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So, the QLD ISC GF is between the PNG Hunters and the Sunshine Coast Falcons.
The Falcons are run by our old mate Chris Flannery, who took over the CEO position in 2013, and has turned the club around. See below....
How the Sunshine Coast Falcons turned around their fortunes
WHEN Chris Flannery arrived at the Sunshine Coast in 2013, he almost didn’t accept the CEO job.
A dark cloud hung over the then Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles.
Not a lot had gone right for the club since their 2009 Queensland Cup premiership victory.
In 2010, they lost their NRL affiliation with Manly. In 2013, they won just two games.
When Flannery arrived towards the end of that season, they were on a 25-game losing streak.
As the former Queensland star puts it, it was not a happy place to be.
“There was a really dark feeling around the club at the time,” he said.
“I nearly said no to the job. The people that were at the club … were trying hard but without that NRL affiliation it was very tough to compete against some of those bigger clubs with bigger budgets. There wasn’t a lot of support for the team.”That’s what makes this Sunday’s return to the grand final stage that much sweeter for the Falcons.
Flannery and club chairman Ashley Robinson have worked hard to turn everything around.
They first went back to the original club name of the Falcons and took them out of the local A-grade competition. Then in 2014 — just as the club broke their 36-game losing streak — they signed a feeder deal with NRL powerhouse Melbourne.
Everything was moving in the right direction, until 2015 when they were hit with the sudden and tragic loss of forward James Ackerman, who died after a tackle gone wrong.
For Flannery, it was one of the hardest things the club had ever had to go through. But it made the Falcons — who play in memory of Ackerman each week — even stronger.
“It’s always something that’s going to be in the Falcons’ history,” Flannery said. “We’re never going to forget him and he’s always going to live on within this club. Even though we went through some of our darkest times, I really commend the players for the way they handled the situation. It did bring our club together.”
After the loss of Ackerman, Flannery and the club knew they needed the right coach to steer the Falcons.
That man was Craig Ingebrigtsen — “the final piece of the puzzle”, according to Flannery.
Ingebrigtsen arrived last year and took the Falcons all the way to a preliminary final. This year, he has gone one step further.
Ingebrigtsen said he knew it was something they could achieve.
“(That history) is a driving factor with the way we play,” he said. “Our fabric and our culture and the way we portray ourselves is massive around that. The club’s been to hell and back and it’s a bit of a Cinderella story.“You don’t have a Leagues club and the budget to attract the really good players in the competition.
“You have to work hard with what you’ve got. Everyone that comes to this club, they understand that they don’t come here for the money. They come here for an opportunity.”
Ingebrigtsen said that culture and the past few years would also have not been achieved without the players. He said the likes of Dane Hogan, Jye Ballinger and Jon Grieve had helped the Falcons become the team they always set out to be.Grieve came to the Sunshine Coast last year in search of opportunities, after last playing with the side in its 2009 grand final win. “It’s unreal to see where they’ve come from,” he said.
The Falcons are run by our old mate Chris Flannery, who took over the CEO position in 2013, and has turned the club around. See below....
How the Sunshine Coast Falcons turned around their fortunes
- September 21, 2017 12:42pm
- by RIKKI-LEE ARNOLD
- Source: The Courier-Mail
WHEN Chris Flannery arrived at the Sunshine Coast in 2013, he almost didn’t accept the CEO job.
A dark cloud hung over the then Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles.
Not a lot had gone right for the club since their 2009 Queensland Cup premiership victory.
In 2010, they lost their NRL affiliation with Manly. In 2013, they won just two games.
When Flannery arrived towards the end of that season, they were on a 25-game losing streak.
As the former Queensland star puts it, it was not a happy place to be.
“There was a really dark feeling around the club at the time,” he said.
“I nearly said no to the job. The people that were at the club … were trying hard but without that NRL affiliation it was very tough to compete against some of those bigger clubs with bigger budgets. There wasn’t a lot of support for the team.”That’s what makes this Sunday’s return to the grand final stage that much sweeter for the Falcons.
Flannery and club chairman Ashley Robinson have worked hard to turn everything around.
They first went back to the original club name of the Falcons and took them out of the local A-grade competition. Then in 2014 — just as the club broke their 36-game losing streak — they signed a feeder deal with NRL powerhouse Melbourne.
Everything was moving in the right direction, until 2015 when they were hit with the sudden and tragic loss of forward James Ackerman, who died after a tackle gone wrong.
For Flannery, it was one of the hardest things the club had ever had to go through. But it made the Falcons — who play in memory of Ackerman each week — even stronger.
“It’s always something that’s going to be in the Falcons’ history,” Flannery said. “We’re never going to forget him and he’s always going to live on within this club. Even though we went through some of our darkest times, I really commend the players for the way they handled the situation. It did bring our club together.”
After the loss of Ackerman, Flannery and the club knew they needed the right coach to steer the Falcons.
That man was Craig Ingebrigtsen — “the final piece of the puzzle”, according to Flannery.
Ingebrigtsen arrived last year and took the Falcons all the way to a preliminary final. This year, he has gone one step further.
Ingebrigtsen said he knew it was something they could achieve.
“(That history) is a driving factor with the way we play,” he said. “Our fabric and our culture and the way we portray ourselves is massive around that. The club’s been to hell and back and it’s a bit of a Cinderella story.“You don’t have a Leagues club and the budget to attract the really good players in the competition.
“You have to work hard with what you’ve got. Everyone that comes to this club, they understand that they don’t come here for the money. They come here for an opportunity.”
Ingebrigtsen said that culture and the past few years would also have not been achieved without the players. He said the likes of Dane Hogan, Jye Ballinger and Jon Grieve had helped the Falcons become the team they always set out to be.Grieve came to the Sunshine Coast last year in search of opportunities, after last playing with the side in its 2009 grand final win. “It’s unreal to see where they’ve come from,” he said.
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