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After years in the footy wilderness, Gold Coast is finally retaining – and attracting – players across both programs
EVERY club wants to be a destination club. A place where the culture is admired, success is achieved, and life away from football is attractive.
For years, it's been Geelong that has regularly attracted star players down the highway with their highly regarded culture, the promise of finals footy and a laidback lifestyle where country meets beach.
Now, a new contender has emerged to challenge the Cats, almost 1800km to the north.
As Gold Coast's on and off-field fortunes continue to improve, the club is increasingly attracting high-calibre players and administrators. And in a sign of things to come, Gold Coast has an embarrassment of riches coming through both its men's and women's Academy programs.
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When Damien Hardwick was unveiled as Gold Coast's newest coach in August of 2023, the three-time premiership-winning master tactician made it clear that he believed his new club was on the doorstep of success. He spoke at length about the direction the Suns were heading, the board's achievable objectives, and then declared that 80% of the side that would deliver the club's maiden flag was already on the list.
It was a proclamation that felt equal parts media spin and equal parts internal motivation for an organisation that had been anchored to the bottom third of the AFL ladder for basically the entirety of its existence. Aside from Hardwick, there weren't too many in footy circles who believed his grandiose statement to be true.
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Second-year captain Noah Anderson is already tapping into Gold Coast's next-generation leaders as the Suns aim to prove they're here to stay.
Anderson took the club to a maiden AFL finals campaign 15 years in the making in his first season at the helm, earning high praise from former Hawthorn great Luke Hodge along the way.
The 25-year-old averaged a career-high 30.1 disposals and seven clearances last year, polling 25 Brownlow Medal votes despite good mate and midfielder partner Matt Rowell collecting a staggering 39 on his way to the prize.
"I learnt that I could do it. It went well," Anderson reflected ahead of Friday's season opener against Geelong on the Gold Coast.
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