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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
16:10gold coast
16:11white
16:24buzzing mate it was uh
16:28it's been a hell of a lot of hard work on the gold coast 15 years in the making and
16:32a lot of the people are
16:33finally 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
16:44have given ourselves a chance to play in grand final this is the time for the
16:49Gold 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
17:19questioned where we're at and what AFL football actually look like here for the Suns my name is
17:26Tuuk Miller and all gas no brakes yeah that's probably how I'd describe my game this is one
17:32off and Tuuk Miller and Tuuk Miller he'd be right up there as one of the hardest workers in the
17:37game
17:38that I've ever seen it's flipped out Miller Gold Coast you're in front for the first time widely
17:43praised for his two-way running being able to be an offensive threat but certainly a defensive threat
17:51as well Tuuk Miller is such a driving force for the Gold Coast Suns but he is also the most
17:58loyal
17:58person in the game and he was drafted to the Gold Coast Suns ahead of the 2011 season to a
18:19club that
18:20over a long period of time hasn't tasted much success they've been through a lot of hard yards
18:27I mean 15 years in the competition they haven't been relevant for a lot of it let's be honest for
18:31a long time
18:32Gold Coast we're the laughing stock really I mean they're a team that just got belted every week
18:36the Suns just bitterly disappointing with the way they played talking about big disappointments
18:42Gold Coast the expectations were a lot higher than what they've been they've completely underperformed
18:50we had a lot of tough times we were never good enough always had losing records start well finish
18:57poorly we were touted as a team that couldn't retain players had poor culture bad organization
19:06one of the games most sought after free agents Tom Lynch has told the Gold Coast that he wants to
19:11join
19:12a Melbourne team and the club was pretty quick to react stripping him with his co-captaincy
19:16Collingwood is set to make a major play to lure Gold Coast captain Stephen May to Melbourne
19:22and 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 when they draft you I've always thought
19:41there's an expectation that you give your all to them so you've got to do your best to make sure
19:46that they get to where they want to go I like to think a lot of people when they think
19:54about me
19:55leading it's you know my professionalism how I train I love the responsibility of galvanizing
20:02boys to achieve something then the opportunity came to become captain that was like a lifelong
20:13childhood dream pretty special and definitely a massive highlight in my in my career okay once
20:19again I'll say it all the time these sessions are all all about intensity okay they're never going
20:24to be imperfect this one it's all about embracing imperfection all we needed to tick off was our
20:29intensity 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 always bring a fucking smile okay and I think that we've now got
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 great pleasure that I announced Damien Hardrick as the senior coach in
20:56Damien we have someone with an incredible track record but more importantly with the determination and
21:01the ambition to take this club on to its first success I'm very much looking forward to coaching you
21:07young men and take 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 out of the
21:28doldrums he would absolutely be listed as an icon this guy comes with not just a gravitas but a record
21:35of winning big finals consistently and taking teams to premierships he sits very high standards and he
21:42expects them to be followed there is nobody better positioned to take this club to a premiership
21:56you know what I've learned over over my tenure is the game is more than X's and O's it's connection
22:02it's confidence it's belief it's the ability for you to get the very best out of people to achieve
22:07the impossible a little bit of this week's inspo anyone know who this logo represents Kingy you're
22:14a man of sporting knowledge well done well done Dallas Cowboys I'm going to take you back to uh
22:21the early 90s Dallas Cowboys are a special team not only on the field but also off the field and
22:26there'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 he pointed a coach by the name of Jimmy Johnson
22:41now he had in one of his first training camps and the young running back had had an asthma attack
22:49on
22:50the field so he lied down so I think Jimmy Johnson cut him on the spot I don't do asthma
22:55was the exact
22:56comment he was a little bit of a hard our guys have got to understand that there's no reason we
23:06can't
23:06win at all the only thing that's going to stop us is us what they did do though is they
23:10developed an
23:11identity piece the importance of that and what that looked like very similar to us I probably tend
23:17to tell people what they can become and ask them to rise to that level the role of the underdog
