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00:04it is the best month of the year and the big business starts tonight the Gold Coast
00:10Suns experiencing September football for the first time we've been chasing a goal
00:18for so long but I almost don't know what to feel we did it we finally got here
00:31given there's a fair bit on the line and we got massive game this weekend a huge final series
00:35where we've got bigger and better goals finals fever is starting to take hold finals football
00:42these games are the games that keep you up at night and these are the ones that mean everything
00:46to you looking back win tonight you're into a prime position to play on the last Saturday in September
00:51when you've got everything to play for you're never out of it it's going to be a tough final
00:55series doesn't take too much to get it wrong in a finals game anything can happen you don't really
01:00get any favors with the draw because you finish first you're putting everything on the line to
01:04get the result for you to advance into the next week I think losers make excuses we don't we're
01:10winners over the top it goes GWS that need the floodgates to open Giddevant can shape it back
01:23there's the gold they were looking for
01:28and they are through to a semi-final
01:31finals are great moments we'll look back on those moments with great disappointment
01:35see you next year the Suns are trying to rise in the West their first final
01:39the crowd goes bananas just before the bounce and you look up there's so much hope in the air
01:45the Gold Coast Suns are a miracle to the last 70 seconds we're not just happy to play in one
01:50final
01:51and then get out of there we need to take it all the way
02:04we've been a club that has been stomped on forgotten but all of a sudden now the narrative's
02:10changed we are so proud of what you've achieved understand we threw it away again what I dream
02:17of the ad is rare final the final siren the last ones there at the end there's true belief that
02:24we
02:24can do that people get excited by the fairy tale of Gold Coast run in the finals but from your
02:41experience what wins out fairy tales or years of hard work people will say last year's run to the
02:47premiership was a fairy tale for us at the Brisbane Lions and it probably was welcome to the 2024 Toyota
02:55AFL grand final so here come the Lions to win a grand final
03:02Reynard has gold he's boomerang it around the boat what about this Brisbane by 60
03:09and the Lions have fought lightning in a ball
03:16we've experienced last year what it is like to get to the top of the mountain
03:21this season we had a lot of doubters can we actually duplicate what we're able to do in 2024
03:28that's our challenge
03:38did you just win at school today it was a draw oh yeah what was the score our tour
03:44finals football is just different the intensity of every game lifts not only physically but
03:50absolutely mentally as well can I never put the buckling or you get set up okay if you're not
03:57at your absolute best you're gonna get beaten it's life or death from here on in your pads
04:01grew a little bit loose now they're good they're good you about so it's nice when you can just have
04:05little moments where you have some fun and get away from all of the expectations being in the
04:09outside world get ready for some chin music mate I hate to lose it see if you can survive all
04:14these
04:14all right how competitive are you with your kids winning against my kids you're gonna be done
04:22yeah that's on camera brother oh just try and survive I'll let him win occasionally what is that out of
04:3010
04:30come on knucklehead sorry once or twice I don't like losing I couldn't hit water if you fell out of
04:37a
04:37boat uh right my turn to bat I reckon maybe I'm still old school but I don't really believe in
04:42participation medals when it comes to my son I want him to be competitive as well certainly maybe
04:52not as competitive as what I potentially am I really pride myself on win-at-all-cost mentality and
05:00that competitiveness has definitely flipped over the line at times which I know that's selfish but I want
05:07to win as much as possible Kempers just bubbling simmering and they are going for Zorko Dane Zorko I
05:15think he really feeds off that competitive part of our game he's not afraid to put himself out there
05:22deep down he's got a genuine hatred for the opposition it's really hard to control
05:30and Zorko's always dabbled in the dark arts tried to get under the skin done whatever it takes
05:36Zorko and everyone wanting to have a crack there a heavy bump by Zorko no surprise that the Zork
05:47involved I want to win I don't like losing my own fan base probably doesn't like me at times
06:02he's a fucking dog I don't know I'm okay with it I don't mind being the villain
06:12I do some stuff that people might not like but I've been able to tick off some pretty wild
06:16achievements that 0.00001 percent of AFL players have ever done to be the oldest player to play 300
