 mid-season draft, Noble has played 112 AFL games for the Pies - including 20 this year - and is contracted until the end of 2026.

Despite his contract status, the Pies say they respect the 27-year-old's wishes to depart and will work towards striking a trade.

"John today informed us he would like to explore a trade ahead of next season to be closer to family," Pies list boss Justin Leppitsch.

"Whilst John is contracted, we understand the importance of family and will take this into consideration as we work through the trade period."

Noble was one of the heartbreak stories of last year's Grand Final. He played all 23 home-and-away games but was left out for the finals campaign and missed out on a premiership medal.

Despite the emotion of missing the Grand Final win, he responded this year to play a further 20 games as a key part of the Pies' backline.

As it stands, Gold Coast holds picks 6, 13, 20, 26, 34, 46 and 70 in this year's draft, as well as its 2025 selections that could be offered up as part of a trade.

The Suns have also been linked with a move for Richmond star Daniel Rioli, who could reunite with his Tigers' premiership coach Damien Hardwick.

https://www.afl.com.au/news/1206925/collingwood-magpies-defender-john-noble-requests-trade-for-family-reasons

Thought - I know he's not a massive trade, but to finally land a decent player from a big club in Vic is a great start to the trade season (imo). Hoping that it persuades the minds of some to take the gamble on the goldie

Thoughts on this?

I know there’s been a lot of noise about Luko and Rioli. Who else do you think we might’ve seen the last of in red and yellow, and who do you think might look good in our colours?

Sorry I haven’t been very active recently, fortunately its coincided with the fading out of the season. Before we get into finals football and the hypotheticals and prospects become the focus of the Suns’s fandom lets just have a look at what we can take out of these last couple of rounds and our workman-like, solid win at the G against the Tigers.

Andrew swinging next year

Perhaps the biggest question going into next year will be what does the forward line look like around King? Andrew has shown plenty of talent to kick goals in these last few rounds and was verging on All-Australian calibre through the bye in my view down back. The Suns have lacked a bash and crash forward all year except for the games that Day played, starting three key forwards with little to no body strength in the contest is not an ideal long term strategy. Walter could be that man but he needs some serious lessons in craft this offseason if he is going to start making an impact.

I expect that if Day is healthy or Walter looks ready one of them should play with King and four smalls but if Day isn’t fit or needs a rest or Walter still looks shaky then Andrew should start with King.

This is assuming Lukosius is leaving. If he stays you can’t play Andrew up forward because you need a pack crasher. King, Andrew and Luko is a forward line that can take advantage of teams lacking in key defenders but gets monstered against say Barrass and McGovern or Buckley and Taylor. Basically I worry about whether Hardwick’s approach can work with three talls with the stocks we have, but it is good to know that Andrew can be a success at both ends of the ground, that kind of versatility is priceless. Having just Ballard and Collins down back will be fine for some games but in others Andrew will absolutely have to go back or we are putting Uwland in Powell in really difficult matchups. But we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. In the meantime just imagine the possibilities.

Flanders in the forward line

Neddy spent way less time in the middle over that last two games as he was often the first forward up to the stoppage or he was just an outright half forward flank. And he was our best forward in the last two games I think. He has shown more scoring ability than Miller, Rowell or Anderson so in terms of rotations it makes far more sense for him to get that forward time. Hardwick has shown slightly more willingness to rotate his midfielders later in the season now that he has a better sense of what he’s got. Having clear secondary roles for certain players will be key. Miller has spent time on the wing and Graham has spent time forward too. Getting the best out of that midfield will be the biggest factor in progressing next year so knowing where best to fit Flanders when he isn’t in centre bounces is important.

Budarick’s return

I am very happy to see Connor Budarick start to find his feet again at the level. He could be a very important piece in lifting the performance of the bottom 10 players in the 23 every week. He clearly has a more defensive remit with more of a ground level role than Uwland, which balances up well with Powell and Weller as the more attacking halfbacks. And with Rioli a potential addition, some defensive focus around him will be necessary. Budarick doesn’t look like a 200-gamer just yet but the signs have looked much better in this late run of games than in the opening rounds of the season, proof that a consistent year of footy can really raise your game.

A quick mention for Sean Lemmens who to me earned himself another year on the list, he looks like he still has his legs under him and should serve as a capable backup small defender once again. As long as Powell, Weller and potentially Rioli are in the side his iffy ball use won’t be a hindrance. Lets keep him around.

Well done to the boys for ending the season on a win but its fair to say it’s a lukewarm end to a real missed opportunity of a season. I will be putting together my B and F, some season review stuff and a salute to Brandon Ellis probably for after finals although I’ll put out my club champion before the club does theirs.

Top 5 players against Richmond

Example:

5 - Collins (your best player)

4 - Flanders

3 - Witts

2 - King

1 - Uwland

Each round's votes will be added up to decide the 5 who gets the votes, similar to other awards like the Coaches Votes and Rising Star. Anyone is allowed to vote.

Let’s hear your thoughts on the match.