# 2015 Gold Coast Suns season

The Gold Coast Suns 2015 season was its fifth season in the Australian Football League (AFL).

## Club summary

The 2015 AFL season will be the 119th season of the VFL/AFL competition since its inception in 1897; having entered the competition in 2011, it will be the 5th season contested by the Gold Coast Football Club. Metricon Stadium will once again act as Gold Coast's primary home ground, hosting all of the club's eleven home games, and all of which will be played on Saturday. The club will play Adelaide, the Brisbane Lions, Greater Western Sydney, the Sydney Swans and West Coast Eagles twice during the regular season, and travel interstate nine times (three times to Melbourne and once each to Sydney, Canberra, Geelong, Launceston, Adelaide and Perth) in addition to also playing an away game against the Western Bulldogs in Cairns. After four consecutive meetings in Queensland, the Suns will play Richmond in Melbourne for the first time.
Major sponsors HostPlus and Fiat will continue as the club's two major sponsors, while BLK will manufacture the club's on-and-off field apparel for the next five seasons starting in 2015.

## Senior Personnel

Rodney Eade served as the club's head coach for the season, having replaced Guy McKenna who was sacked on 1 October 2014, while Gary Ablett, Jr. continued as the club's captain for the fifth consecutive season.

## Playing list changes

During the 2014 off-season, the Suns acquired the services of Sydney's Nick Malceski via the free agency system, while they also received Mitch Hallahan from the Hawthorn Football Club during the trade period in October. Foundation player Nathan Bock and Tom Murphy both retired last season, while Karmichael Hunt left the club to link with the Queensland Reds in the Super Rugby competition. In addition, Jackson Allen, Jack Hutchins, Jeremy Taylor, Matthew Warnock and Leigh Osborne were all delisted during the off-season.
The following summarises all player changes between the conclusion of the 2014 season and the commencement of the 2015 season.

### In

| Player | Previous Club | League | via |
| Nick Malceski | Sydney Swans | AFL | Free agency |
| Mitch Hallahan | Hawthorn | AFL | AFL Trade Period |
| Peter Wright | Calder Cannons | TAC Cup | AFL Draft |
| Jarrod Garlett | South Fremantle Football Club | WAFL | AFL Draft |
| Touk Miller | Calder Cannons | TAC Cup | AFL Draft |

### Out

| Player | New Club | League | via |
| Nathan Bock | Retirement | N/A | N/A |
| Tom Murphy | Retirement | N/A | N/A |
| Karmichael Hunt | Queensland Reds | Super Rugby | N/A |
| Jackson Allen | Delisted | N/A | N/A |
| Jack Hutchins | Delisted | N/A | N/A |
| Jeremy Taylor | Delisted | N/A | N/A |
| Matthew Warnock | Delisted | N/A | N/A |
| Leigh Osborne | Delisted | N/A | N/A |

## Season summary
### Pre-season matches

The club will play three practice matches as part of the 2015 NAB Challenge, and will be played under modified pre-season rules, including nine-point goals.
| Rd | Date and local time | Opponent | Scores (Gold Coast's scores indicated in bold) | Scores (Gold Coast's scores indicated in bold) | Scores (Gold Coast's scores indicated in bold) | Venue | Attendance |
| Rd | Date and local time | Opponent | Home | Away | Result | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | Sunday, 1 March (3:40 pm) | Geelong | 10.19 (79) | 1.9.8 (71) | Won by eight points | Tony Ireland Stadium, Townsville (H) | 4,431 |
| 2 | Saturday, 7 March (4:10 pm) | Greater Western Sydney | 14.10 (94) | 2.6.4 (58) | Lost by 36 points | Blacktown International Sportspark (A) | 1,787 |
| 3 | Friday, 20 March (7:40 pm) | Brisbane Lions | 0.8.15 (63) | 1.7.12 (63) | Match drawn | Metricon Stadium (H) | |
| Source ||||||||

