Season 2019 - Gold Coast

Football Discussion Non Essendon Stuff
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Gold Coast

Coach – Stuart Dew

2018 –
Points For – 18th
Points Against – 17th

Top 5 Best and Fairest

  1. Jarrod Harbrow
  2. Touk Miller
  3. Lachie Weller
  4. Rory Thompson
  5. Alex Sexton

2018 Rising Star Noms
Nil

Ins – Corey Ellis, Anthony Miles, George Horlin-Smith, Jack Hombsch, Jack Lukosius, Izak Rankine, Ben King, Jez McLennan, Caleb Graham, Sam Collins

Outs – Aaron Hall, Kade Kolodjashnij, Tom Lynch, Steven May, Jack Scrimshaw, Michael Barlow, Josh Jaska, Jesse Lonergan, Jarryd Lyons, Matt Rosa, Max Spencer, Mackenzie Willis

My Prediction

This list is something to behold. They have lost their captains, they have next to no heart and have gone out of their way to pick up as many VFL players as they can. The depth of other teams will be in their starting line up next year. They may find a couple of gems but overall the list is an abomination. If they had actual fans, they would be in for a long hard journey to find relevance.

The backline loses it’s best player in May as well as Kolodjashnij who had looked good up until a year ago and gave good drive from half back. They bring in Hombsch who is a good solid trier and from all reports, gives it all on the track and gets the best out of himself. Would imagine he has been brought in to set a standard and help change the culture as much as anything else. Collins was a handy pick up and thought he was unlucky when previously delisted. Thompson is a solid player as well leaving them with solid enough talls down back. They have Harbrow for run but I worry about their ability to rebound from half back especially when I expect the backline to see a lot of ball.

The midfield needs a lot of work. Weller and Miller are quality players, I would expect a lot of the AFL/VFL players they traded for will play serious minutes this year, it is after all why they would have gone up there. Horlin-Smith, Miles and Ellis will be looking to establish themselves and they need growth from their second tier with players like Brodie needing to show how he was rated so highly. I think it is the worst midfield in the AFL and it is really hard to compete without a solid middle.

The forward line last year is pretty much the same as this year. Lynch never got going last year due to not giving a stuff about his team and his body letting him down. They were the worse performed forward line last season and I think that more of the same is on the way. Outside of Lynch, Sexton was the only other player to average more than a goal a game. I really like Sexton but he needs support. Peter Wright looked to be on the outer last year but they need improvement from him.

The rucks are actually ok for now. Witts has been good up there and I think Nicholls and Crossley give him enough back up. Wright is also available but seems ineffective in the ruck when called on. The coach has plenty of time up his sleeve. No one is expecting miracles up there and he will be given time to try and get things right.

I expect them to finish last. Their list is as bad as we have seen in the AFL for a while. The home ground advantage as well as complacency will mean they pick up a couple of wins somewhere along the way but I don’t think it will be enough to drop Carlton to another spoon.

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Can we play them in Melbourne? Just this once?

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Have to agree, they are worse than irrelevant.

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They picked up the sort of players that should have picked up when they started. If they can bring in some high draft picks in the next few years and start to build something of a culture with those battlers they picked up, they should steadily improve IMO. they’re my bet for last this season, but should improve a bit after that imo.

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I’d be happy to play them up there in mid winter, right before, or post the bye, every year forever myself.

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I don’t agree with this. Yes, they’re in trouble for 2019, but they still have a lot of talented youngsters on the list across all lines. For the long term (2020 and beyond), their list is in better shape than Carlton and a fair few other clubs imo. The huge if is…can they hang on to this batch of talented youngsters. It’s extremely unlikely, but if they can, I reckon they might actually go somewhere this time.

Pretty sure he was injured for most of the year. The NEAFL games he played were just coming back from injury.

