Now, 17 or 18 are doing that.
Once upon a time, the club's most high profile recruit, exalted rugby union and league champion Karmichael Hunt, stood out in every respect - including his physique.
But take a look at some of the 'kids' at the Gold Coast now and Hunt is looking - dare we say it - a little slight of build. Hunt will return from playing rugby in France in May to a very different set of players he left behind.
"They've really come a long way and they've really improved with their strength levels. Not just strength, but also in their overall speed and endurance," Gold Coast football manager Marcus Ashcroft says of his young charges.
They expect to enter the VFL season with a full quota of fit players, with Geelong Falcons recruit Piers Flanagan the only player overcoming a major injury after having hip surgery over the break. But the Gold Coast's approach remains long-term, with every decision, appointment and strategy centred on round one of the 2011 AFL season.
With 31 contracted players, 12 of the best 17-year-olds in the country, a couple of freakishly talented Northern Territory recruits and five new rookies, the club is even starting to resemble an AFL side.
The pre-season and rookie draft enabled the Gold Coast to top up its list with some AFL experience, adding ex-Kangaroo Daniel Harris and former Collingwood duo Sam Iles and Danny Stanley to the squad. Sturt key position player Michael Coad has also made the transition across form Adelaide with girlfriend in tow.
The new players settled into the squad's first 2010 training session last Wednesday, but Ashcroft expects before too long that the group structure will emerge - with Harris forming an integral part of the leadership group.
"Obviously he's played almost 150 league games, so his experience will be invaluable," Ashcroft said.
"In the next month or so you'll really see those guys come to the fore because of their AFL experience. And quite a lot of our young kids are like sponges - they just want to soak up all the AFL experience that these guys have sown."
The squad will be topped up with 15 to 20 players from the AFL Queensland under-18s competition, giving locals the opportunity to make their mark and potentially cement a spot in the side.
"This time next year list will be 57, so we're only half way there," Ashcroft says. "We think we need some taller key backline players. We're not overly enriched with that sort of player."
Talks targeting AFL players approaching the end of their contracts are restricted to a six-week window following the season, but Ashcroft says the club will be keeping a close eye on high quality players in that position.
And as the club edges closer to its AFL debut, it may be more a case of out-of-contract players knocking on the club's door, as the temptation of a new opportunity gets closer.
"When they finish their AFL season this year, they've only got a couple of weeks and they're into a pre-season for the inaugural year of the Gold Coast footy club," Ashcroft says.
"For those types of players, it's very real then, the thing that it's not too far away. So I would imagine there would be a few players that would love to come up here given the opportunity that's going to be presented when the team starts playing."