23:23is
23:23very very important it gives us an enormous opportunity to apply our craft but more importantly
23:27to get the result we're after there's no better place to be now guys have got to understand that we
23:33are more than well and truly capable of beating any side out there the two things we've worked
23:36on the grit and connection they're the difference makers of this organization this side is built for
23:42fucking finals understand that the challenge is we've just got to get out of our own way and we've
23:47got to give ourselves permission to win let's make sure we embrace the role of the underdog more
23:51importantly I can't wait to see you guys rip a fucking very good opponent apart let's get it done let's
23:57go
24:05do you want to play a game you know I mean but what if I beat you that's not gonna
24:09happen so what
24:10can you put on what twos on twos fours and fours and you can put colors on colors yeah and
24:16what about
24:16that no and so what about yeah red um that last week it's a lot to hear I don't know
24:28maybe 80,000
24:29people do you some they one of the biggest talking points was the controversy on that Cameron right up
24:34was it staging absolutely 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 okay
24:46right I was trying to get to the Brisbane Olympics for the diving team playing soccer instead of
24:50football you know as a mom that breaks your heart that someone you know could say something about
24:59you and we know that it's not true our only concern is that you're doing okay after the Geelong game
25:06the
25:06media is always going to talk they're always going to try and make up stories and blow things out of
25:10the water the media it used to frustrate me a little bit when I was younger it can consume
25:14you a little bit and start believing what people are saying from the outside and then you start
25:18doubting yourself the thing that I worry about the most is what the people think about me at the footy
25:22club and inside the four walls and if I'm doing everything they ask for me then you know that's
25:27really all it all that matters for me got another game coming up the main thing is to try and
25:32keep my
25:32mindset and really really steady and really even if the intensity in the finals is unbelievable and the
25:37mindset's the most important thing
25:48uh yeah I'm excited for the team coming from where you were to where it is now it's just I
25:56am just so
25:57proud of you well I'm climbing up the ladder of course cheers for my son to there he is to
26:07there
26:07he is you know you know the one thing that puzzled me is how come you don't have cheerleaders you
26:13know
26:13a couple of kid leaders I just think they should have added them my dad's yeah he's a unique character
26:21he's a proud son supporter and if you're within shouting distance you you you're here
26:27well you always talk about the belief I know you send me messages all the time that you just got
26:31to
26:31believe and deal with he believes in us I think that's how much belief um we do as a team
26:38well he's been there three times he's he's gotten the cup he knows so he knows what it takes to
26:43do it
26:43I'm blessed that he came to our football club because he definitely put us in the right direction
26:48it was a moment that was probably bittersweet I think for myself he knows what he wants he knows
26:52what he's chasing and he knows what it looks like so I think the hardest thing was adapting and where
26:56I was going to fit into that but when Dima first started I'm sitting there going you know this is
27:00this is my time I can take on solo captaincy and I think I'm ready to do that and then
27:06last year I
27:08sat in Dima's office with Wayne and they told me that they were going to go in a different
27:12direction with Noah he's a solo captain that was a hard that was a hard feel to smile and it
27:21definitely hurt yeah it was brutal it was like pretty empty like empty feeling I was really with
27:28you in that pain I'm not gonna lie it was hard I was disappointed and I was like there's just
27:34no
27:34way I thought I'd be dedicated to the Suns for so long and being humble being loyal but yeah I
27:41mean
27:42what's it meant to be I have to make sure I got my head around how to execute like my
27:46role for him
27:47and the team as best as I could but I think that's the beauty of playing in a team is
27:52that you're doing
27:52anything for the team and like we're starting to see results so like when you start seeing results and
27:58what you do makes it it makes it a hell of a lot easier so took a little bit of
28:05time to process but
28:06I think whether I'm the captain or not the captain I know that I'm an asset for this club and
28:10help us
28:11win games of footy and we're in this position that we've never been in before to be versed in Brisbane
28:16this way in a semi-final with an opportunity to go send them home yeah I think that we're ready
28:22to
28:22deliver on that because time for the table to turn and you guys are ready yeah absolutely I think I've
28:40played about 28 times in the Q Clash now so given the circumstances where both teams are at at the