I agree they’ll struggle in 2019. Their midfield simply has no stars at all. They need a couple of blokes to jump out of the ground. What they do have, which a team like Carlton doesn’t, is competition for spots. Guys like Horlin-Smith and Rischitelli are backup imo, in case some of the 2nd/3rd/4th year players don’t come on as hoped. But I imagine those guys will also help set the standard for training on the track and with Dew coming from the Sydney culture, the young guys will be taught to work hard.

I think their recruiting this year was smart. Yes, last is the most likely spot this year, but if they hold the list together and Dew starts to instil a good work ethic into the youngsters and he can keep them long term, they’ll be able to improve sharply from 2020

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I, for one, look forward to ripping Jack Martin and Izak Rankine from their cold dead hands

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Boo!!! (fark Carlton)

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18th

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Reckon they will finish above Carlscum and Sainters.

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So you think Miles, Ellis and Horlin Smith are a better foundation than Ablett, Bock, Harbrow and Rischitelli?

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Nah. They are all senior established best 22 players. They needed good mature depth that can legitimately pressure younger players spots, or even take them if required.

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2MP to come home in 2019

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You can’t take everyone all at once.

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It’s pretty widely accepted that Gold Coast stuffed up badly with their initial recruits from other clubs. Without even considering their onfield ability they didn’t get enough guys who were leaders off field.

In hindsight it would have much smarter to get:

  • Maybe 3 or 4 gun players from other clubs
  • 3 or 4 guys who were about to retire but keen to get in to coaching (like GWS did). They could easily keep adding/replacing 1 or 2 of these guys each year for a few years, just like GWS did
  • plus some guys (I reckon 5 or 6 would have been ideal), who are fringe guys like Miles, Horlin-Smith, Ellis are now. These are the guys…if you get the right ones…who will fight tooth and nail every day at training to get games and keep their spot on the list.

The guys in the 2nd and 3rd groups are arguably more important than the stars in setting standards and providing leadership for the youngsters.

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They lose a bunch of gun players and bring in the likes of Hombsch, MIles, Ellis and GHS. This is a team that’s going nowhere.

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Best 22:
B: Joyce Thompson Bowes
HB: Hanley Hombsch Harbrow
C: Fiorini Weller Martin
HF: Rankine Day Young
F: Sexton Wright Ainsworth
FOLL: Witts Miller Swallow
I/C: Holman, Ah Chee, Brodie, Lucosius
Emg: Miles, Scheer, Corbett

I guess I’m giving lucosius the nod ahead of Corbett, but that’s probably not the case for round 1.
Not sure if rischetelli will still get a game but they may want a senior body, I probably have snuck Brodie in instead and a couple of other kids in lucoscius and Rankine, King may get some games too.

They have some experienced depth/ to draw on if required to fill gaps. But they would hope they turn these players over soon unless they can bring life to their careers.
Horlin-Smith, Murdoch, Miles, Collins
I see them as break in case of emergency, ie injuries etc

They will be bottom 4 and give blues a run for the wooden spoon.

Biggest question for 2019 is who has packed their bags. - Martin, Wright, Brodie, ?

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I just can’t believe they loaded up on South Aussies. These guys sound like they’re ready to leave as soon as the 2 years is up.

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Harsh review!

I don’t see them as being as bad as people are saying. May, whilst a good player was struggling with injury all year and really never played to his full capacity. Lynch was a non issue all year. So whilst they are massive losses from a potential point of view they are non factors in performance variation for 2019.

Collins will be a good pick up, slot straight into FB and be competitive. Remember he smashed Francis in intercepts for the year in the VFL.

The cats and tigers players will all bring some good training habits and a workman like addition to the team, all will play plenty of senior footy.

I’m expecting a much harder team to play against. With brodie and Ainsworth taking another step. Wright to come out of Lynches shadow and have a solid year (injury permitting).

Definitely bottom four, but better than people expect.

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Since you mentioned it: not a bye, but we do go from Adelaide to Gold Coast in July this year. I’ve never been to Central Australia and flights from Adelaide to Alice Springs, and especially from Uluru to Gold Coast, look pretty cheap…

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