Simon Black’s “mercenaries” jibe at high-profile Gold Coast Suns recruits seemed out of character at the time (see previous post).

In subsequent days, Gold Coast coach Guy McKenna weighed in with a dig about “cleaning up [Brisbane’s] mess” and now, somewhat predictably given the sequence of events, Brisbane coach Michael Voss says he is taking McKenna’s comment “personally”.

‘Anonymous’ suggested in a comment on our Black story that the whole thing was a PR set-up. We have to agree as events have unfolded.

Far from establishing a fierce ‘cross-town’ rivalry, the interchange of insults between Gold Coast and Brisbane has descended into pathetic farce.

As if to underscore how empty the rivalry is, that doyen of deep and sober analysis, Robert Walls, has weighed in with a defence of his own Brisbane legacy.

Enough already!

Seriously guys, leave this sort of childish nonsense to the experts in the field: politicians. Just get on with the footy!

AussieRulesBlog is not shy of criticising others for making judgements on scant evidence — such as not having watched the bulk of a game —  and we dished out a pretty negative assessment on the Gold Coast Suns based on a quarter and a bit. We thought we should go back and watch the game.

What a pleasant surprise (although watching Carlton kick so many goals is pretty hard to stomach). Some key assessments based on the whole game, on television, are:

• Robert Walls and Ed Curnow's mother must have been very close once going by the way Walls pumps up Curnow.
• Karmichael Hunt didn't do a whole lot wrong.
• Daniel Harris is a gun.
• The umpires did the Suns no favours in the first quarter.
• For a team with twelve debutantes, the Suns did pretty well and showed enough to suggest they can be competitive by the end of 2011.
• Josh Fraser, Jarrod Harbrow and Jarrod Brennan need to spend a good while in the Hall of Mirrors.
• No amount of VFL football is an adequate preparation for senior AFL-standard football.

Overall, we're optimistic about the Suns. Charlie Dixon and Zac Smith, especially, look like they can have an impact in 2011.

AussieRulesBlog isn’t a Robert Walls fan at the best of times, but his effort in the commentary box at the Suns’ first proper AFL game was atrocious by any measure.

We’re pretty sure he has never had an original thought and his ponderous monotone delivery is mind numbing, nevertheless we acknowledge that some people appreciate what they perceive as his forthrightness.

Let’s leave aside that someone had Channel 10 was having a lend of themselves scheduling Malcolm Blight — a Gold Coast Suns board member — and Walls — recently inducted as a Legend of Carlton Football Club (which says a lot about the Blues) — to do special comments on the Suns’ game against Carlton.

Other media people (mostly) manage to maintain a reasonable degree of objective decorum when doing one of their favourite team’s games. Everyone knows that Tim Lane, for instance, is a committed Blues man, but it rarely affects his call. Likewise Eddie Maguire and the Barcodes. Or Jason Dunstall and the Hawks.

Along with the position in the media comes a responsibility — not unlike that we foist onto players. We expect those in the media to comment without fear or favour. Walls failed the latter test utterly on Saturday night.

AussieRulesBlog suffered both Walls and the Suns until the Geelong-Fremantle game started. The Suns are clearly completely unprepared for elite football. Despite the big money splashed to gain a modicum of experience, it was pretty clear that the pre-season flattered the team. They were so far behind the Blues — mostly two to five metres! — that it’s really hard to see how they can compete with any other team this year — even Brisbane.

The AFL were clearly keen not to repeat what were seen as the mistakes in the birth of Brisbane. A group of, mostly, second-raters were gifted to Brisbane and went on to prove that it takes time to build a team. By gifting Gold Coast a plethora of draft picks, the AFL has, without doubt, provided hope for the Suns, but we’re not sure after Saturday night that perhaps a middle ground isn’t a better option. And the spectre of 2012 just got a hell of a lot more fearsome for a group of blokes out in western Sydney.