Suns the new pride of Queensland
THE Gold Coast have overtaken Brisbane as the No.1 AFL team in Queensland with the nation's leading corporate bookmakers now rating the Lions a better chance to win the wooden spoon than the Suns.
Gold Coast opened as short as a $3.50 second favourite behind Greater Western Sydney to win the wooden spoon before the start of the season but are now trading as high as $250 to win the most unwanted prize in AFL.
It comes as the Suns face the prospect of squaring their ledger of wins and losses at 4-4 this season if they can topple the struggling Western Bulldogs at Metricon Stadium tomorrow.
Betfair's Daniel Bevan said the Lions weren't the only high-profile team rated a better chance of claiming the wooden spoon than the Suns, with Essendon also in the same bracket.
''The Suns are rated less likely to win the wooden spoon than GWS ($1.51), Melbourne ($3.90), Western Bulldogs ($21), Essendon ($44) and Brisbane ($210),'' he said.
''When we put up the wooden spoon market last year, the Suns were $3.50 second favourites behind GWS but now they're a whopping $250. There's around $25,000 of bets matched on GWS to win the spoon and under $1500 on the Gold Coast and there is seven times as much money on Melbourne than the Gold Coast to win the wooden spoon.''
The Suns have drifted from $4.50 to $126 in the wooden spoon market with Queensland bookmaker TattsBet, with the Lions now into $51 following their 26-point loss to West Coast last Saturday.
Tattsbet's Gerard Daffy said the quick progression of the Suns' younger players had been the key to overtaking Brisbane.
''When the Suns started everyone thought it was going to be Gary Ablett, Michael Rischitelli, Campbell Brown, Jared Brennan and Nathan Bock that would hold them together going forward,'' he said.
''But realistically there has only been one of those guys in Ablett and a lot has been left to the kids.
''Their kids are a lot better than what many people thought, especially the likes of Harley Bennell and Charlie Dixon.''
The Suns are also ahead of the Lions in premiership betting.
TAB Sportsbet have the Suns at $501 to win the flag this year, while Brisbane are out to $1001 to be crowned premiers in 2013. As for the Suns' chances of making the finals, bookmakers report different trends.
The Suns have been big firmers to make the top eight with Sportingbet ($31-$17) and Betfair ($65-$32) but have drifted in the same market with both Tattsbet ($17-$26) and TAB Sportsbet ($26-$51).
Meanwhile, Jared Brennan has been cleared to face the Bulldogs after overcoming a bout of concussion. Brennan and teammate Tom Murphy were both stretchered off the MCG with concussion last Sunday, with Murphy ruled out of this weekend's clash.
Luke Russell comes into the side and the utility is the only change to the Suns squad which defeated Melbourne by 60 points last Sunday.
