As the Gold Coast use Wollongong to launch their AFL finals bid, their namesake down the road at Shellharbour have similar ambitions when the South Coast competition begins next week.
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Both clubs were established in 2011 and have followed similar paths of on-field struggle, including ending up with respective wooden spoons last year.
Gold Coast finished with a 3-19 record, while Shellharbour were winless in the 14-round competition.
Amid the Covid-19 crisis which has had an impact on sport internationally, their paths have become further intertwined, when the Gold Coast chose the Illawarra as their training base for games against Melbourne and Sydney, as part of a NSW AFL hub.
The Gold Coast have registered as many wins in five rounds this year as last season's campaign to be inside the top eight. And Shellharbour president Steve Ashworth is adamant the South Coast version of the Suns will also be a competitive force, starting against Northern Districts at Myimbarr Oval on Saturday week.
"Hopefully it's the year of the rising Suns," he said.
"They've had their battles and we've had ours, but we have been watching them closely and admire what they do with their young talent and how they give them an opportunity.
"We'll have an exciting young group this year and we've added a few experienced players and bigger bodies, so we're expecting to be much more competitive.
"It just depends on how long it all takes to come together, hopefully we can get an early win so we can sing the song again, it's been a while."
When the club was established, Ashworth had been part of a group wanting to use the Swans nickname of the Shellharbour junior club.
But then president Phil Ralph pushed on with a plan to established the Suns, in a bid to involve the wider Shellharbour area, including Albion Park - the Crows in junior ranks - and Dapto (Eagles).
"That was the inspiration behind it," Ashworth said.
"We'd pushed to have it align with the Swans as the junior club, but becoming the Suns helped the brand involve Albion Park and Dapto and try and build up the senior club.
"We've got a lot of young players at the club who strongly identify as Suns players and that's an important in being successful."
Midfielder Fintan Smith, Belconnen's Thomas Falco, ex-Hawthorn scholarship player Thomas Kickett and the experience of Jono Naden have helped boost the Suns' stocks. Shellharbour were also pushing through with a plan to bring developming talent out from Fiji, but after Visa hold-ups last season, it was again thwarted, this time by the international Covid-19 crisis.
"The guys had left their village, they were about 12 hours from being on a plane to come out," Ashworth said.
"But it would have meant they wouldn't be able to get home, so we'll just have to wait and look forward to them being part of the club next year."