06:23games this year at the age of 36 and being a premiership player we're now in the position where
06:31we could go back to back and then potentially win two premierships not many teams can do it and
06:36people talk about just how difficult it is to do I want to hear the mighty rule
06:58going into qualifying final I think for me and a few of the other older boys this week it's
07:02definitely going to be getting around to our teammates and telling them look nothing's given
07:05in this game you've got to earn it 10 9 8 7 put everything you possibly can on the line
07:15to get
07:16the result for you to advance into the next weeks just waiting for camera that the finish and then
07:19we'll do it okay okay you're kicking the balls away is what you're doing oh seven right this
07:27fucking boy where the guy out over the front don't change it up so that with me is like what
07:30you see is what you get I'm proud myself and made a really bubbly character and I'm playing my
07:35best footies I'm out there I'm smiling I'm having fun that guy mucking around and not really
07:41taking things too serious just feel like it's it's giving me really clarity and the way that I
07:45want to play and I roll for the team and it works out wonderful right they're so dangerous
07:50Cam has the ability to turn a game on its head he always manages to pop up when his team
07:58needs him
07:58most and he's able to step up to the pressure that was placed on his shoulders the 2017 pick one
08:09Brisbane Lions selected Cameron Rainer in the Western Jets football club I think anybody who
08:15goes pick number one in an AFL draft has heightened pressure Cameron Rainer you're expected to do
08:22remarkable things as a number one pick an expectation like this that's challenging for a young player but
08:33his trajectory could be headed towards superstardom he's a kid I used to grow up and idolise these
08:40people that played AFL and used to think of them as like gods and would do anything to be able
08:44to
08:44speak to one or see one and get a photo with one and I'm happy to play that role and
08:47the joy I can
08:48bring the fans when I'm playing see the smile on their faces when I run out there is you know
08:53it's pretty
08:56cool he just needs a point I go would be too much will they carry him the last five meters
09:08that he
09:08needs yeah obviously the opportunity to go back to back is unbelievable just really really confident
09:13I'll be lying if I say I don't back us in that we can try and get there and do
09:16it again guaranteed to
09:23win these young kids yeah well the confidence that they sort of possess is you know something
09:29to look up to it's easy to sit here and say we're going to go back to back and anyone
09:36who knows
09:36football certainly understands one how hard is to win a premiership how hard it is to actually win
09:41two if you've done it teams want to knock off the reigning champions so there's always a target on
09:47your back playing finals football it's even bigger we need to mentally be prepared for that every
09:52single time we come out onto the field right if you're not prepared we're not going to be able to
09:59win there's a real energy and a buzz in the MCG tonight two of the best teams we've seen in
10:08a long time
10:11perfect night massive crowd when you map out the road to a premiership of course you want to win the
10:18qualifying final this is arguably the most important game to win because if you win you go straight into
10:25a prelim final so you have a week off a win in that first qualifying final just really sets the
10:32tone for
10:33the weeks to come so they meet again in a big final geelong and brisbane geelong they're an
10:39incredible team they're just playing finals they're playing grand finals they win grand finals
10:52they have different modes their abilities to shut the game down in a few different ways it's just
10:56impeccable the caps prove themselves as one of the greatest teams of the modern era i remember
11:02watching them win premierships as a kid and 14 prelims the powerhouse of the afl they are one of the
11:07greatest teams the games of the scene going out of the MCG it's a very high-pressure environment to be
11:14in when we are underway there's a hundred thousand people in the crowd that adrenaline you get and the
11:20rush of blood you get from the first bounce they just made us look second rate came out and took
11:37it
11:37out of our hands right away so here we go into the second quarter cats by two goals cam rayner
11:43who's had
11:44a quiet night so i had mark o'connor come and stand by my side pretty much everywhere i went
11:49for the whole
11:49game it was tough it's probably the first time i had someone actually play on me to that extent where
11:53every time i came off the ground he was coming off the ground and everywhere i went if i tried
11:57to go
11:57up high he'd come with me if i went deeper he came with me early on i thought i was
12:01trying to get it
12:01done physical but he's obviously he's a big man as well it was challenging players and opposition
