Family life a guiding light for our young Suns

Club CEO Mark Evans and his wife Lynne found their empty nest suddenly filled with a pair of rookie players, towering teens just getting used to living away from home – and it couldn’t have worked out better for all involved

Bulletin ONCE a week it’s family night.

After a hectic schedule plotting the course of the rising Gold Coast Suns, CEO Mark Evans and wife Lynne are treated to a home-cooked meal by their boys. While the Evans’ own three children are still based in their native Melbourne, Mark and Lynne have “adopted” towering teenagers and rookie Suns players Ben King and Jack Lukosius into their own Mermaid Beach home base. With both 18year-olds far from their respective Melbourne and Adelaide homes, it is a perfect match for both parents and teens – each missing their immediate family.

It is proof that when the Suns talk about the importance of family in the young club, the philosophy flows from the top down.

While the teen chefs might still be learning how to handle themselves in the kitchen, Mark says the pair are perfectly at home in his house.

“It’s fair to say that as soon as they moved in, we hit it off with the boys,” says Mark.

“Last November the Suns’ football department asked Lynne and I whether we would be open to have four players come stay with us in the lead-up to Christmas … at one stage we also had Izak Rankine and Jez McLennan.

“It got to the end of their time and Ben and Jack asked if they could stay for the rest of this year and we were more than happy for that to happen.

“They cook once a week and are responsible for their own rooms. They look after their own washing. They’re quite well-trained.”

In fact Mark, who was previously AFL football operations general manager and Hawthorn Football Club’s football operations general manager, says family life is practically club policy.

“When we first bring young players in, we try to put them with people from the club – other players or staff members – so that all of the logistics are looked after and they can just feel at home,” he says.

“It’s tough at any age to leave your family and friends. For these guys, they’re at the end of Year 12 when their name gets called out on draft day and they can go to any one of 18 clubs across the country.

“For many, it’s the first time they’ve lived apart from their parents for more than a few days. For Ben, it’s the first time he’s lived away from his twin brother Max. That’s hard.

“We don’t want them living in a locker room atmosphere … living with families grounds them. Yes, we’re trying to create the best athletes we can, but normal life has to continue and I think their own families take great comfort in that.

“It’s hard for those parents not to be with their kids too.”

It is a feeling Mark and Lynne know well, with their three university-aged children staying behind in Melbourne after Mark was appointed to the Gold Coast club.

He says the pair were still acclimatising to their empty nest when it was suddenly full again.

“It was strange for us because we moved out from our kids to come here. It was a fair adjustment for us to be without them.

“The three of them have actually all moved into a rental house together – probably because we’re paying the rent.

“But funnily enough they’re getting along better and are probably closer than ever since we left.”

Mark says all of the children in this extended, “adopted” family get along well.

He says when Ben made his debut in the Suns’ match against Port Adelaide, both he and Lynne flew down to watch their boy in action.

“Actually, it was quite lovely afterwards … my daughter Sam rang to tell me she felt like a proud sister watching Ben run out on the field,” he laughs.

“All of the kids get along.” It is not the only reunion of the greater Suns family, with Mark saying a bond has also formed between the men’s and women’s teams.

The two teams shared a group meal last week, with excitement building at the impending 2020 debut of the Suns’ AFLW team.

“It’s great to see the guys and girls supporting each other. They are like brothers and sisters. As a family, what’s good for one will be good for the other.

“We really want to see the profile of the AFLW grow. They are amazing athletes.”

Mark says while the AFL atmosphere is certainly different in Queensland, he says the future is bright, with the sport growing faster in this state than any other.

He says Suns memberships are pushing towards 13,000 and while the performance of the men’s team this season has had its highs and lows, he