WHEN Gold Coast played its first ever home game against Geelong at a packed Metricon Stadium in May 2011, seven-year-old Bodhi Uwland was in the grandstand with his family cheering on his local AFL team.

Uwland was a foundation member of the Suns, drawn to the sport by his Australian Football-loving parents Mark and Michelle, who were originally from Victoria.

Mark had converted from supporting Collingwood and Michelle from Richmond. Bodhi was a passionate Gold Coast "nuffie" from the start, as were younger siblings Jarrah and twins Zeke and Mali.

"I was here every second week seeing Gary Ablett jnr running around," Uwland recalled for AFL.com.au, peering across at the main stadium from Gold Coast's training field.

"I've barely missed any home games.

"I remember begging mum and dad to go to the game an hour-and-a-half or two hours early because they had these little Auskick things next to the oval where you'd kick the footy on the mini oval and do all these activities.

"We'd definitely try and drag mum and dad out of the house very early so we could make the most of the game, get there early and watch warm-ups.

"We'd have face paint on and jerseys. I've still got the jerseys with all the signatures, all the autographs, all the footy cards. I was definitely a big footy nuffie for the Suns."

Now, Uwland will run out in his 48th career game against Fremantle on Saturday night, making history as Gold Coast plays a first final in its 15-year history.

It's a full circle moment for the AFL's 17th club, established in large part to grow the game in south-east Queensland, grow participation and eventually develop players for the code's premier competition.

As anyone that has followed the AFL for any length of time knows, getting to this stage has been a long and arduous road for the Suns.

They've been through multiple coaches, countless captains and players, built a new training and administration facility, all the while trying to do what no other sport has succeeded in doing on the Gold Coast – have sustained success.

Rugby league has tried a couple of different iterations, with the Titans sacking coach Des Hasler just weeks ago. Soccer, basketball and baseball have come and gone on the national stage. And the Brisbane Bears had famously crashed and moved north.

To understand just what it means to Uwland, and the current generation of young players and supporters in the country's sixth biggest city, we have to take a quick history lesson.

Back in 2008 it appeared as though North Melbourne would relocate to the Gold Coast, but once incoming president James Brayshaw knocked that on the head, the AFL Commission – now keen for a presence alongside Brisbane in south-east Queensland – pivoted.

Andrew Thomas was one of four staff members employed to sell corporate facilities to three North Melbourne games at Carrara that year with the thought of staying on full-time should the Kangaroos relocate.

Once the AFL gave the nudge for a Gold Coast bid team, he was all aboard trying to get a 17th club off the ground.

It was a difficult process, with a small team, but one he recalls with a smile.

"As part of the bid process, we had to hit 40,000 signatures (of interested locals to support it), sign 120 local sponsors and 10 major sponsors," Thomas told AFL.com.au.

"We then submitted our case after 12 months and (then-AFL CEO) Andrew Demetriou awarded us a provisional licence to start in 2011 on the basis Carrara Stadium was brought up to standard."

Travis Auld, the club's inaugural CEO, was appointed in 2009. John Witheriff was on the bid team and would become the chairman.

In the background, Thomas and the rest of the staff were continually trying to drum up interest in a team that didn't yet exist in a part of the world that, at that stage, wasn't particularly interested.

"I never forget in 2008 I ran a golf day at a little nine-hole course, for free. It was funded by the AFL to get along as many corporates as we could. We had six people come along," Thomas said.

"It was hard. When you spoke to someone you had to educate them on who we were and the code. We often got confused with (A-League soccer team) GC United.

"Even though there's this belief there were all these southerners here, and there was a small pocket of them, we were fighting a really uphill battle, even just to educate people in who we were.

"I would say there was limited to non-existent knowledge corporately of the AFL. But by opening night in 2011, we got 2,500 corporate places filled."

The list of players began to take shape. The Suns played in the 2009 TAC Cup and then the 2010 VFL competition in preparation for their entry into the big time.

The very first team that ran out in that TAC Cup had some interesting names. Josh Thomas, who would end up playing 125 games for Collingwood, was there. So were fellow Queenslanders Zac Smith and Rory Thompson, who would also top 100 games in their careers.

