World Footy News

On a humid and wet Gold Coast evening the GC team made its first on field debut for points - and it also saw new recruit Stanis Susuve from PNG play his first game for them. With their AFL debut not set to happen until 2011, this is the building blocks for what will come then. The TAC Cup, the elite under 18 competition made up mostly of Victorian teams as the development pathway and dinner table for AFL scouts and recruiters ever hungry for new talent. Most of what they see from the Gold Coast boys though will be off the table as these youngsters will be outside the draft system already committed to the new enterprise.

Whether that is best for these youngsters in terms of their football future is debatable, but what is not debatable is that it is best for the Gold Coast Football Club’s future. It should guarantee that along with a number of other draft concessions that they can enter the AFL competition with a strong and competitive player group but also with a bunch of home grown talent that has gone through the same talent development finishing school as the match hardened Victorians that dominate the draft each year.
The Gold Coast boys went down in a match where the Eastern Ranges got out to an early lead scoring heavily before the Gold Coast kicked a couple of late goals before half time to make the deficit 32 points. Torrential rain made sure that the lead would not be pegged back in the second half and the Ranges won by 38 points. Zac Smith in the ruck for the GC side is just one of those that the club will be glad to have locked away and last night he won most of the ruckwork and impressed around the ground with his skills. Also in the best players for the GC team was PNG dynamo Stanis Susuve who impressed around the ground with his tackling, speed and skill around the clearances to be named in the best players, coming off a great Queensland Under 18 tournament for the Country Kookaburras.

Gold Coast 2.3 5.6 6.8 9.10 (64)
Eastern Ranges 7.2 11.3 12.6 16.6 (102)

GOALS:
Gold Coast: Lock 3 Stanlake 2 Shreeve 2 Thompson Daye
Eastern Ranges: McDonald 5 Wilson 2 Johns 2 Scott 2 Kennedy Young Harper Griffiths Moore

BEST:
Gold Coast: Smith Shreeve Susuve Lock Crawford Ramage
Eastern Ranges: Mullett Gysberts McDonald Scott Crowle Moore