Gold Coast team

[Pickles]

Thoughts?

Just got back from a week on the Gold Coast, went to the Carlton vs Freo game ( ) and was surprised with the amount of support there is for AFL up there.

Also saw the effects of the AFL push in the area. A lot of advertising around the place.

My hotel was across the road from a primary school and walking past on occasions there were quite a few kids opting to kick a sherrin around. The school still had NRL goals but there were a surprising amount of AFL ovals around as well.

I would be very surprised if the team is unsuccessful.

edit: Was also surprised with the coverage up there. Sure you might get a couple of games on at 11:30 but you still get more live games than Melbourne.

[Beaussie]

Yeah footy is strong up on the Gold Coast. My understanding is they get live FNF footy on Prime along with Saturday night live footy too. I've no doubt Gold Coast will be successful especially now that the QLD government, Federal Government and Gold Coast Council have committed to funding the stadium redevelopment. Just out of interest Pickles, how bad is Cararra in its current state? Was it difficult to get to the ground public transport wise?

[Pickles]

Just out of interest Pickles, how bad is Cararra in its current state? Was it difficult to get to the ground public transport wise?

I had heard a lot of bad things before I went which gave me low expectations. But I was surprised how good it actually was.

I was sitting in a make shift stand on the HFF, front row. The stand was raised about 3m in the air so they were great seats. It was a bit difficult seeing what was happening when the ball was at the other end & opposite side and the big screens were crappy and didnt really help but other than that I was very happy with Cararra.

They seemed to have reduced the capacity by adding seats behind the goals at both ends. Previously those areas were all standing room I think.

Getting to and from the game was easy as well. I was staying right near Pacific Fair and they were running free shuttle buses in between there and the ground which made it very easy. Had to stand both ways but it was only a 15-20 minute trip with the traffic.

They seemed to open the park land across the road for people to park as well, kind of like what they do at the MCG.

Sure it was no Docklands or MCG but overall I thought it was good. The redevelopment will do it wonders.

[boof1978]

Gold Coast will work, the AFL has ensured that with the concessions they reiceved. To be successful you need some kind of success early, especially in the current climate. Picks 1,2,3,5,7,9 and the first pick in each round after that plus one uncontracted player from each club for free plus the 20 best kids in QLD, they should be playing finals in second or third year guaranteed.