Are our Gold Coast trio on the move? FOOTBALL AFL EXPORTS BY BLAKE METCALF-HOLT   THE Latrobe Valley trio at the Gold Coast Suns could potentially be no more. As AFL Trade Period started on Monday, news had already leaked in its lead-up regarding the likely movements and contemplations of players ahead of next season. While former Moe junior and Fish Creek’s Sam Flanders had been eyed by a number of Victorian clubs on big money, which had been rumoured since midseason, his teammate and fellow Moe export Bailey Humphrey stole the spotlight off him. Despite being contracted for the next two seasons at Gold Coast, Humphrey has reportedly met with three Victorian clubs, according to Channel Nine’s Tom Morris. After winning Gold Coast’s Emerging Player award last week and finishing fourth in the Suns best-and-fairest, as the trade market began to shake up and news began to circulate, Gold Coast got on the front foot and said that he’s not to be traded. Humphrey’s management also declared he had not met with any rival clubs, however photos then emerged just hours later on Friday of him meeting with new Melbourne coach Steven King and assistant coach Nathan Jones. What could make a deal easier to see the Moe export become a Demon is with Christian Petracca expressing his desire to join Gold Coast – a swap of the two players with a little extra either way could make sense. Humphrey has also reportedly met with Collingwood and Hawthorn, while Carlton have also shown interest. This has all unfolded in the days following Humphrey’s return home to the state, with him also spotted watching Moe’s CBL opener on Saturday night in Warragul. Meanwhile, Flanders has requested a trade to St Kilda amid growing interest between the Saints, Essendon, and Melbourne. SEN’s Sam Edmund reported that St Kilda’s five-year contract offer to Flanders is worth $900,000 per year. To cap off everything, it was then reported that Morwell’s Ben Ainsworth was also weighing up his future with the Suns. Despite etching a four-year contract extension last year, AFL.com.au’s Cal Twomey said that Ainsworth is exploring interest from rival clubs, with Carlton an early contender per Edmund.

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Life membership and 150 games for Ainsworth FOOTBALL AFL EXPORTS By BLAKE METCALF-HOLT   IN his ninth AFL season, Morwell’s Ben Ainsworth might just have his best shot at success since entering the big league. The Gold Coast Suns small forward brought up his 150th game at the weekend, and is currently in the midst of a season in which the expansion club is on the verge of its first-ever finals appearance. Ainsworth also received life membership for the club by achieving the milestone. Before being drafted fourth overall in the 2016 National Draft, Ainsworth was the excitement of the Latrobe Valley, running amuck as a phenomenal junior player threading through Morwell Youth Club to Morwell Football-Netball Club to Gippsland Power. The Morwell young gun represented Australia overseas in South Africa and made AFL Academy trips to New Zealand and America, the latter visiting the IMG Academy in Florida, which developed the likes of tennis star Maria Sharapova and NFL quarterback Eli Manning. During this time, Ainsworth also made regular appearances for Morwell as a 15-year-old during their famed run to the Gippsland League senior premiership in 2013. Once in under 18s, Ainsworth was selected as an All Australian in his first season at Gippsland Power, and was named captain of Power in his draft year. It wasn’t all smooth sailing in his final year of juniors. Ainsworth missed a number of games due to injury and suspension, before hitting form in the backend of the season, including a best-on-ground performance against Bendigo Pioneers with 22 touches and four goals. Messiah: Ben Ainsworth dominated as a junior player for Morwell, before being taken at Pick 4 by Gold Coast in 2016. File photograph Making his AFL debut in Round 1, 2017 against Brisbane Lions (Q Clash to start things off), Ainsworth finished with 14 disposals and two goals in a two-point loss. Despite a turbulent season for the Suns, the final year of Gary Ablett Jr’s tenure up north and coach Rodney Eade being sacked with three games remaining, Ainsworth proved formidable in his first year, garnering an AFL Rising Star nomination against Essendon in Round 22, and had a four-goal outing against North Melbourne in Round 15. At 27, the best is still perhaps yet to come, but he hit his best form throughout 2022 and 2023 when he averaged 16.8 disposals and booted 46 goals across 43 games. In the second year of the Damien Hardwick era, Gold Coast has developed into a serious finals contender, in what could be the club’s first postseason berth since they joined the AFL in 2011. Ainsworth told breakfast radio last week that the side has really shot up the ladder with the arrival of the three-time Richmond premiership coach. “I think it’s been building over the last three or four years now, especially as Dimma (Hardwick) came last year and laid the foundations of what we want to be as a football club … we’re growing as a footy club and I can’t wait for what’s ahead,” he told RSN Breakfast with Harf. While noting how special it is to get to the 150 mark, Ainsworth also said he’s focussed on the season ahead and playing in the big games for the first time in his career. “It’s a pretty cool achievement, playing 150 games, but I’m sort of entrenched in what the team’s doing at the moment, like we’ve never been in this situation before as a footy club in terms of potentially playing finals this late in the season,” he added. Ainsworth is a member of a strong contingent of Latrobe Valley and Gippsland players up on the Gold Coast, with Moe’s Bailey Humphrey, Fish Creek’s and former Moe junior Sam Flanders, Heyfield’s Asher Eastham, and Maffra’s Max Knobel (latter two yet to play). In conjunction with all that was previously mentioned, Ainsworth also spent time with the Express in 2015 as a part of his work experience with SEDA. He contributed a midseason report on Morwell, Traralgon and Moe by sitting down with senior coaches Joel Soutar, Mark Collison and Adrian Burgiel.  

