Coast clubs in plea to fans
THE coaches of Gold Coast’s QAFL sides have challenged their supporters to flock to Metricon Stadium should they make the 2019 grand final after successfully rallying for its shift south.
Calls from officials of Palm Beach Currumbin, Labrador, Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach to be more flexible with the venue of the premiership decider have grown louder in recent years following the dominance of Gold Coast teams.
Gold Coast sides make up half the competition and have been involved in the past five grand finals, with the last three made up entirely of teams from the Glitter Strip.
AFL Queensland have made the bold decision to lock in Metricon Stadium for this year’s game, to be held on September 14.
“It’s great for the Gold Coast teams and will save us some travel,” Surfers Paradise coach Brad Moore said.
“Hopefully things go well and we can be part of it. There is a lot of water to go under the bridge until then.
“Now the AFLQ has done it, it’s up to the supporters to make sure they get there and support the move.”
Labrador coach Liam Burke echoed Moore’s statement.
“It’s great for the competition and for Gold Coast footy because it’s such a growing area for Australian rules,” Burke said.
“The last few years Gold Coast clubs have had to travel up the highway and it has hurt attendance, particularly for some of the clubs on the Coast who have a strong following.
“It’s an awesome facility, we have been asking to have it here for a couple of years and now that it’s happening, we need to support it.”
Palm Beach Currumbin have won the past two premiership and are the early favourites for the 2019 title but coach Jess Sinclair said he wasn’t fazed by the location of the game.
“You still have to get there,” Sinclair said.
“It didn’t really worry me where it was played because the most important thing is getting there.
“We played the Gold Coast Suns there in a pre-season game and it’s an unbelievable surface. It’s a big deck so we will have to be wary of that if we are fortunate enough to make it.”