Fourteen sets of brothers in AFL history have played a combined 500 games. They are big names … Selwood, Daniher, Madden, Burgoyne, Morwood, Nankervis, Shaw Snr, McVeigh, Cornes, Coventry, Richardson, Ablett Snr, Wakelin and Shaw Jnr.

The SUNS, despite being only 14 years old, have a direct link to two of the most famous footballing families – the Shaws and the Abletts.

Rhyce Shaw, now playing a key role as director of coaching with the SUNS Academy, is a member of football’s only 1000-game family. Rhyce (237 games) and brother Heath (325) played 562 games between them, and with father Ray (146) and uncles Tony (313) and Neville (43) played 1064 games between them.

Gary Ablett, the SUNS first captain, is part of a family that is next on this list at  976 games. Their family journey began with the largely forgotten Len Ablett, a 1943 premiership player and 70-gamer at Richmond, who was uncle to Gary Snr (248), Geoff (229) and Kevin (38), and great uncle to Gary Jnr (357) and Nathan (34).

But only two sets of brothers have played for the SUNS, and only one set played in the same team – and only twice.

Gary and Nathan, premiership teammates at Geelong in 2007, were SUNS teammates in the last two games of 2011. In Round 22 they shared a 61-point loss to Geelong at People First Stadium, and in Round 23 it was a 30-point loss to Melbourne at the MCG in what proved to be Nathan’s last game.

As the weekly goldcoastfc.com.au flashback series nears its conclusion, the brotherly connection in Round 22 2011 is the headline story for a round which historically has not been kind to the SUNS, delivering just one victory.

So with it comes a lesson in historical brotherly football trivia.

Nathan, 19 months younger than Gary, was a reluctant footballer, wary of the pressures that would inevitably come due to his famous father and brother.  A gifted junior, he chose not to play in the TAC Cup, the game’s primary development nursery, in his 2003 draft year.

Eventually he relented, and after starting with the Modewarre Warriors in the Bellarine Football League, where Gary Jnr had played, was a father/son draft pick at #49 in 2004. After progressing from the Reserves he debuted in the AFL in Round 20 2005.

In his 32^nd game in the 2007 grand final he kicked three goals as the Cats posted a 119-point win over a Port Adelaide side which coincidentally included another pair of 500-game siblings, Kane and Chad Cornes.

But on 30 November that year, still only 21, it came to light that he was contemplating retirement, citing a lack of passion for the game. And on 7 January 2008 he walked away from football.

He trained again with the Cats in July 2008 but an ankle injury suffered playing basketball wiped out any plans to possibly resume playing. And in September that year he quit the Cats altogether and moved to the Gold Coast, where he worked as a plumber and played with Broadbeach.

The excitement of the SUNS entry to the AFL sparked a want to play in the AFL again, but after his two games wearing jumper #55 late in the club’s first season for 22 possessions and one goal he was delisted.

Ironically, Nathan Ablett made his SUNS debut in the AFL debut of Joel Tippett, who is a member of the SUNS sibling sub-division, which comprises now six players who have brothers who played in the AFL - David Swallow, Kade Kolodjashnij, Ben King, Elijah Holland, Tom Berry and Sam Closehy.

Who are the other brothers to play for the SUNS? Player #24 Maverick Weller, who played 32 games in red and yellow before 89 games at StKilda and two games at Richmond, and player #99 Lachie Weller, now a 92-game Sun Sun after 47 games with Fremantle.

The Weller brothers played against each other four times - three when Lachie was at Fremantle in 2015-16-17 and once in his first season with Gold Coast in 2018. Mav enjoyed a 3-1 record head-to-head, but when Lachie played Fremantle at People First Stadium in 2022 it was his 124the game. The younger Weller had surpassed his brother’s career tally.

And for the historians, the 14 sets of brothers who have played a combined 500 games are:-

Selwood – 756 – Joel (Geel 355), Scott (WC/Geel 169), Adam (WC 157), Troy (Bris 75)
Daniher - 752 – Terry (Syd/Ess 313), Anthony (Syd/Ess 233), Chris (Ess 124), Neale (Ess 82).
Madden – 710 – Simon (Ess 378), Justin (Ess/Carl 332)
Burgoyne – 647 - Shaun Port/Haw 407), Peter (Port 240)
Morwood – 611 – Tony (Syd 229), Shane (Syd/Coll 212), Paul (Syd/StK/Coll 170).
Nankervis – 578 – Ian (Geel 325), Bruce (Geel 253).
Shaw Jnr – 562 – Heath (Coll/GWS 325), Rhyce (Coll/Syd 237)
McVeigh – 557 – Jarrad (Syd 325), Mark (Ess 232)
Cornes – 555 – Kane (Port 300), Chad (Port/GWS 255)
Coventry – 533 – Gordon (Coll 306), Syd (Coll/Fitz 227)
Richardson – 518 – Wayne (Coll 277), Max (Coll/Fitz 241)
Ablett Snr – 515 – Gary (Haw/Geel 248), Geoff (Haw 229), Kevin (Haw/Rich/Geel 38)
Wakelin – 513 – Darryl (StK/Port 261), Shane (StK/Coll) 252
Shaw Snr – 502 – Tony (Coll 313), Ray (Coll 146), Neville (Coll 43)

There are 21 sets of brothers  in the AFL this year – Nick and Josh Daicos at Collingwood, Ollie and Elijah Holland at Carlton, Chad and Corey Warner at Sydney, Jack and Ollie Henry and Cam and Zach Guthrie at Geelong, and Alwyn Jnr and Jayden Davey at Essendon, although Jayden is yet to play at AFL level.

Sam Closehy and brother Ted, who is at Geelong, and Tom Berry and brother Jarrod, who is at Brisbane, head the list of brothers at opposition clubs in the AFL this year.