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Jordie’s long haul for mental health CYCLING By BLAKE METCALF-HOLT   TREKKING 200km across a single day to raise money for mental health, Jordie Humphrey’s bike ride down the Great Ocean Road from Melbourne to Apollo Bay was done for those we’ve lost tragically along the way. Partnering with Mindfull Aus, the former Newborough local raised north of $4000 for the mental health organisation and the Tyson Bale Memorial Fund. Humphrey had many ideas rattling around in his head, including an ironman event to fundraise, but discovered cycling after suffering a setback when training for another venture at the heralded Stawell Gift. During training and at work, Humphrey suffered a severe back injury that kept him off the running track for close to six months, and in recovering, his partner’s uncle recommended bike riding to build his aerobic capacity. “I felt fine enough and started running again… I said to myself (that) I really want to do a triathlon, so I started training for a triathlon and got a little bit from family,” Humphrey told the Express. “So, I just started getting on the bike and started to really realise that I was actually really, really enjoying this… and I probably only started to enjoy it more than my running only because I was doing the running and then two days later I was just in bed because I couldn’t move.” Humphrey then committed himself to the cause, training for six months in the lead up to his venture. “I was up at (6am) every morning, just doing as many kilometres as I could in the morning,” he said. “I really did work quite hard in terms of getting my body right… a lot of strength work on the bike was the sort of training I did and just getting the general ks in.” Arriving on the day after a few date changes, Humphrey started things off from Science Works in Spotswood at 6am, beginning his close to half-day journey. “When it came around to the ride I was like ‘I really want to get this done’, I don’t want to sit there and keep pondering it,” he said. “I got crook on the original week, I was like ‘I really need to just get the closest date I can find (and) just get it done’.” Humphrey admitted he didn’t find the day mentally taxing, at least not until the backend. “To be quite honest, I didn’t really have like a mental battle until probably about the last 30km were a real punish, only because I was thinking about time,” he said. “I had mentally prepared everything, like I knew the hills were going to be there, I had a good gauge on elevations, so I knew how far I was going to be climbing.” Humphrey was supported throughout the day by his partner and his mum, while his dad and uncle showed out during his ride, and Mindfull Aus Chief Executive, Matt Runnalls followed Humphrey all the way through to Geelong. While recently, Humphrey realised how he’d set out to achieve his goal, the idea to do it for mental health was sparked years in advance. “I’ve lived with my mental health challenges for nearly a decade, whether I recognised it or not, it wasn’t until I was 17 that things really took a turn, with personal issues, anxiety, and depression,” he said. “I want to show people in my community that it’s okay to express feelings about anxiety and depression.” His brother Bailey, current Gold Coast Suns player and Mindfull Aus ambassador, alongside North Melbourne player Jacob Konstanty were hosting a golf fundraiser in 2022 while still attending Lowanna College back in 2022. That time inspired Jordie greatly. “After my brother became an ambassador for Mindull Aus, I saw first-hand the tremendous work they do, and I knew I wanted to be a part of it,” he said. Both brothers lost a dear friend of theirs to suicide, which affected an entire community, and now each have made grounds to raise awareness for a necessary cause.