### Premiership Season
#### Home and away season

| Rd | Date and local time | Opponent | Scores (Gold Coast's scores indicated in bold) | Scores (Gold Coast's scores indicated in bold) | Scores (Gold Coast's scores indicated in bold) | Venue | Attendance | Ladder position |
| Rd | Date and local time | Opponent | Home | Away | Result | Venue | Attendance | Ladder position |
| 1 | Saturday, 4 April (1:45 pm) | Melbourne | 17.13 (115) | 13.11 (89) | Lost by 26 points | Melbourne Cricket Ground (A) | 27,013 | 15th |
| 2 | Saturday, 11 April (7:20 pm) | St Kilda | 10.16 (76) | 16.8 (104) | Lost by 28 points | Metricon Stadium (H) | 13,649 | 14th |
| 3 | Sunday, 19 April (3:20 pm) | Geelong | 16.9 (105) | 13.18 (96) | Lost by 9 points | Simonds Stadium (A) | 20,813 | 16th |
| 4 | Saturday, 25 April (5:40 pm) | Greater Western Sydney | 16.23 (119) | 7.11 (53) | Lost by 66 points | StarTrack Oval (A) | 6,917 | 17th |
| 5 | Saturday, 2 May (4:35 pm) | Brisbane Lions | 18.10 (118) | 7.12 (54) | Won by 64 points | Metricon Stadium (H) | 12,464 | 15th |
| 6 | Saturday, 9 May (5:10 pm) | Adelaide | 11.12 (78) | 18.11 (119) | Lost by 41 points | Metricon Stadium (H) | 12,464 | 16th |
| 7 | Saturday, 16 May (5:40 pm) | West Coast | 21.9 (135) | 6.7 (43) | Lost by 92 points | Domain Stadium (A) | 26,964 | 17th |
| 8 | Saturday, 23 May (4:35 pm) | Collingwood | 9.9 (63) | 20.12 (132) | Lost by 69 points | Metricon Stadium (H) | 16,440 | 17th |
| 9 | Saturday, 30 May (1:45 pm) | Hawthorn | 14.9 (93) | 6.4 (40) | Lost by 53 points | Aurora Stadium (A) | 11,320 | 17th |
| 10 | Saturday, 6 June (4:35 pm) | Sydney | 5.11 (41) | 13.15 (93) | Lost by 52 points | Metricon Stadium (H) | 13,068 | 18th |
| 11 | Saturday, 13 June (1:40 pm) | Fremantle | 7.4 (46) | 6.17 (53) | Lost by 9 points | Metricon Stadium (H) | 8,911 | 17th |
| 12 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | |
| 13 | Sunday, 28 June (3:20 pm) | Carlton | 14.19 (103) | 9.15 (69) | Lost by 34 points | Etihad Stadium (A) | 30,207 | 18th |
| 14 | Saturday, 4 July (4:35 pm) | North Melbourne | 19.11 (125) | 10.10 (70) | Won by 55 points | Metricon Stadium (H) | 14,444 | 17th |
| 15 | Saturday, 11 July (4:35 pm) | Western Bulldogs | | | | Cazaly's Stadium (A) | | |
| 16 | Saturday, 18 July (2:10 pm) | Greater Western Sydney | | | | Metricon Stadium (H) | | |
| 17 | Saturday, 25 July (1:40 pm) | Adelaide | | | | Adelaide Oval (A) | | |
| 18 | Saturday, 1 August (7:20 pm) | West Coast | | | | Metricon Stadium (H) | | |
| 19 | Saturday, 8 August (4:35 pm) | Brisbane Lions | | | | The Gabba (A) | | |
| 20 | Sunday, 16 August (1:10 pm) | Richmond | | | | Melbourne Cricket Ground (A) | | |
| 21 | Saturday, 22 August (4:35 pm) | Essendon | | | | Metricon Stadium (H) | | |
| 22 | Saturday, 29 August (7:20 pm) | Port Adelaide | | | | Metricon Stadium (H) | | |
| 23 | TBC | Sydney | | | | Sydney Cricket Ground (A) | | |
| Source |||||||||

