And for about five minutes on Saturday, they were right. Somebody from the Suns pressed the wrong button while using the toilet on the team bus meaning that the bus was overcome with fumes for the last few minutes of the trip to the club's date with history, its first NAB Cup encounter.
"Guys were gagging and dry-retching all the way into Blacktown," said Suns acting skipper Campbell Brown the following morning. "It was just unbelievable."
The dodgy toilet was about the only misfortune to befall the Suns on an otherwise excellent first night. A last gasp win over Sydney, followed by a comfortable defeat of Greater Western Sydney sent the Suns into the quarter-finals of the NAB Cup. Next up, West Coast in Perth.
"It was a fantastic result," Brown gushed. "Out training over the last three or four months has been good, but you're never sure how it is going to stack up in a competitive environment."
Brown set the scene very early with a trademark bump that conveyed all the right messages. There was nothing pre-meditated about it and those who have followed Brown through his career will know that the early physical statement is part and parcel of his game.
It did hamper him for the rest of the game and he will have scans on the shoulder on Monday. He won't play this week, which he insists was part of the plan all along.
It was Brown's first captaincy stint in the AFL and he loved every minute of it. He will be deputy vice-captain of the Suns most weeks once Gary Ablett and Nathan Bock are back in the side.
His decision to leave Hawthorn at the end of last season was based mainly on likely future earnings from the game. But there was slight disappointment that he was never considered for a leadership position with the Hawks, hence the zeal with which he took to his captaincy duties on Saturday night.
"I absolutely loved it," Brown said. "And for the sake of the side, I hope I don't have to do it again."
And what of the team song? Brown said the team didn't sing it after the win over the Giants, preferring instead to start their rehab and look ahead to next week.
But there was also recognition that Saturday night marked a significant step in the evolution of the Gold Coast Football Club. Family and friends of the Suns playing group were at Blacktown to see history being made and were there to greet the players as arrived in the rooms post-match.
Said Brown: "At places like the MCG they come down to the rooms, but they stand up the back, pretty much behind a cage. We had people everywhere after the match and it was a great. The atmosphere was really good."
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Paul Roos is the big AFL recruit for Fox Sports and staked an early claim for the "newcomer of the year" stakes in the TV department with a strong statement about the TAC Cup during the Giants-Swans NAB Cup game.
As it became apparent that the Giants had no idea how to set themselves up inside their defensive 50, Roos opined that the gap between the Victorian under 18 competition - by far the main breeding ground for AFL draftees - and the AFL senior competition was too large.
It is not the first time Roos has made that statement, but as a neutral observer/respected commentator, the statement now carries more weight. The motives of active AFL coaches are always questioned when they make motherhood statements about the game and in Roos's case he was seen to speaking as Sydney coach first and football guardian second.
It's different now, and his remarks on Saturday night that TAC Cup graduates would ideally play a year of state league football before taking their place in the AFL was an immediate discussion point. Michael Barlow's success for Fremantle last year only further supports this argument.
The events on Saturday night illustrated his points. While the Giants struggled with their defensive pressure, the Suns, with more than half their side having played in the AFL or in the state leagues, harried and hassled the Swans late in the game to force the turnover that allowed Hayden Jolly to snap the match-winning goal.
Roos usually made a lot of sense when he was coach of Sydney. He will make even more sense now that he is not.
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What Saturday night also illustrated was that the AFL faces a quandary with its scheduling for the NAB Regional Challenge, which gets underway across Australia this weekend. Nine teams have to play this weekend, which is why the Giants have been drafted into action to ensure every team gets a game this weekend.
But they won't mount much of a challenge, at least not this pre-season.
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Hawthorn and Richmond have enjoyed unprecedented co-operation this summer, conducting several joint training/teaching exercises, primarily involving the younger players from both sides.
That was stepped up a notch at Waverley Park last Friday, with a pair of split-squad "situational matches” between the two clubs.
The folks on the message boards got a bit excited, with one forum for Hawthorn fans speaking excitedly of a six-goal win for the Hawks including a five-goal haul to Buddy Franklin.
But Hawthorn football manager Mark Evans played it all down when contacted on Friday afternoon. "It wasn't a game, more like a series of situational scrimmages," he said.
"There were more passages of play and a lot more senior guys from both sides taking part, but there was no tackling and no physical contests."
