Almanac Footy: The Truth Behind The QClash

 

THE TRUTH BEHIND THE QCLASH

 

As we approach the historic QClash AFL final at the Gabba this Saturday night, every Gold Coast SUNS member, supporter, player, coach and administrator should be thanking a group of individuals who back in 2007 made a momentous decision which was to shape the future of Australian football on the ‘glitter strip’.

 

You see back in the mid 2000s the AFL threw everything bar the proverbial kitchen sink at the struggling North Melbourne FC to relocate its operations to the Gold Coast to reduce the clutter of ten Victorian-based clubs in Melbourne and to provide more AFL content to the rapidly expanding South East Queensland. The Northern Kangaroos.

 

Despite a lucrative cash incentive in the tens of millions and attractive concessions to boost playing stocks amongst a range of other inducements, the North Melbourne FC Board comprising of Chairman Graham Duff, television personality James Brayshaw and Board heavyweights, and North stalwarts in Ron Joseph and Peter de Rauch amongst others rejected the leagues enticing offer.

 

North had decided to ‘battle on’ in Victoria.

 

But what about the Gold Coast? We had promised a team would be delivered by the early 2010s. We can’t abandon the community!

 

Let’s form a brand-new club. Good idea!

 

A review committee was formed (GC17) consisting of prominent local football identities including former Brisbane Lions Chair Graeme Downie and long serving Southport FC President in Allan ‘Doc’ McKenzie, influential Gold Coast business operators, and members of the local media. Together with support from the AFL who employed Scott Munn as ‘the club’s’ first full time manager and strategist Andrew Catterall from head office the committee worked hard to ensure the criteria set for entry was met.

 

The license was soon granted by the AFL Commission, and the Gold Coast would enter the AFL competition in 2011. The name and club colors, jumper design, logo, club song and mascot were workshopped and provided to the community for input. The Gold Coast SUNS were born. And Gary Ablett Jnr. would take them to the promised land.

 

We now had two teams in South-East Queensland and a fierce rivalry had to be forged with the Brisbane Lions. There has never been much love lost between the folk north of the Tweed River and south of Beenleigh and the state’s capital city but here was an opportunity for our game to bring hostilities alive on an Australian football field.

 

Footy in the west had ‘The Derby’. Footy in Adelaide had ‘The Showdown’. They are epic clashes with a finals like atmosphere. So epic that emotions in Adelaide once spilled over into a well-known establishments car park when players decided to resume the on-field battle after a few West Ends.

 

But what are we going to call our very own Queensland fixture?

 

At the time the AFL had appointed marketing specialist Michelle Morgan as its full-time marketing and communications operative to help build brand awareness and devise strategies to generate interest and excitement in the new world of AFL football in Queensland.

 

She worked closely with the marketing ‘gurus’ out of the AFL Head Office who made several suggestions including the likes of the Sunshine Stoush, the Pineapple Grapple and others with reference to cyclones, surf, heat, bananas and even the Great Barrier Reef!

 

Now I’m not claiming full credit, but I pointed out to the suits at AFL House that Queenslanders are very proud to be a Queenslander (watch a State-of-Origin game and you will understand) and there are plenty of iconic institutions that make reference to its Queensland connection by inserting a ‘Q’ in its name and logo. QR for Queensland Rail, BOQ for Bank of Queensland, QSport for the Sports Federation of Queensland and the list goes on.

 

Therefore, the ‘Q had to be at the heart of the name of the game. We had to come up with something simple and ‘catchy’. Q and C sound the same phonetically and so there you have it – QClash was born and has remained ever since.

 

The first QClash held at the Gabba was a SUNS home game as Carrara had not yet been redeveloped. The SUNS lead by 27 points at half time and held on to win by 8 points. The enigmatic former Lion Jared Brennan was the inaugural Marcus Ashcroft Medallist.

 

I was tasked with the aforementioned Michele Morgan to design and have manufactured the QClash Cup. It was a fine piece of precious metal. Unfortunately, I neglected to make sure the cup was tightly bolted onto the base and as the jubilant captain of the SUNS one Gary Ablett Jnr raised the exalted trophy above his head it proceeded to fall apart in full view of the crowd and viewers on national television. Brian Taylor in commentary made a quip regarding the quality of workmanship even suggesting it was a cup more worthy of an Under 12 Premiership.

 

Good work Brian.

 

 After 15 years I still sense a tinge of amusement particularly from Melbourne based commentators when referring to the QClash but, hey, I would rather them be amused by the QClash rather than totally confused with ‘The Battle of the Bridge’.

 

But that’s another story in its own right!

 

More revelations from Richard Griffiths can be read HERE.

 

 

 

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