Queensland’s record-breaking year in the AFL will escalate further on Saturday night, with Joel Tippett and Tom Hickey making their AFL debut with the Gold Coast SUNS.

While Tipett and Hickey will become the 31st and 32nd debutants for the Gold Coast SUNS in 2011, the duo also become the 15th and 16th Queenslanders to debut this year, making the total number of Queenslanders to debut on the national stage to 45.

This leaves only eight of the 53 Queenslanders on the playing lists of AFL clubs, including rookies, not to have got a run.

This group comprises Gold Coast youngsters Jack Stanlake, Lewis Moss, Jack Stanley (rookie) and Joel Crawford (rookie), injured and now retired Brisbane ruckman Jamie Charman, injured Melbourne ruckman Jake Spencer, Western Bulldogs’ mature-age rookie Mitch Hahn, and Collingwood teenager Josh Thomas. 

And Thomas, who has nursed a foot stress fracture through much of the year, was a senior emergency last week after four games in the VFL and isn’t without a chance of getting a taste of League football before the finals.