12:07give you close checking you know you know they really respect you as a player and you're really
12:12influential in the game so i went to each and every one of the forwards throughout the week and i
12:15said
12:16they're gonna throw some bait at you do not take the bait don't fall for it i went up to
12:20the umpire
12:20and said we're 150 meters away from the ball and i'm consistently getting punched in the back watch
12:25what's going on behind the play
12:45i hit the ground and the umpire's caught it down to the other end what's a final series without
12:51controversy in the rule books it says if you touch someone in the back when you're 150 meters away
12:54they're going to pay for a kick so people are going to hate me for saying this but if the
12:59ball's
12:59nowhere in your area and you're going to lay a finger on me when you're not allowed to then
13:04i'm probably going to dive as well so rayner a chance to insert himself in the contest
13:09kicked the first goal and got blindsided on by the other side and then they caught it back again
13:27second one these are scenes we rarely see cam was probably going to be number one
13:32geelong supporters in the ground and all around the country will be going absolutely ballistic
13:37the chaos reigns at the mcg geelong supporters they're going off their head
13:43beep beep beep yeah plenty of expletives brisbane gifted two late goals controversially
13:53besides those two goals i hadn't really had much of an impact on the game
13:57we just couldn't get a grip on the game their quality and their intensity it was a real warning
14:02shot to the rest of the competition that you know they mean business
14:07we were the hunted
14:10smith
14:11have a listen to this
14:16there it is
14:19the geelong football club march into their 14th prelim
14:24big win to the cats they're through to a home prelim brisbane will go
14:27the long way home
14:29they'll face either freemantle or gold coast in a sudden death semi-final next week
14:42they're long hi buzz hi man
14:45all right
14:47blue bass
14:49when he gets free a pretty historical moment put a lot of belief not only in the playing
14:56group but the whole of the afl what we're capable of
14:58everywhere did i go
15:00bobby you go
15:02i've never felt like that a much elation in a game in my whole entire footy career in life
15:11is there a miracle for one of these two sides in the last seconds
15:18swallow is kicked
15:33it was surprising and quite shocking to see this year not only have they made their first final series they've
15:44also won their first final
15:46so this could be the year they take this club to a premiership
15:52we've been really poor for a long time and sometimes you can lose sight of
15:57why are you playing footy but that game this is this is what it's about
16:03we are the sons of the gold coast sky we are the ones in the red gold blue
16:18the gold coast
16:24buzzing
16:24it was uh
16:28it's been a hell of a lot of hard work on the goal coast fifteen years in the making and
16:32a
16:32of the people are finally starting to see what it might become and you know we're really only
16:36scratching the surface i think of how good we can be so unbelievable that we have given ourselves
16:45a chance to play grand final this is the time for the gold coast suns to rewrite the history books
17:02now there's bigger fish to fight
17:06there's been a huge clash at the gabba like you couldn't script it any better and we're not going
17:12to lose this game i always believed in the club don't get me wrong there were some times i questioned
17:20where we're at and what afl football actually looked like for for the suns my name's took miller
17:27and uh all gas no breaks i think that's probably how i'd describe my game this is one off and
17:33took
17:33miller and took miller he'd be right up there as one of the hardest workers in the game that i've
17:38ever seen it's flipped out miller gold kosher in front for the first time widely praised for his two-way
17:47running being able to be an offensive threat but certainly a defensive threat as well
17:53took miller is such a driving force for the gold coast suns but he is also the most loyal person
17:59in
17:59the game i'm not going anywhere and i'm not believing what we're doing stop it's right here
18:13and he was drafted to the gold coast suns ahead of the 2011 season
18:19to a club that over a long period of time hasn't tasted much success
18:25they've been through a lot of hard yards i mean 15 years in the competition they haven't been
18:29relevant for a lot of it let's be honest for a long time gold coast were the laughing stock really
18:35i mean they're a team that just got belted every week the sun's just bitterly disappointed with the
18:40way they played talking about big disappointments gold coast the expectations were a lot higher than
18:46what they've been they've completely underperformed we had a lot of tough times we were never good
18:53enough always had losing records start well finish poorly we were touted as a team that couldn't retain