Others are Caleb and Jai Serong (Fremantle/Hawthorn), Jeremy and Mitch McGovern (West Coast/ Carlton), Harry and Ben McKay (Carlton/Essendon), Tom and Sam DeKoning (Carlton/Geelong), Jack and Finn Macrae (Bulldogs/Collingwood), Matt and Brad Crouch (Adelaide/StKilda), Xavier and Zane Duursma (Essendon/North), Harry and Elliot Himmelberg (GWS/Adelaide), Changkuoth and Tew Jiath (Hawthorn/Collingwood), Sam and Dan Butler (Hawthorn/StKilda), Paddy and Thomson Dow (StKilda/Richmond) and Tom and Oscar McDonald (Melbourne/Fremantle), and the largely forgotten pair of Collingwood’s Ash Johnson and Melbourne’s Shane McAdam.

The League was robbed of another pair of brothers when Melbourne’s Angus Brayshaw, whose brother Andrew plays for Fremantle, was forced into retirement by concussion issues in March this year.

But worry not – another one is coming. After SUNS Academy star Zeke Uwland was the only bottom-age selection in the All-Australian Under 18 team last month he will be right in contention to join brother Bodhi at he SUNS via the 2025 National Draft.

Other Round 22 SUNS highlights have been:

2012 – First Win v Carlton

The SUNS beat Carlton for the first time spectacular fashion at People First Stadium in Round 22 2012 to see players sing the club song for the first time.

It had been a long, tough year for the club after they’d started 0-14, but wins over Richmond and GWS in Rounds 16-20 gave them a chance to avoid the wooden-spoon. After Round 21 it was a battle between the two expansion clubs locked together as Carlton, a game outside the eight, headed to the coast.

After 25 minutes it was 6-1 to 0-2 to the SUNS following goals from Tom Lynch, debutant Tom Hickey, Lynch again, Trent McKenzie, Mav Weller and Campbell Brown. They led by 22 points at the first change and 38 points at halftime.

The Blues dominated the third term 5-6 to 1-4 to cut the margin to 12 points at three-quarter time, before Lynch steadied the SUNS ‘ship’ with the first goal of the final term.

Chris Yarran and Jarrad Waite goaled for Carlton to cut it to four points with still 17 minutes to play, and the bookies had the visitors running over the top of the home side.

Not this time. Josh Caddy bagged a steadier before Lynch booted his fourth to give the SUNS a 16-point buffer. But there was still seven minutes on the clock.

Carlton had more of the ball but could kick just four behinds, leaving Gold Coast with a 15-8 (98) to 11-20 (86) win as Lynch took three Brownlow Medal votes and Gary Ablett one vote for 23 possessions and a goal.

In hectic scenes in the rooms afterwards first-time winners Hickey, later to become the first player in AFL history to play for four clubs in four states, Alik Magin, Michael Coad, Piers Flanagan and Jacob Gillbee led a boisterous rendition of the club song after a win that would spare the club the dreaded ‘spoon’.

2018 – The Rivalry Lives On

Q-Clash #15 will always be remembered for the birth of one of the game’s great personal rivalries between Touk Miller and Dayne Zorko, and some ill-placed pre-game comments from Brisbane’s Nick Robertson which broke the golden rule of football – never offer detrimental ‘advice’ to the opposition.

In the lead-up to the game at People First Stadium in Round 22 2018 Robertson said on radio: “I reckon they’re soft to be completely honest, so I’m looking forward to getting into them.”

He continued: “It’s just a rivalry … they reckon they’re the top team in Queensland and so do we. So really looking forward to giving it to them and give (our) Lions fans exactly what they want.”

Robertson, later to earn the wrath of coach Chris Fagan, had a laugh about his comments with the radio hosts, saying he was “geeing” up the radio hosts, and then doubled-down by adding “I think they take a bit of a backwards step when blokes go hard in at the footy. I hope they hear that too.”

Miller and Zorko led the battle on the field as the SUNS midfielder applied a hard tag on the Lions captain in a contest spiced even more by the fact that the SUNS had won their Round 5 meeting at the Gabba that year by five points.

Brisbane led at every change, by 15 points, six points and three points, before a clever Aaron Young snap across his body put Gold Coast in front in the opening minute of the final term.

When Alex Sexton launched a long bomb from outside 50 for his fourth goal the home side was nine points up, but they conceded the next three to go 10 points down as the timeclock ticked past 20 minutes.

With less than three minutes to play Jarryd Lyons hit the ball hard at a boundary throw-in in the pocket and snapped truly from 20m to give the SUNS a sniff. It was frantic thereafter, but the home side fell just short, going down 11-8 (74) to 10-18 (78).

Brayden Fiorini, with 32 possessions and a goal, picked up two Brownlow Medal votes and Sexton one vote for his 19 possessions and four goals.

2019 – A Memorable Farewell

The SUNS played a support role as football bid farewell to one of the game’s most popular figures in Round 22 2019 at Marvel Stadium.

Jarryd Roughead, a four-time Hawthorn premiership player, Coleman Medallist and dual All-Australian, played his 283^rd and last game to close out a career interrupted by a battle with cancer.

The hugely popular key forward, respected across the competition, missed the entire 2016 season after completing the 2013-14-15 premiership hat-trick, but replaced Luke Hodge as captain for his return in 2017. He played 22 games in each of 2017 and 2018,

Having spent time in the Reserves in 2019 as father-time caught up with him, he hadn’t played at AFL level since Round 14 when on 12 August he announced his pending retirement.

He was given a farewell game against the SUNS, and helped himself to six goals and two Brownlow Medal votes in an exit that touched the hearts of young players at the SUNS. Touk Miller had 30 possessions in his 99^th game, which fell on Stuart Dew’s 40^th birthday.