Whatever type of footy the Hawks and the Tigers did play last Friday, it was enough to have a few of those in attendance thinking it was a real game. Perhaps the two clubs have been informed they have to 'play' the Giants over the next three weeks and decided they needed another game under their belt to compensate.
CLUB BY CLUB
1. Collingwood: Leigh Brown wasn't just a recruiting masterstroke for Collingwood, he is now a prototype. Melbourne's Stefan Martin was talked up on afl.com.au this week as potentially "the Demons' Leigh Brown".
2. St Kilda: You get an even greater appreciation for how great the late Darrel Baldock was when you learn that he played at centre half-forward while measuring, 176cm, the same height as Steven Milne.
3. Hawthorn: Now that Alastair Clarkson will start introducing senior players into the side ahead of round one, which of the young Hawks, so impressive in Perth last week, will make the cut? Here’s one: Shane Savage.
4. Geelong: Want to tell the Scott brothers apart? Chris has longer sideburns.
5. Fremantle: Garrick Ibbotson to miss between six to eight weeks. The injuries are starting to mount just that little bit at Freo.
6. Carlton: Chris Judd trained for 90 minutes on Friday and is nearly ready to go. You'd reckon two games in the lead-up will leave him cherry ripe for round one.
7. Sydney: With a quarter-final appearance in his first season, John Longmire's NAB Cup record is already better than that of Paul Roos.
8. Western Bulldogs: We'll feel better about the Bulldogs when Adam Cooney is back in the side.
9. North Melbourne: Yes, it’s only the NAB Cup, but if you were a North fan, and given the headlines last week, you might have liked to have seen something a bit better from the matches at Geelong on Sunday.
10. Adelaide: His third year in the system, Phil Davis should be ready to lock down the key defensive post position that once belonged to Nathan Bock.
11. Melbourne: The Demons will be gunning for their first NAB Cup semi-final berth in five years against Essendon on Thursday night.
12. West Coast: Over under for how many more years of AFL footy at Patersons Stadium? Five?
13. Essendon: Wonder how many extra staff the Essendon membership department hired on Monday morning.
14. Richmond: Having been thwarted in their bid to play the Indigenous All Stars there earlier in the month, the Tigers head back there for a NAB Challenge Series clash on Friday night.
15. Gold Coast: If you can still get $3.50 on David Swallow for the NAB Rising Star, take it.
16. Port Adelaide: Travis Boak will play round one for the Power, but will be underdone, which is concerning for all at the club.
17. Brisbane Lions: Is the last week of February too early to panic?
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Actually, three. It has been a long 18 months away from the AFL for Gold Coast midfielder Darren Harris, but appeared not to have skipped a beat in his return to the big time for the Suns on Saturday night.
Yesterday at the Cattery, Josh Hunt looked rejuvenated in the midfield, while Darren Milburn picked a heap of touches sweeping across half-back.
Milburn, you might recall, was supposed to have been given his marching orders by then coach Mark Thompson at the end of last season, but instead of giving Milburn the bad news when they met to review the season, Thompson instead gave him a one-year contract.
GOAT OF THE WEEK
To the person at the AFL umpiring department who decided red shirts were the way to go when Essendon played St Kilda on Friday night: if the teams could change strips between games, why not the umpires?
THE TWITTERATI
“Great effort by the boys tonight! They really had a crack!” - Gold Coast skipper Gary Ablett (@GaryAblettJnr) on the Suns opening night wins.
“@jfraser17 nice tan big fella, also see the work on the guns is still continuing although u have always loved a curl.” - Scott Pendlebury (@SP_10) gives a shout-out to former Collingwood teammate Josh Fraser after the Suns’ beat the Swans and Giants.
“Dasha milburn at the age of 40 looking better then ever, hope podsy hand is alright! Which of the young boys did you like?” - Joel Selwood (@joelselwood14) after the Cats won through to the NAB Cup quarter-final.
GAME TO WATCH
Geelong versus St Kilda, Saturday night at Etihad Stadium. A compelling match-up, even in February. The Cats and Saints both always seem to be up and about at this time of the year.
The views expressed by author are not necessarily those of the AFL or the clubs.
You can follow Ashley Browne on twitter at twitter.com/hashbrowne