19:02players had poor culture bad organization one of the game's most sought after free agents tom lynch
19:09has told the gold coast that he wants to join a melbourne team and the club was pretty quick to
19:14react
19:14stripping him with his co-captaincy collingwood is set to make a major play to lure gold coast captain
19:20stephen may to melbourne and the suns could be on the verge of losing both of their captains
19:26they'll lead us in our club i'll never forget the pure anger it was really disappointing the
19:32blokes that are leading the club don't want to be there
19:38when they draft you i've always thought there's an expectation that you give your all to them
19:44so you've got to do your best to make sure that they get to where they want to go
19:52i like to think a lot of people when they think about me leading it's you know my professionalism
19:57how i train i love the responsibility of galvanizing boys to achieve something
20:04good turkey then the opportunity came to become co-captain that was like a lifelong childhood
20:13dream pretty special and definitely a massive highlight in my in my career
20:18job okay once again i'm saying all the time these sessions are all all about intensity okay they're
20:24never going to be imperfect these run it's all about embracing imperfection all we needed to tick off was
20:28our intensity and our content we got both okay we understand the challenge ahead of us but let's
20:34look forward to it what must we all ways bring a fucking smile okay and i think that we've now
20:42got
20:42the coach and the game plan that brings it all together it's a really good day for the gold coast
20:49suns football club it's with uh great pleasure that i announced damien harbrick as the senior coach
20:55in damien we have someone with an incredible track record but more importantly with the determination
21:01and the ambition to take this club on to its first success i'm very much looking forward to coaching
21:07young men and taking us to where we need to go and that's to uh to raise our first premiership
21:11cup
21:12which i'm uh i'm pretty sure will be in the not too distant futures damien hardwick arrived at the
21:17gold coast suns as a three-time premiership winning coach at the richmond footy club three flags in four
21:22years i mean not only did damien hardwick coach richmond to premierships but he lifted that club
21:27out of the doldrums he would absolutely be listed as an icon this guy comes with not just a gravitas
21:34but a record of winning big finals consistently and taking teams to premierships he sits very high
21:41standards and he expects them to be followed there is nobody better positioned to take this club to a
21:48premiership you know what i've learned over over my tenure is the game is more than x's and o's it's
22:01connection it's confidence it's belief it's the ability for you to get the very best out of people
22:07to achieve the impossible a little bit of this week's inspo anyone know who this logo represents
22:13kingy you're a man of sporting knowledge well done king well done dallas cowboys i'm going to take you
22:20back to uh the early 90s dallas cowboys are a special team not only on the field but also off
22:26the field
22:26and there's a reason that they won two super bowls i think dimmer he's a storyteller and he uses other
22:31sports and he tries to like pull out things that are relevant in their team and their dynamics and
22:36kind of instill that in us the dallas cowboys employed a coach by the name of jimmy johnson
22:41now he had in one of his first training camps and the young running back um had started to have
22:48an
22:49asthma attack uh on the field so he lied down sort of thing jimmy johnson cut him on the spot
22:54i don't do
22:55asthma was the exact comment he was a little bit of a heart a little bit our guys have got
23:04to
23:04understand that there's no reason we can't win it all the only thing that's going to stop us is us
23:09what they did do though is they developed an identity piece the importance of that and what
23:13that looked like very similar to us i probably tend to tell people what they can become and ask
23:20them to rise to that level the role of the underdog is very very important it gives us an enormous
23:25opportunity to apply our craft but more importantly to get the result we're after there's no better
23:30place to be our guys have got to understand that we are more than well and truly capable of beating
23:34any side out there the two things we've worked on the grit and connection they're the difference makers
23:39of this organization this side is built for finals understand that the challenge is we've just got
23:45to get out of our own way and we've got to give ourselves permission to win let's make sure we
23:49embrace the role of the underdog more importantly i can't wait to see you guys rip a very good opponent
23:54apart let's get it done let's go
24:05do you want to play a game you know um but what if i beat you that's not gonna happen
24:09so what can you put on
24:10what twos on twos fours and fours and you can put colors on colors yeah and what about that no
