Vote for the best ever Sunshine Coast Falcons player

More than 320 Sunshine Coast Falcons or Sea Eagles stars are in the running to be crowned the clubs greatest ever player. See every name, their stats and vote for your favourite here.

Some of the Sunshine Coast Falcons best players.

More than 300 players have pulled on a Sunshine Coast Falcons or Sea Eagles jersey across the club’s 318-game lifespan with many making it to the elite level with numerous NRL clubs.

The Bokarina-based team first entered as a local representative side in 1996, coached by former Canberra Raiders player Chris O’Sullivan as they finished their one and only season with one win and 14 loses.

In 2009 they re-entered the Queensland Cup as the Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles, playing as Manly’s feeder team and went on to win the club’s first ever premiership with a 32-18 grand final win at home over Northern Pride.

They played one more year as Manly’s feeder team, finishing third and getting knocked out in week one of the finals with a 14-4 loss to Mackay.

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The Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles played three more years under that name but weren't affiliated with Manly and went on to pick up the wooden spoon in 2011 and 2013, running second last in 2012, in what were challenging times for the Coast’s beloved club.

In 2014 the club changed its name to the Sunshine Coast Falcons after signing a deal with the Melbourne Storm for access to some of the Storm’s development players which included Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Joe Stimson and Suliasi Vunivalu.

Despite the boost of Storm academy players they were once again awarded the wooden spoon, in the process setting the record for most Queensland Cup losses in a row with 36 from round 4 2013, to round 18 2014, before breaking the drought with a 26-24 win over Redcliffe.

Since 2015 they have had access to players from the Storm’s top squad and have since made the finals on five occasions, making the grand final in 2017 but losing a famous Suncorp Stadium heartbreaker 12-10 after a last-minute converted try for the PNG Hunters.

Overall the Sunshine Coast club has played 318 games, winning 132, drawing seven and losing 179.

The Falcons have scored 1233 tries and a total of 6824 points with 1389 tries and 7594 points against.

They have played in 18 finals games, winning nine and losing nine.

Past players Trent Loiero, Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, Nicho Hynes and Tui Kamikamica all represented the Sunshine Coast Falcons before signing with NRL clubs.

The club’s current chief executive and former Queensland Maroons star, Chris Flannery said he was proud of what the club had achieved and provided to players in recent seasons.

“It’s a good number for the club having that amount of players put on a Sunshine Coast jersey, it hasn’t been around as long as some of these other Queensland Cup clubs so in the scheme of things it’s still a fairly young club,” he said.

“Obviously we’re here as a place for those NRL players to come back and play from the Melbourne Storm but our main goal here is to get local players into those NRL systems and provide them a pathway to that next level.

“Players like Tyson Smoothy, Trent Loiero, Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and then other guys that we’ve recruited such as Nicho Hynes, Tui Kamikamica, Ryley Jacks and those guys who were Falcons first before they were signed by NRL clubs.

“That’s the exciting thing and it’s what keeps us going on a daily basis getting these players through to the NRL which is a reflection of another good season with Grant Anderson onto a Melbourne Storm contract and now Tyson Smoothy signing with the Brisbane Broncos.”

See the full list of players that have represented the Sunshine Coast and vote below on who you think is the greatest ever Falcons player.

With thanks to Hostplus Cup stats guru Brad Tallon for his assistance with this list.

Originally published as Vote for the best ever Sunshine Coast Falcons player