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New deal for younger Jiath, CJ busy in win FOOTBALL AFL EXPORTS By TOM HAYES   MANY Gippsland footballers made their mark during Round 3 action of the 2025 AFL season, while Latrobe Valley exports were also in the thick of it.   Melbourne 8.14 (62) def by Gold Coast 18.12 (120) THE early afternoon fixture on Saturday, March 29, between Melbourne and Gold Coast at the MCG saw the Suns break a 12-game losing streak to the Demons. It’s not every day that Gold Coast take to the MCG’s hallowed turf, but on this rare occasion they appeared to make the most of it, smashing the luckless Demons 18.12 (120) to 8.14 (62). The four-goal to one opening term set the tone for the Suns. Moe’s Bailey Humphrey put the exclamation mark on the quarter, kicking 1.1 to close out the term 19 points ahead. Souring the first quarter even more for the Demons was the fact that star rookie and former Gippsland Power captain Xavier Lindsay (Leongatha) went down with a knee injury, forcing him to be subbed out of the game in the opening minutes. Humphrey finished with 23 disposals (second-most in career), a goal, two goal assists, six tackles, and four clearances as he gets used to more midfield minutes. Flanders was handy as ever in his return from a back injury, collecting 25 disposals, a goal, and six clearances. He replaced Morwell’s Ben Ainsworth in the squad, after he was excluded with a quad complaint. Since the match, Lindsay was cleared of any major damage to his knee, however the Demons have stated that it is unlikely he will take part in Melbourne’s upcoming fixture against Geelong (Friday, April 4).   Hawthorn 10.16 (76) def GWS 9.10 (64) LATER that night in windy Tasmania, Hawthorn moved to 3-0 after defeating GWS 10.16 (76) to 9.10 (64). A strong wind blew across Launceston’s University of Tasmania Stadium, which appeared to give either side quite the advantage in the opening half. The Giants kicked with the wind first, registering 12 scoring shots (5.7) to two (0.2), to open a 35-point quarter time lead. Yet the Hawks looked unfazed by the deficit, only going on to create more chances (14) to the Giants’ two, to grab a seven-point lead at the major break. Hawthorn remained ahead during the third term, kicking four goals to two, giving them a 20-point lead into the final term, with the wind behind their backs. Despite this advantage, GWS won the final quarter, keeping the Hawks goalless in fact. Nevertheless, the Hawks got home safely with the four points. Morwell’s Changkuoth Jiath was solid in the Hawks’ defence with 14 disposals and four marks across half back.   NOTABLE performances were made across the weekend from other Gippsland exports, as many hope to start their seasons on the right foot. During Thursday night’s clash between Essendon and Port Adelaide at Marvel Stadium, Foster’s Xavier Duursma played his best game in Bombers colours, and potentially the best game of his career, racking up 29 disposals in the two-goal win. Duursma stuffed the stat sheet as the highest-rated player on the field, with eight marks, four clearances, and three tackles to go with his career-best disposals. Former Maffra and Sale City player Sam Davidson proved that the glimpse he showed in pre-season was not a fluke, picking up a game-high 31 disposals in the Western Bulldogs win over Carlton on Friday night at Marvel Stadium. Davidson also collected 10 marks, three tackles, and two clearances as he doubled his previous career best disposals of 15, recorded the weekend prior. Davidson underwent placement in Sale while studying a medical degree, which led to him lining up for Maffra and Sale City. Lastly, Warragul’s Caleb Serong equalled former Fremantle player Paul Hasleby for the most Glendinning-Allan medals, picking up his fourth as Fremantle defeated West Coast in the 60th Western Derby. Serong put up big numbers as the Dockers picked up their first win of the season against the winless Eagles, collecting 35 disposals and 10 clearances. His performance won him his fourth Glendinning-Allan medal (Western Derby best on ground), bringing him equal with Hasleby, who won it in 2002, 03, 04, and 09. Serong previously won the medal in 2021, 23, and 24. Fremantle and West Coast are set to meet again in Round 20, later this season. The loss to the Eagles means that Traralgon’s Andrew McQualter remains winless as the coach of West Coast. With GWS and Carlton in the next fortnight, most would suggest that he may have to wait for his first win as coach.   TRARALGON’S Tim Membrey, Morwell’s Tew Jiath and their Collingwood teammates had the bye in Round 3, as did Sydney. The local Magpies will be back in as early as tomorrow (Thursday, April 3), when Collingwood hosts Carlton at the MCG. Jiath inked a fresh two-year extension, which will see him at the club until the end of the 2027 season. Although he isn’t getting games at the minute, the ageing Collingwood list plays into his favour for the future.

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