Former Gold Coast coach Guy McKenna has reflected on the early days of his role as the Suns' inaugural chief, having been tasked with. building a list in time for their inception in the 2011 season.
McKenna was appointed coach of the Queensland club in 2008, with the Suns having a runway of two years to begin their scouting, recruitment and state league plans ahead of their arrival in the top flight.
The Suns were able to build a squad for the VFL ahead, with the 2010 AFL Draft shaping as their most critical window for talent acquisition.
Gold Coast would end up taking eight of the first 13 selections at the draft, including the opening three spots in the talent intake - recruiting David Swallow, Harley Bennell and Sam Day.
The following draft window saw the Suns' ability to bolster their list with the best teenagers in the country hindered, as GWS joined the AFL 12 months after Gold Coast did, with the Giants dominating the pointy end of the 2011 draft, taking 11 of the first 14 selections, including the opening five picks.
Speaking on Zero Hanger series Hangin' Out, McKenna said the Giants had the better avenue to joining the road to success, which he believes was a result of the issues the AFL faced when looking to aid the Suns.
With the arrival of Tasmania around the corner, McKenna believes the AFL should have enough evidence from the two most recent expansion plans to have Tasmania in a position to thrive in its earliest years in the league, with the West Coast great believing a better balance of mature and young talent would be best.
"GWS did it best," McKenna said.
"They did it pretty well. You get all these hot, young picks, which is great, but you need those experienced fellas around them to take the shine off the ball.
"You get into the second and third year, but I dare say, Tasmania will have a lot more older talent early days, not as much young talent, which is important.
"It's so important when Tassie pick out their good youth, not all of them will be superstars, they pick out the ones that are going to be, then when they go back to the draft, instead of having four or five picks, I'd limit that and bundle it up to get some 23, 24-year-old players that might be playing reserves football.
"Look at a midfield that's smashing it right now, like a Brisbane. Go and find a midfielder in their reserves, because he can't get a game in their best six midfielders. Let's go find the seventh and eighth because at any other club, he'd be playing good football.
"The sooner a boy can play like a man, the more competitive you're going to be."
McKenna stressed the issues the Suns faced in their opening campaigns in having a larger list than their rivals but still limited to a standard-sized soft cap.
Having recruited dozens of interstate teenagers to the Gold Coast, McKenna quickly learnt the struggles and impact of only having one welfare office at the club to help manage and assist the entire club's young cohort.
The Suns also faced issues with only one member of staff in their conditioning department, which proved to be a headache for the club's personnel throughout the season.
"Certainly, GWS was done on the hindsight of Gold Coast," McKenna added.
"The other thing was to change was the soft cap on the footy spend. We had one welfare office. One conditioning bloke. We had the biggest list (53) but the smallest coaching staff. Most lists were down to 46. I mean, go figure.
"I always joke and laugh, but when I came out of Gold Coast, spent a year in the media, and went to Essendon as a midfield coach, I had more staff at Essendon as a midfield coach then I did as a full-time coach at the Gold Coast. And I only had 15 players running around me at Essendon. Up there, I had 53.
"The AFL didn't know that. We didn't know that. So that was the bleed on the AFL for many years after that. Instead of having the cash, they had to keep stumping it up, and that's why Gold Coast is a ball for them."
The AFL is expected to confirm Tasmania's list and draft concessions as early as this month, with the Devils tipped to be loaded with high-end draft picks that include a number of selections which must be traded.
For the full episode of this week's chat with Guy McKenna, you can watch the player below or head to Zero Hanger's YouTube channel.
