Thanks to being members of the Suns' first official AFL team, those players will be remembered long after their careers have ended.
For Gary Ablett, the club's inaugural captain, being part of Gold Coast's first match simply adds to his long line of achievements.
But for youngsters like David Swallow, Harley Bennell, Josh Toy, Sebastian Tape and Dion Prestia, the match against Carlton will be the highlight of their sporting lives to date.
When the line-up was announced on Thursday evening, Swallow was selected in the midfield and Bennell, Toy and Prestia were named on the interchange bench. Tape appeared in the back pocket.
Gold Coast's home and away season debut also shapes as a great occasion for Marc Lock, a Queensland-born midfielder who has been with the Suns since they first fielded an under-18 team in the TAC Cup.
Lock grew up playing for Southport, then captained Gold Coast in the VFL. He has been chosen on the interchange bench. In a team brimming with youngsters from across the nation, Lock is very much a home-grown hero.
Some very talented players have missed the chance to be part of this Suns' history-making night. Tasmanian midfielder Maverick Weller and South Australian ruckman Daniel Gorringe have both been named as emergencies, as has mature-age recruit Michael Coad.
Now footy fans can begin wondering which of the lads named in the 22 will be trivia questions by 10pm on Saturday night. In years to come, people are sure to be asking each other questions like: Who kicked the first goal for Gold Coast? Who was the Suns' best player in their first game?
It's fair to say a few more people might recall these things about Suns than are able to recount what took place when Queensland's first professional Australian football team made its debut.
In 1987, the Brisbane Bears played their inaugural match against North Melbourne; the season opener on a Friday night at the MCG. Just 14,000 fans turned up, which is probably why the contest has largely been forgotten.
Yet, in a rather extraordinary turn-up - one that should give hope to the Suns - the Bears won by 33 points. In fact, they played the Kangaroos off the park late in the game as they won 19.23 (137) to 15.14 (104).
The hero of the evening was Brenton Phillips, a South Australian forward who had been rejected by Essendon after playing 10 games for the Bombers in 1986. Phillips finished with five goals, and went on to tally a further 61 appearances for the Bears over five seasons.
Former Fitzroy rover Bernie Harris (30 possessions and two goals) and ex-Collingwood centreman Mark Williams (27 touches and two goals) were other stars in Brisbane's first-up victory.
"It took a long time to get the whole list together and everyone gelling together," Williams, who later coached Port Adelaide to the 2004 premiership, remembers.
"Then all of a sudden the first game came around and we were playing North Melbourne in Melbourne under lights.
"It was going to be a big game. I remember Mark Mickan getting the first tap, then I got the first possession, first clearance and first kick. It'll be the same this weekend. Someone will have the first kick and someone will kick the first goal, and all of those firsts are memorable.
"Paul Cronin was the president or chairman at the time and he was all about history. Everything was historic. After the game was interesting, because none of us knew the song at all. I think we had pieces of paper and were reading the words off that."
As inaugural coach Peter Knights recalled earlier this year, the Bears' win over the Kangaroos came despite a preparation far inferior to what Gold Coast has enjoyed.
"We had no facilities, no training base," Knights said in January. "We trained at a number of QAFL clubs and we only ever had the use of makeshift gymnasiums."
Remarkably, the Bears won their first two matches, defeating Geelong at Kardinia Park a week after toppling the Roos.
"They were very exciting times and great memories," Williams says. "I always remember those days with a lot of delight and enjoy looking at how well Brisbane has gone since. It makes you think your initial time there wasn't a waste and it proved to be ground-breaking for the AFL."
