Suns, GWS and the next 5 years...

[samuraisaint]

I don't get why people are so worried about GWS and the Suns. We are currently in a league dominated by Hawthorn - 3 Flags in a row, 4 Grand Finals in a row, and 4 Premierships in 8 years. Before that it was Geelong with 3 Premierships in 5 years, and 4 Grand Finals in 5 years. Before them it was Brisbane with 3 Premierships in a row and 4 Grand Finals in a row.
Until now I have seen zero to indicate that the Gold Coast Suns will dominate the league at all, in fact they look very much like a side which is destined to finish ninth for the next five years, as they overly rely on their best four players, and their fringe players want out because of the go-home factor.
GWS look good, but take Jeremy Cameron out of that side and they fall back to the pack.
Plenty of other sides to be a lot more worried about than either of them, for mine. The Bulldogs have a bit of a Geelong look about them for mine, and Adelaide look as if they are building up to something special too. I reckon North should really give it everything this year as it could be their last chance to be a real contender.
I think this season will be our final season in the bottom four or five as next year the inclusion of a couple of key players and maturation of our new recruits since 2013 will see us rise a couple of steps up the ladder, so we really need to nail the first pick we get.

[SaintPav]

[citywest]

Look at me!

This has nothing to do with look at me kosifantutti. It is an appropriate bump considering how well GWS and to a lesser extent GCS are going. Your behaviour for an ex mod is very surprising.

[True Blue Sainter]

Look at me!

This has nothing to do with look at me kosifantutti. It is an appropriate bump considering how well GWS and to a lesser extent GCS are going. Your behaviour for an ex mod is very surprising.

How do you describe your behaviour?

[saint3d]

Look at me!

This has nothing to do with look at me kosifantutti. It is an appropriate bump considering how well GWS and to a lesser extent GCS are going. Your behaviour for an ex mod is very surprising.

Would you mind clarifying just how well they're going?

[Con Gorozidis]

Remember back to Rd 2 when Adam Treloar was patting Trent Cotchin on the head and saying "You spoke to soon". At this stage it looks like joke is on Treloar because his mates at GWS are much closer to a flag than the Pies.

[BigMart]

I reckon his $800k per year pay packet would keep him happy. Not bad for a 21yo from Noble Park...

[Locals322]

From 2016 to 2022 GCS and GWS will be as good if not better than Geelong were between 2007 to 2013. I know it's a big call but time will prove this correct. The scary thing is that as they 'lose' players they will be well compensated which will give them even more high draft picks which in turn will keep them at the top even longer. Overall, I can see both GCS and GWS being top 4 teams for at least 10 years in a row. Between 2016 and 2022 they will both be unstoppable. St Kilda has (hopefully), timed their rebuild to perfection. Our team will not be ready for Grand Finals again until 2022 IMHO (forget the spin of the road to 2018 or whatever they are calling it). By then I reckon the 2 expansion clubs will have at least 1 flag each if not 2 which (hopefully), may mean their hunger could be on the decline and open the door for us. Lets hope so. Bloody Demetriou in his efforts to grow the game thus ensuring his big fat bonuses he has unwittingly created 2 monsters the AFL has never seen before and may well never see again.

And they will still get 7k to their games

[Con Gorozidis]

The most worrying thing is that GWS get the Riverina zone to themselves now. This is the area around Wagga Wagga. We all know how many star players have come from this area and continue to today. Absolute footy factory.

One suggestion is if GWS dont work out in western Sydney they can simply move to Canberra. GIven the Canberra population has now got up to 400,000 this is also a feasible back-up plan.

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-new ... mgnvs.html

I think GWS are going to be strong and GC will remain a basket case.

[borderbarry]

I dont see how we can possibly peak with GWS. Even in the coming draft they will have three first round selections to our one, and we have not even a second. We will fall further behind unless we do some fantastic recruiting.

[Con Gorozidis]

I dont see how we can possibly peak with GWS. Even in the coming draft they will have three first round selections to our one, and we have not even a second. We will fall further behind unless we do some fantastic recruiting.

Agree. And they are even doing well with their mature recruits:

Johnson, Mumford, Griffen, Patfull, Shaw, Ward, Davis, Scully & Palmer have all contributed. That is 9 good senior players to add to 15-20 good kids.

[Con Gorozidis]

And so it begins.

[Griggsy]

Dismantling hawthorn and making it look easy. 77 points and still 5 minutes till half time. We're people serious about us being a chance for Whitfield, playing great footy.

(And people give paddy a hard time, Patton does nothing in a dominating side.3 touches, 0 goals when the teams kicked 80 in a half)

[Con Gorozidis]

Dismantling hawthorn and making it look easy. 77 points and still 5 minutes till half time. We're people serious about us being a chance for Whitfield, playing great footy.