## Ladder

2015 AFL ladder :
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | D | PF | PA | PP | Pts | |
| 1 | Fremantle | 22 | 17 | 5 | 0 | 1857 | 1564 | 118.7 | 68 | Finals series |
| 2 | West Coast | 22 | 16 | 5 | 1 | 2330 | 1572 | 148.2 | 66 | Finals series |
| 3 | Hawthorn (P) | 22 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 2452 | 1548 | 158.4 | 64 | Finals series |
| 4 | Sydney | 22 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 2006 | 1578 | 127.1 | 64 | Finals series |
| 5 | Richmond | 22 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 1930 | 1568 | 123.1 | 60 | Finals series |
| 6 | Western Bulldogs | 22 | 14 | 8 | 0 | 2101 | 1825 | 115.1 | 56 | Finals series |
| 7 | Adelaide | 21 | 13 | 8 | 0 | 2107 | 1821 | 115.7 | 54 | Finals series |
| 8 | North Melbourne | 22 | 13 | 9 | 0 | 2062 | 1937 | 106.5 | 52 | Finals series |
| 9 | Port Adelaide | 22 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 2002 | 1874 | 106.8 | 48 | |
| 10 | Geelong | 21 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 1853 | 1833 | 101.1 | 48 | |
| 11 | Greater Western Sydney | 22 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 1872 | 1891 | 99.0 | 44 | |
| 12 | Collingwood | 22 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 1972 | 1856 | 106.3 | 40 | |
| 13 | Melbourne | 22 | 7 | 15 | 0 | 1573 | 2044 | 77.0 | 28 | |
| 14 | St Kilda | 22 | 6 | 15 | 1 | 1695 | 2162 | 78.4 | 26 | |
| 15 | Essendon | 22 | 6 | 16 | 0 | 1580 | 2134 | 74.0 | 24 | |
| 16 | Gold Coast | 22 | 4 | 17 | 1 | 1633 | 2240 | 72.9 | 18 | |
| 17 | Brisbane Lions | 22 | 4 | 18 | 0 | 1557 | 2306 | 67.5 | 16 | |
| 18 | Carlton | 22 | 4 | 18 | 0 | 1525 | 2354 | 64.8 | 16 | |
* 1 2 The round 14 match between Adelaide and Geelong was cancelled due to the death of Adelaide coach Phil Walsh, and both teams were awarded two premiership points each.

## Awards, Records & Milestones
### Milestones

* Round 1:
** Adam Saad – AFL debut
** Touk Miller – AFL debut
** Nick Malceski – first game for Gold Coast
* Round 2: Jarrod Harbrow – 150th AFL game
* Round 4: Charlie Dixon – 50th AFL game

## Brownlow Medal
### Results

* Round
* 1
* 2
* 3
* 4
* 5
* 6
* 7
* 8
* 9
* 10
* 11
* 12
* 13
* 14
* 15
* 16
* 17
* 18
* 19
* 20
* 21
* 22
* 23

### Brownlow Medal tally

| Player | 1 vote games | 2 vote games | 3 vote games | Total votes |
| Total | | | | |
* italics denotes ineligible player

## Tribunal cases

| Player | Round | Charge category | Verdict | Points | Result | Victim | Club |
| Tom Lynch | Pre-season | Rough conduct | Guilty | N/A | One-match suspension | Matthew Buntine | Greater Western Sydney |
| Matt Shaw | 1 | Engaging in rough conduct | Guilty | N/A | One-match suspension | Dean Kent | Melbourne |
| Steven May | 2 | Rough conduct | Guilty | N/A | $1,000 fine | Jack Lonie | St Kilda |
| Alex Sexton | 2 | Striking | Guilty | N/A | One-match suspension | Jack Lonie | St Kilda |
| Steven May | 5 | Rough conduct | Guilty | N/A | Three-match suspension | Tom Rockliff | Brisbane Lions |