24:20and so what about there red um that last week it's a lot to hear i don't know maybe 80
24:28000 people
24:29boo you some one of the biggest talking points was the controversy on uh cameron rayner was it staging
24:34absolutely yeah this was disgraceful every sports story in australia or newspaper radio
24:40was talking about it but then the posts and instagram messages were pretty disgusting cam
24:46rayner was trying to get to the brisbane olympics for the diving team should be playing soccer instead
24:50of football right you're a frog you you know as a mom that breaks your heart that someone
24:58you know could say something about you and we know that it's not true our only concern is that you're
25:03doing okay after the geelong game the media is always going to talk they're always going to try and
25:08make up stories and blow things out of the water the media it used to frustrate me a little bit
25:12when
25:13i was younger it can consume you a little bit and you start believing what people are saying from the
25:17outside and then you start doubting yourself the thing that i worry about the most is what the people
25:21think about me at the footy club and inside the four walls and if i'm doing everything they ask for
25:25me
25:25then you know that's really all that all that matters for me i've got another game coming up the
25:31main thing is to try and keep my mindset and really really steady and really even if the intensity in
25:35the
25:35finals is unbelievable and the mindset's the most important thing uh yeah i'm excited for the team
25:51coming from where you were to where it is now it's just i am just so proud of you well
25:59i'm climbing up the
26:01ladder of course cheers for my son toke there he is toke there he is you know you know the
26:09one thing
26:09that puzzles me is is how come you don't have cheerleaders you know a couple of kid leaders yeah
26:15i just think they should have added them my dad's yeah he's a he's a unique character he's a proud
26:22son
26:22supporter and if you're within shouting distance you you you'll hear well you always talk about the belief
26:29i know you send me messages all the time that you just got to believe and dimmer he believes in
26:33us
26:33i think that's how much belief um we can hear as a team yeah well he's been there three times
26:39he's
26:40he's gotten the cup he knows so he knows what it takes to do it i'm blessed he came to
26:44our football
26:45club because he definitely put us in the right direction it was a moment that was probably bittersweet
26:50i think for myself he knows what he wants he knows what he's chasing and he knows what it looks
26:54like so
26:54i think the hardest thing was adapting and where i was going to fit into that when dimmer first started
26:59i'm sitting there going you know this is this is my time i can take on solo captaincy and i
27:04think
27:04i'm ready to do that and then last year i sat in dimmer's office with wayne and they told me
27:11that
27:11they're going to go in a different direction with noah he's a solo captain
27:16that was a hard that was a hard pill to swallow and it definitely had yeah it was brutal it
27:24was
27:24like pretty empty like empty feeling i was really with you in that pain i'm not gonna lie it was
27:31hard
27:32i was disappointed and i was like there's just no way like i thought i'd be dedicated to the sons
27:37for
27:37so long and being humble being loyal but yeah i mean wasn't meant to be i had to make sure
27:44i got
27:44my head around how to execute like my role for him and the team as best as i could but
27:50i think that's
27:50the beauty of playing in the team is that you're doing anything for the team and like we we're starting
27:55to see results so like when you start seeing results and what you do makes it it makes it a
28:00hell of a lot
28:00easier so it took a little bit of time to process but i think whether i'm the captain or not
28:07the
28:07captain i know that i'm an asset for this club and help us win games of footy and we're in
28:13this
28:13position that we've never been in before to be versing brisbane this week in a semi-final with an
28:18opportunity to go send them home yeah i think that we're ready to deliver on that because time for
28:24the table to turn and you guys are ready yeah absolutely i think i've played about 28 times in
28:42the q clash now because given the circumstances where both teams are at at the moment it's the
28:47biggest q clash ever a q clash is the game between uh the gold coast suns and the brisbane lions
28:53and
28:53it's the rivalry that would get stronger and stronger every single year it's always been a
28:58tough contest in the past but these teams have genuinely something on the line so that adds a
29:04little bit more to it as well they're a team that's on the improve and we're a team that's obviously
29:09you
29:09know we want to go back to back tempest flare on the field and then there was a rivalry between
29:14me and
29:14two and that it was obviously spicy