When GWS win a flag - and they will in the next few years - Treloar will look like a twit.

"You spoke to soon Trent. You spoke too soon".

Well you moved too soon Adam. You should have stayed three more years then moved to Collingwood when you were 26.

[Con Gorozidis]

Dismantling hawthorn and making it look easy. 77 points and still 5 minutes till half time. We're people serious about us being a chance for Whitfield, playing great footy.

(And people give paddy a hard time, Patton does nothing in a dominating side.3 touches, 0 goals when the teams kicked 80 in a half)

Remember the hype around Patton? They made out he was the second coming of Wayne Carey but better. If McCarthy was still playing Patton wouldn't even be getting a game. Himmelberg might make Patton surplus to requirements.

Meanwhile - Johnson has 5 at half time.

[jonesy]

Another four first round picks at years end to top it off. They can trade them nicely for a few established players (disgruntled Essendope players) to top off there list.
Meanwhile,Gold Coast will be still meandering around the bottom half of the ladder going nowhere

[Con Gorozidis]

Another four first round picks at years end to top it off. They can trade them nicely for a few established players (disgruntled Essendope players) to top off there list.
Meanwhile,Gold Coast will be still meandering around the bottom half of the ladder going nowhere

Agree. I reckon Patton is tradeable. GWS should palm him off to Freo or the Blues for another top 4 pick.

[Con Gorozidis]

So lets say GWS end up with Collingwood's first pick + Freo's first pick (McCarthy) + a pick for Patton from say the Blues. They might end up with 3 x top 5 picks.
They still have Kennedy and Hopper to debut and they dont need Patton because they have Cameron, Lobb and Himmelberg + 3 new top 5 picks in 2016 draft.
Unbelievable.

[borderbarry]

I for one am not worried about the Suns. The AFL did not go overboard with gifts when starting them off,, whereas the Giants are a different story. Two years of two of the best 17 yr olds to auction, this was never given to the Queeensland team, and it is showing now.

[prwilkinson]

So lets say GWS end up with Collingwood's first pick + Freo's first pick (McCarthy) + a pick for Patton from say the Blues. They might end up with 3 x top 5 picks.
They still have Kennedy and Hopper to debut and they dont need Patton because they have Cameron, Lobb and Himmelberg + 3 new top 5 picks in 2016 draft.
Unbelievable.

Yeah... What their list is becoming is intimidating to say the least.

[samuraisaint]

I think after last night we can safely separate Gold Coast from this conversation. To paraphrase a quote from Jules in Pulp Fiction: They are not just not in the same league, they ain't even in the same sport.
Let's just extricate Lachie Whitfield from GWS and allow FA and natural attrition to do its job while other clubs plunder their list as well - yes; they'll keep getting high picks because of this, but they'll still keep losing those players in a few seasons too. I point to Brisbane as an example. The Giants will probably win a flag or two in the next decade though.

[Con Gorozidis]

I can see the Suns going the way of all GC sporting franchises and being a long-term basket case.

GWS are a different story. They have Canberra and Riverina zones which are traditionally strong footy factories.
They have guys on their list like Hopper, Himmelberg, M Kennedy, Steele and Z Williams that are basically local players and after seeing what happened to Treloar some of the players will have second thoughts about leaving for other clubs.

Sure a couple might leave. Guys who cant get a game like Tomlinson, Bugg and the Carlton guys will probably leave but right now they are adding 2 or 3 good players for every good player that leaves.

[asaint]

One thing I will commend Eddie on, he has the courage to speak up at the inequality. Come on other clubs, stand behind him on this.

[joeyjohnw]

I can see the Suns going the way of all GC sporting franchises and being a long-term basket case.

GWS are a different story. They have Canberra and Riverina zones which are traditionally strong footy factories.
They have guys on their list like Hopper, Himmelberg, M Kennedy, Steele and Z Williams that are basically local players and after seeing what happened to Treloar some of the players will have second thoughts about leaving for other clubs.

Sure a couple might leave. Guys who cant get a game like Tomlinson, Bugg and the Carlton guys will probably leave but right now they are adding 2 or 3 good players for every good player that leaves.

I thought bugg played against us for Melbourne last week.

[stevie]

I can see the Suns going the way of all GC sporting franchises and being a long-term basket case.

GWS are a different story. They have Canberra and Riverina zones which are traditionally strong footy factories.
They have guys on their list like Hopper, Himmelberg, M Kennedy, Steele and Z Williams that are basically local players and after seeing what happened to Treloar some of the players will have second thoughts about leaving for other clubs.

Sure a couple might leave. Guys who cant get a game like Tomlinson, Bugg and the Carlton guys will probably leave but right now they are adding 2 or 3 good players for every good player that leaves.

I thought bugg played against us for Melbourne last week.

The annoying little insect was on the field but did bugger all