The rise of the Surfers Paradise Demons into a QAFL premiership contender

They have been the big movers of the QAFL in recent seasons, slowly working their way up the ladder under the guidance of coach Brad Moore. Read how Surfers Paradise transformed themselves into a premiership contender.

THE lure of developing home grown talent drew Surfers Paradise senior coach Brad Moore to the role and it’s the reason he believes the Demons have become a QAFL premiership contender.

When Moore was approached about filling the void left by former Demons senior coach Peter Young at the end of 2016, he had been out of senior coaching for three years and enjoying coaching his son’s under-12 team at the club.

Moore had previously spent time as Labrador’s reserves coach in 2011, was co-coach with Tim Notting in 2012 and held the role by himself in 2013.

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The club had just come off a 2016 season where it finished fifth and was knocked out in the first week of finals when Moore stepped into the role.

A seventh place finish in 2017 was followed by a top four spot and semi-final appearance in 2018 before the Demons progressed again in 2019, finishing second and earning a spot in the grand final where they will meet Palm Beach Currumbin at Metricon Stadium on Saturday.

QAFL, Surfers Paradise v Palm Beach-Currumbin. Surfers Coach Brad Moore .Picture Mike Batterham

Moore said the club’s philosophy of developing and using home grown talent in the state league was something he wanted to buy in to.

“There are a lot of home grown talent with our club and that is what drew me tot eh club first and foremost and it has been great watching their development and rise over the past couple of years,” Moore said.

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“We have got ourselves into a grand final which is a fantastic achievement.

“We are not overly financial compared to other teams and we don’t go out and recruit heavily.

“We put a lot of time and effort into our own and at the moment we have been rewarded with a grand final appearance.

“When I was approached by the football club I sat down and they outlined where they were at the footy club and what their philosophy was.

“When I looked at the list it was an attractive proposition.”

‘I DIDN’T WANT IT TO END LIKE THAT’

“Some might say we got there faster than expected but that is a credit to the playing group. They have embraced everything I have put forward to them and taken it all on-board and they are really keen to keep on improving on a weekly basis but also on a weekly basis.”

Moore made a conscious decision to avoid setting any goals for the Demons but conceded their rise to the grand final over some traditional powerhouses may have surprised a few.

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“Some might say we got there faster than expected but that is a credit to the playing group,” Moore said.

“They have embraced everything I have put forward to them and taken it all on-board and they are really keen to keep on improving on a weekly basis but also on a weekly basis.

“The first time I went in the first thing I said was I don’t have any expectations because I feel like they put a ceiling on what you can do.

“Ultimately the first year was a lot of change in regards to the style of football I was trying to implement.

“The players enjoy the brand of footy they play and that’s probably why they play it so consistently now.”

That brand of football includes a major focus on defence and catching opposition teams on the hop.

“The big thing I brought in was a really defensive mindset first and foremost and how to create turnovers on opposition and stop opposition from scoring heavily and build our offensive from there,” Moore said.

“That is a small way it might have changed but also nature of footy as well.”