29:19there are two teams based in queensland the brisbane lions and the gold coast suns have been our nemesis
29:24for a little bit brisbane i don't think they enjoyed the gold coast suns starting up they
29:30would have preferred to have owned queensland themselves the queensland rivalry in full flight
29:35as we head to the break oh geez he is on there eat my dust there's hatred in this rivalry
29:44and most of
29:46the time it's been the brisbane lions as the big brother pulling the gold coast suns and it's spilling
29:52over in q clash 16. miller zorko they've got some history every time we talk q clash you probably talk
30:00about miller and zorko yeah we've got into each other and created a headline or two
30:08i think when things get interesting is when we start to to get on top or start to get in
30:12his head
30:12a little bit that's when things get pretty fiery outstanding smother took miller body on the line
30:18that was always my tactic is i knew we had a short fuse so how quickly can i get under
30:23his skin and
30:24a few times i did they're just going at it every second of the game there's no down time
30:31he obviously absolutely towed me up one game i just didn't shake his hand after the game
30:36in the heat of the moment i was just so angry that he did such a good job on me
30:41the man you kind of
30:42caught the vision of that and it blew up and probably created this like stir of hatred between
30:48brisbane and gold coast and it turned into a few uh wwe matches and some wrestling and it's just
30:55starting to sizzle didn't shake his hand the first time and then that's what s plays and the next time
31:00he tags me and the same thing kind of happened but they won dain zorko wants a bit of revenge
31:06so i
31:07made a pretty obvious point he wanted to come shake my hand i think i said he had bad breath
31:13one day
31:13when we were winning and then last year i think he grabbed my nuts he just thought you grabbed my
31:18nuts oh there was an accusation he tackled me and just didn't let go for a couple of seconds which
31:24was uncomfortable so that little battle continues
31:32gold coast they'd absolutely destroyed us six weeks earlier down on the gold coast like absolutely
31:38made us look rubbish right in the muscle give it time give it time i don't have to motivate zorks
31:51because uh this is the biggest q clash there's ever been
31:58i went into beige and said i want the roll on too i can shut him down and then hopefully
32:04i can hurt him
32:05offensively if i don't well at least i know i'm going to be diligent enough to get this role done
32:10he goes well if you you want that job you can have it and in all my interviews throughout the
32:14whole week i was like no we don't even play on each other anymore but i knew i'll play on
32:18it
32:22this is the matchup we've been waiting for zorko you know what's all week of all the stuff i've done
32:27so i kept saying i won't play on him and then i was like my whole probably the whole day
32:31i'll be on
32:32him well we'll shake hands and see you later one of the two
32:42q clash saturday night up in brisbane
32:50after a really big loss to geelong in the qualifying final we were the hunted and we weren't ready for
32:55that for us it's about flipping that script a little bit and no no we're going to go out there
33:00and we're
33:00going to hunt today we can't lose you lose you're out the pressure of coming off a game like geelong
33:08made me want to get out there again because i guess once that pressure's on you it's like you've got
33:12nowhere to go now you can only try and push back through it so being able to switch my mindset
33:18to
33:18going like all right now here's an opportunity for me to really take control of this game
33:22this is the biggest game that football in queensland has ever seen this is what they dreamed of they
33:28wanted big finals in queensland between two clubs tick here we are
33:38this has to be the biggest game ever played in the state of afl city q clash in a final
33:45at the gabber you
33:47know we want to be the number one team in queensland you know we just can't get knocked out against
33:51the gold coast like we need to play our absolute best the air thick with anticipation and a pack
33:57gabber two teams that have a long history where they don't particularly like each other some of
34:03our best wins have come off losses this year every time this year we came had a really bad performance
34:08the following week he's been able to really make amends they're going to come right at it how we
34:13can respond is up to us okay we get to choose that secure the ball it's like a good pressure
34:19on we
34:19hunt them they're worried about us let's go let's go i feel like if we could knock them off we'd
34:24be
34:24making a a serious statement in the afl world ready to go it's the second semi-final took miller and
34:33dane's all go lining up keep it on those two they gotta be feisty very first bounce standing side by
34:39side but he nudged me i'm like uh fair enough let's go
34:48you
35:17you
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