Jimmy Bartel believes Gold Coast Suns are destined to rise
Jimmy Bartel believes the Suns have the ability to create history should the playing list commit to the cause on the Gold Coast.
Brownlow medallist Jimmy Bartel believes the current Suns list has the ability to create history in coming years should they commit to the cause on the Gold Coast.
The Suns are aiming for another first on Sunday at Metricon Stadium when they seek to post a maiden victory over the Crows, the only side they are yet to beat.
Gold Coast broke a losing streak of 19 matches dating back to last April in a 44-point win over premiership fancies West Coast on Saturday night at Metricon Stadium. While Gold Coast’s football manager Jon Haines said the Suns had an eye on the present rather than the past, a win over the Crows would be an important step.
After a promising start in 2019, when the Suns won three of their opening four matches, a 73-point loss to the Crows in Adelaide in Round 5 started the rot.
“We are not interested in what has happened in the past. We are really focused on what is happening right now. It is Adelaide this week. This is now our main focus,” Haines said.
In an interview with The Australian before the Suns’ win over West Coast, chief executive Mark Evans said he had confidence in the foundations the club was building on and off the field.
“It looks like Brisbane has moved to that and they should set themselves up now across a number of years to have that excitement and we think we have made enough changes and steps to put the foundations in place that that is in the near-term future for us as well,” Evans said.
Bartel, who is on the board of fellow expansion club GWS Giants, said the talent on the field on Saturday suggested the future was bright. The Suns have lost a significant amount of talent who were part of the inaugural Gold Coast team in 2011. Former captain Tom Lynch, Dion Prestia and Josh Caddy featured in a premiership with Richmond last year.
But No 1 draft pick Matt Rowell earned plaudits across the competition for his best afield performance against the Eagles in just his second game, and Haines noted he had “plenty of friends” in assistance.
Bartel said it was important the new generation realised they could build their own history rather than joining an establishment club as other Suns players have in the past.
“I’m an outsider looking in, but you saw the early signings of Rowell and (Noah) Anderson and you add (Ben) King, (Izak) Rankine and a couple of other young players at the Gold Coast Suns, you get a sense they’re going to have a real crack at trying to build a club,” Bartel told RSN 927.
“(They can say) ‘let’s have a real go at trying to build a club. At the ages of 18, 19 and 20, that they … get to create the history. We don’t have to go and join 150 years of history. We can do something pretty special’.”
The Suns are yet to play a final and have fared poorly in recent years. But Haines disputed the notion the players lacked a winning culture.
“A lot of these guys … have come from winning environments and winning teams, so they bring that winning mindset to the group anyway,” he said.
“Then you have got some guys, some of whom you would call our older players, who are desperate to win and desperate for success. When you have that dynamic within a group, it can be pretty powerful, that is why our expectations are pretty high.”
Haines hopes the conviction displayed on Saturday night was just the starting point as he believes there is “great scope for improvement, as well,”.
“It was good to see a group of players who are keen to write their own history and it started on Saturday night,” he said. “They like each other’s company … And they are starting to challenge each other as well. If you get those ingredients, it is a really good platform to build from.”
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