ON THE BOARD

Academy’s success ‘massive’ for the club: coach

A DECADE after being founded the Gold Coast Suns have won their first competition.

The Suns have celebrated one of the biggest milestones of their history, winning the revamped national academy series last weekend.

Gold Coast finished with four wins and one loss from their five NAB League games, the competition each academy spent time playing in as part of the series. NSW rivals Sydney boasted the same ledger but finished second with a lower percentage (127.16) than Gold Coast (137.40).

“This is massive for the club,” Suns academy coach Andrew Raines said.

“It’s really our first bit of silverware, not including the QClash but in terms of winning a competition. I’m pretty pumped and I’m rapt with the boys and how they went about it in the program.”

Raines said the success showed the investment in the club’s academy was paying off.

“We can match it with the Victorian teams and it shows how far our program has come over time. It shows the investment in the academy is coming to fruition.”

Connor Budarick and Hewago Paul Oea, known as Ace, were the stars for Gold Coast along with Ashton Crossley (pictured) and Matthew Conroy, while 17-year-olds Alex Davies, Jack Johnston and newly discovered Surfers Paradise young gun Max Pescud showed enormous promise.

“Max is a Gold Coast local and as tough as they come,” Raines said.

“He has a bit of x-factor about him too. He can mark the ball really well for his size, he is not overly big or tall and he plays with pure aggression and intensity which we love.”

Gold Coast beat the Northern Territory, Brisbane Lions and Oakleigh Chargers to open their NAB League account but dropped their fourth game against Eastern Ranges before finishing with a win over the Greater Western Victoria Rebels last weekend.