The big breakthrough for the club would come in an unusual form though, getting the signature of National Rugby League star, Karmichael Hunt, in July of 2009.

Although it was seen as a publicity stunt on the outside, his impact cannot be overstated. At just 22 years of age, Hunt was one of the biggest names in Queensland sport. He was a star for the Brisbane Broncos, Queensland's State of Origin team and had represented Australia.

"He helped open doors," Thomas said. "He gave us the awareness. He was a conversation starter. Gary (Ablett jnr) then complemented that. We had arguably the best footballer in the country in addition to one of the best rugby league players in the game.

"Karmichael is that one player at our club that, isn't forgotten, but not easily remembered. He did have a huge impact for us."

Ablett jnr signed in late 2010, and along with Jarrod Harbrow, Michael Rischitell, Nathan Bock, Campbell Brown, Josh Fraser, Nathan Krakouer and Jared Brennan, the Suns had some AFL-experience to go with its plethora of teenagers.

The Suns had money to throw at those off-contract players, but one thing they didn't have was facilities.

The players and administration worked out of demountable buildings. Anyone that makes the trip to Carrara can still find them, tucked away next to the Nerang River.

It wasn't just for 12 months either like players and staff were told. It was for seven years before the new training and administration base was built ahead of the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

There was one male and one female toilet in the facility – right next to the kitchenette.

Less than a decade after moving out of those stylish offices, it's little wonder Gold Coast had difficulty in not only attracting players, but retaining their own.

Ablett jnr had some from the highly successful Cats. Fraser was working out of Collingwood's Lexus Centre. Bock from West Lakes.

On one memorable day, Gold Coast's events manager was sitting at his desk next to a doorway, only to be shocked by a python crawling under his desk that had made its way inside from the neighbouring foliage.

There was also the time when a swarm of flying ants infiltrated the offices after a deluge of rain forced them out of their cosy home in the flimsy roofing.

And the gym? That was housed in a huge tin shed next to the demountables. In Gold Coast's blistering summers, players would work in sweltering conditions with huge industrial fans to cool them down. Putting on muscle in such conditions, while losing litres of sweat at the same time, was a challenge.

Steve Wilson was the club's inaugural media manager, hired on the eve of the 2011 season. He'd come from Carlton, which had been known for its poor facilities at Princes Park.

"If Carlton were the bottom end of facilities, this was worse," he said.

"The stadium didn't have a roof. There were no seats. There were stairs and a bit of a shell. You were flying the plane while also building it."

We know the on-field struggles. Three wins in year one. Three more in year two.

There was loads of young talent. David Swallow, Harley Bennell, Sam Day, Dion Prestia, Tom Lynch, Steven May, Trent McKenzie – all teenagers well known in their home states.

"I'd tell people I was working for the Gold Coast Suns, and I can't tell you how many; people thought that was the local community newspaper," Wilson laughed.

"That was a real wake up call for me.

"It came into why Karmichael was so important. That's why I'd always say he was a success. There was only one person local media wanted to speak to: Karmichael.

"I'd worked with 'Kouta' (Anthony Koutoufides), (Brendan) Fevola, (Chris) Judd, Ablett … no one was in more demand that Karmichael and no one knew their role to increase awareness more than ‘K'.

"In those early years he knew he had to do it, would plan and do everything he could to promote the football club."

While Hunt was one of the most recognisable men on the Glitter Strip, for Ablett it was the opposite.

Gold Coast would do a recovery session at the iconic Kurrawa Beach two days after every game. During the first three or four years of hitting that spot on a weekly basis with the team, I saw just one person ask Ablett jnr for a photo.

Twelve months after not being able to do anything in Geelong without being stopped, he would go to Woolworths following training in his full Suns kit and hardly get recognised.

Ablett won the 2013 Brownlow Medal, despite his team winning just eight games.

Tom Beverley, who is the current communications manager, was working in memberships at that time.

"We did a full Gary Ablett Brownlow Medal tour where we took a carboard cutout of 'Gaz', and the Brownlow, around to a heap of community places," he said. 

To "sell" the club to members and the media, they had to orchestrate photo opportunities. Campbell Brown was once painted gold, without clothes, while holding a football.

