Long-time SUNS supporters could be excused for feeling a bit old today.
Why? Because they’ll remember a cheeky, chirpy kid from Burnie in north-west Tasmania arriving on the Gold Coast at 13 ahead of the birth of the AFL’s 17th club.
He moved north before Christmas 2009 after brother Maverick was signed by the SUNS as a 17-year-old, and watched Mav and close mate Luke Russell, also from Burnie, play in the VFL in 2010 ahead of their AFL debut in 2011.
Today that 13-year-old, who grew up around the inaugural playing group, a sponge for anything and everything he could learn, turns 30.
Weller will go into season 2026 as the seventh-oldest player on the SUNS list behind only Jarrod Witts (33), Sam Collins (31), Jy Farrar (30), Nick Holman (30), Christian Petracca, who turned 30 on 4 January, and Touk Miller, who was 30 yesterday (Sunday).
Weller, now a father of two, should be the SUNS great survivor. He went straight into the SUNS Academy, formed in 2011, finished his education at All-Saints Anglican School at Merrimac, and played at Broadbeach and Southport.
He could not have done any more. But at the time of the 2014 AFL Draft, when Weller was first eligible to join the AFL, AFL rules precluded his selection as a SUNS priority choice. He fell short of the qualification period.
So, as the AFL community gathered at the Gold Coast Convention Centre for the National Draft on 27 November 2014 he was denied the same certainty that Harris Andrews (Brisbane), Isaac Heeney (Sydney) and Jack Steele (GWS) were afforded as academy picks.
Instead, Weller saw Paddy McCartin go to St Kilda at pick #1 before Melbourne took Petracca at #2 and Angus Brayshaw at #3, GWS took Jarrod Pickett at #4, Caleb Marchbank at #6 and Paul Ahern at #7 either side of Collingwood’s selection of Jordan De Goey at #5.
The SUNS’ first pick at #8, when they would have loved to claim Weller, was Peter Wright, before Collingwood claimed Darcy Moore father/son at #9, Nakia Cockatoo went to Geelong at #10, West Coast took Liam Duggan at #11 and Richmond nabbed Corey Ellis at #12.
Fremantle took Weller at #13 before the SUNS claimed Jarrod Garlett at #15 and Miller at #29, and, among others, Adam Saad at #25 in the rookie draft.
Weller, traded from Fremantle to Gold Coast ahead of the 2018 season after three years and 47 games in purple, has been the hard luck story of the 2014 Draft. An injury count headed by two knee reconstructions has kept him to 161 games.
But after playing in the club’s first finals win against his former club and then Brisbane last year, he’s coming off a strong and incident-free pre-season and looking forward to his 11th AFL campaign.
Avery Thomas, born 29 September 2007 and drafted from Launceston and the Tasmanian Under-18 side, is the youngest player on the SUNS list.
The age of all SUNS players at Opening Round against Geelong at People First Stadium on 6 March will be:-
33 – Jarrod Witts
31 – Sam Colllins
30 – Nic Holman, Jy Farrar, Touk Miller, Christian Petracca, Lachie Weller
28 – Ben Long, John Noble, Dan Rioli
27 – Elliot Himmelberg
26 – Charlie Ballard, Wil Powell
25 – Noah Anderson, Zak Evans, Caleb Graham, Ben King
24 – Ben Jepson, Ned Moyle, Matt Rowell
23 – Sam Closehy, Alex Davies, Joel Jeffrey, Jamarra Ugle-Hagan
22 – Oscar Adams, Mac Andrew, Caleb Lewis, Bodhi Uwland
21- Bailey Humphrey, Max Knobel
20 – Will Graham, Ethan Read, Jake Rogers, Jed Walter
19 – Cooper Bell, Asher Eastham, Lachie Gulbin, Leo Lombard
18 – Beau Addinsall, Jai Murray, Zeke Uwland, Koby Coulson, Dylan Patterson, Avery Thomas.
Witts, who celebrated his 33rd birthday on the last game of 2025 against Brisbane, will become the third-oldest SUNS player all-time against the Cats in Opening Round, behind only Levi Casboult (34 years 9 days) and Michael Rischitelli (33 years 228 days).
Weller, Miller, Petracca and Farrar, who turned 30 on 7 December last year, will join a SUNS 30 Plus Club which also includes Gary Ablett (33/ 83), Jarrod Harbrow (33/34), David Swallow (32/298), Nick Malceski (31/351), Sam Day (31/304), Alex Sexton (31/262), Pearce Hanley (31/261), Zac Smith (31/180), Matt Rosa (31/177), Collins (31/90), Nathan Thompson (31/70), Brandon Ellis (30/325), Michael Barlow (30/250), Sean Lemmens (30/217), Matthew Warnock (30/150), Nathan Bock (30/143), Josh Fraser (30/107) and Holman (30/79).
