Gold Coast Suns fans detail their thoughts about the club’s current situation, past and future
YOUNG Suns member Zac Broughton was on his way to Tasmania to watch his team play when Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett quizzed him about the team he supports. Father Richard Broughton says his answer is the reason why the club will have survive despite the odds.
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YOUNG Suns member Zac Broughton was on his way to Tasmania to watch his team play when Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett quizzed him about the team he supports.
Kennett, who sat next to the nine-year-old on the flight south, asked Zac if he would barrack for a new team after moving to Melbourne at the start of 2017 considering the ample amount of successful Victorian clubs who had enormous supporter bases compared to the struggling Queensland club.
“No way am I going to do that,” Zac told Kennett.
“We don’t have a lot of supporters because it needs kids like me to grow up to become them.”
There in essence was what father Richard Broughton said would be the making of the Suns.
“I supported Adelaide and took Zac to his first footy game at Metricon between the Crows and Suns thinking he would jump on board with my club,” Broughton said.
“He picked the Gold Coast, which is fine and I wasn’t going to stop him.
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“We even sat next to the Adelaide player’s race so he could get a feel for the players but when we left he was a Suns supporter.
“The club is great with kids and always get the players involved with engaging with them. That will be the secret to them in the long term.
“There is a lot of criticism about the low supporter numbers but a lot of people like myself have already got a side when they come to the Gold Coast. It has to be through the kids when they grow up.
“Zac has probably converted a dozen of his friends to become Suns supporters and three took up playing the game.”
Broughton, who moved to Melbourne at the start of 2017 with Zac and wife Heather after five years living on the Gold Coast, conceded the Suns had even become his preferred team over the Crows.
Zac now plays for the South Melbourne Districts Football Club and became the first in it’s history to request a Suns-style mouthguard.
He cops some flak from Victorian opponents but the staunch supporter is proud to brandish his yellow and red guard.
The Suns players all take the time to chat to Zac, who travels to many of Gold Coast’s games around the country with Broughton, and former player Matt Shaw — now at Carlton — was a surprise guest at one of his birthday parties.
Broughton said the benefits of capturing the imagination of young supporters was they boasted eternal optimism.
“Zac will never leave a game early, he just refuses,” Broughton said.
“He will always clap them off and his dream is to see them come good. He is sure of it.”
Broughton said he believed Gold Coast still had a tough road ahead before reaching any success.
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“Until they can get players that want to be there it’s going to be a hard road,” Broughton said.
“They have the right backing now with the hierarchy. Was the last coach (Rodney Eade) the right one? Probably not. But from chatting with players recently about Stuart Dew they love him and he seems to have brought the family connection they needed.’
Broughton conceded some members can be too emotional when it comes to winning and losing but voiced his desire to see the Suns send co-captain Tom Lynch to the draft in order to send a strong message to the competition.
“I don’t like free agency,” Broughton said.
“To me all it’s done is make the stronger teams stronger. If all the lower teams like Gold Coast are going to be feeders for them it won’t work. I have always been one to think you play for a club and stay with them.”
Broughton said he wanted the Suns to offer Steven May, who is out of contract next season, a new deal before the end of this year and if he wasn’t committed then trade him.
If they are going to build a club around Stuart Dew with the kids they have got, they need a captain who wants to be there long term and if he can’t commit and knows he will leave then trade him now rather than waiting 12 months.”
Gold Coast-based member Cherrene Palmer said times may have been tough for both fans and the club but was confident the Suns were on the right path.
“As a fan you support the team no matter what,” Palmer said.
“That is what every team needs, especially one as young as the Suns. The potential for the club is huge and it’s growing.
“It’s been hard in 2018 with the Commonwealth Games upsetting the schedule.
“A lot of people are looking forward to 2019 which I truly believe will be a good year.
“The young players have gained valuable experience this year and it will help them moving forward.”
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