Upon signing on as coach ahead of the 2015 season, Rodney Eade stood in a giant freezer clutching an enormous fish, the premise for the media being the club had caught its big fish.

The awareness slowly grew. Crowds were huge in 2014 when it looked like Guy McKenna might lead Gold Coast to its first finals campaign. Alas, Ablett's shoulder popped out against Collingwood in round 15, and in one of the AFL's great sliding doors moments this century, the Suns spiralled to miss the eight and McKenna lost his job.

Eade was appointed and his first season was a borderline disaster, with Ablett, Swallow, Prestia and Jaeger O'Meara barely playing amid a huge injury crisis.

There were off-field troubles too. Bennell, McKenzie and Brandon Matera were sanctioned by the club for drinking alcohol six days before their next game, while Dixon and Jack Martin also missed a game for a similar indiscretion.

At the end of 2016, Prestia left for Richmond. The end of 2017 saw Eade removed and Ablett return to Geelong, and the end of 2018 it was Lynch and May who left for greener pastures while jointly holding the position of club captains.

Stuart Dew's almost six years as coach should not be undervalued. While players like Swallow, Jarrod Witts and Touk Miller deserve a ton of credit for sticking around, Dew played an enormous role in helping to develop a culture that fostered stability.

He helped Gold Coast become competitive again.

Which brought the club to the pursuit of three-time premiership coach Damien Hardwick. The hierarchy literally chased him to the other side of the world in a show of intent the Suns were tired of being an afterthought.

Two years after confirmation of his appointment, Hardwick has now ticked off step one in taking the club to the promised land.

Throughout the tough times, the growth of Australian Football continued in the city.

Part of the Suns' purpose was to grow the game on the Gold Coast and bring success to the community.

Membership has now topped 30,000 for the first time. Participation has doubled in Queensland since 2019, predominantly in the south-east corner.

And then there's the Academy. For all the conjecture about the success of the Suns' setup, just three players have been drafted by the club from the Academy and topped 50 games – Jack Bowes, Jesse Joyce and Joel Jeffrey.

"To have the discussion around Academy picks is the highest compliment to the people that helped grow the pathways," Wilson said. "It should be celebrated."

Almost a generation on from the club's inclusion, the fruits of the hard work are starting to come through. Gold Coast players would top 5000 hours of community visits a year in its early days. That equates to more than 100 hours for each player.

Ethan Read and Alex Davies will run out alongside Uwland against the Dockers, with Jed Walter, Jake Rogers, Leo Lombard and Malcolm Rosas jnr all graduates of the Academy and in the mix.

While Uwland was quick to laud those that "stuck around" and built the club from the ground up, it's his generation that will take the Suns, and the code, forward on the Gold Coast.

"I reflect and think about what it would be like for eight or nine-year-old me in the stands, what it means watching a team that's competitive and winning more often than not, and playing that first finals series.

"It grows a lot of belief and gets the Gold Coast community involved. That's something I really value as a player, getting the community involved and knowing what it means to them as I've been on the other end of it.

"It's something very special playing for your local side, one you've grown up supporting and growing with the club.

"When I started there weren't many junior kids rolling around. Now when I go out to junior club visits, I see so many more kids, boys and girls. It's so good to see what the Suns have done for Gold Coast footy and Queensland footy in general.

"It's amazing to reflect on how much footy has grown in Queensland, especially the Gold Coast. Hopefully we can keep going on this upward trajectory and I'm sure it will if we keep performing at AFL level."

That's the challenge, and it starts with Saturday night. 

Gold Coast fans are like the rest of Queensland – they love winners. The Lions have had to overcome the shadow of the Brisbane Broncos and the lesser light Queensland Reds (rugby) and Brisbane Roar (soccer) and have only done so through sustained success.

On the Coast, the options come in different forms; beaches, theme parks, or even the Titans if they make a resurgence.

Gold Coast is begging to support winners, and whether that's against the Dockers and through this finals series, or 12 months down the track, this iteration of the Suns has a chance to capture the market and put to bed the notion that Gold Coast is a graveyard for national sporting teams.