28:46moment it's the biggest Q Clash ever a Q Clash is the game between the Gold Coast Suns and the
28:53Brisbane
28:53Lions and it's the rivalry that will 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 there are two teams based in Queensland the Brisbane Lions and
29:23the Gold Coast Suns they've been our nemesis for a little bit Brisbane I don't think they enjoyed the
29:28Gold Coast Suns starting up they would have preferred to have owned Queensland themselves the Queenslander
29:33rivalry and full flight as we head to the break oh geez he is on there eat my dust
29:42there's hatred in this rivalry and most of the time it's been the Brisbane Lions as the big brother
29:49pulling the Gold Coast Suns and it's spilling over in Q Clash 16 Miller Zorko they've got some history
29:57every time we talk Q Clash you probably talk about Miller and Zorko yeah we've got into each other and
30:05created a headline or two I think when things get interesting is when we start to to get on top
30:11or
30:11start to get in his head a little bit that's when things get pretty fiery that was always my tactic
30:20is I
30:21knew we had a short fuse so how quickly can I get under his skin and a few times I
30:25did they are just
30:27going at it every second of the game there's no downtime he obviously absolutely towed me up one game
30:34I just didn't shake his hand after the game in the heat of the moment I was just so angry
30:38that he did
30:40such a good job on me I mean you kind of caught the vision of that and it blew up
30:44and probably created
30:46this like stir of hatred between Brisbane and Gold Coast and it turned into a few WWE matches and some
30:53wrestling and it's just starting to sizzle didn't shake his hand the first time and then that sort of
30:59escalates and the next time he tags me and the same thing kind of happened but they won Dane Zorko
31:04wants a bit of revenge so I made a pretty obvious point he wanted to come shake my hand I
31:12think I said he
31:12had bad breath one day when we were winning and then last year I think he grabbed my nuts oh
31:19there
31:19was an accusation he tackled me in just didn't let go for a couple of seconds which was uncomfortable so
31:25that little battle continues Gold Coast they'd absolutely destroyed us six weeks earlier down
31:37on the Gold Coast like absolutely made us look rubbish I don't have to motivate Zorks because this is
31:53the biggest Q clash there's ever been I went into Beijing said I want the roll on to I can
32:03shut him
32:03down and then hopefully I can hurt him offensively if I don't well at least I know I'm gonna be
32:07diligent enough to get this role done he goes well if you you want that job you can have it
32:12and in
32:13all my interviews throughout the whole week I was like no we don't even play on each other anymore
32:17but I knew I was playing on each other this is the matchup we've been waiting for Zorko you know
32:25it's fucked all week I've all the stuff I've done so I kept saying I won't play on him and
32:29then I was
32:30like my whole probably the whole day I'll be on him well we'll shake hands and see you later but
32:35one of the two
32:42Q clash Saturday night up in Brisbane after a really big loss to Geelong in the qualifying final
32:53we were the hunted and we weren't ready for that for us it's about flipping that script a little bit
32:59and no no we're gonna go out there and we're gonna hunt today we can't lose you lose you're out
33:06the pressure of coming off a game like Geelong made me want to get out there again because I
33:10guess once that pressure's on you it's like you got nowhere to go now you can only try and push
33:14back
33:14through it so being able to switch my mindset to going like all right now here's an opportunity for
33:20me to really take control of this game this is the biggest game that football in Queensland has ever
33:25seen this is what they dreamed of they wanted big finals in Queensland between two clubs
33:35tick here we are
33:39this has to be the biggest game ever played in the state of AFL football Q clash in a final
33:45at the
33:46Gabba you know we want to be the number one team in Queensland you know we just can't get knocked
33:50out
33:51against the Gold Coast like we need to play our absolute best
33:53the air thick with anticipation and a pack Gabba two teams that have a long history where they don't
34:00particularly like each other some of our best wins have come off losses this year every time this year
34:06we came had a really bad performance the following week he's been able to really make amends
34:11they're going to come right at it how we fucking respond is up to us okay we get to choose
34:16that secure the ball
34:17fucking put pressure on we hunt them they're worried about us let's go let's go
34:22I feel like if we could knock them off we'd be making a serious statement in the AFL world
34:36very first bounce standing side by side but he nudged me I'm like uh fair enough let's go
34:44I feel like I'm going to be making a serious statement in the AFL world
35:21You
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