THE COMPARISONS between the Suns and their forebears on the Gold Coast are undeniable, but can Gold Coast flip the script on the fate that befell the Brisbane Bears?

After six seasons, the Suns' track record is eerily similar to the Brisbane Bears' residency on the Gold Coast.

The stark stats show just how difficult it's been for teams based at Carrara.

The number of wins, finals (or lack of) and crowds all has similarities between the two clubs.

The "Bad News Bears" played there from 1987-92 before heading up the Pacific Highway to the Gabba.

Before moving to Brisbane, the Bears won 32 of 132 matches in that span on the Coast, played no finals and had four senior coaches (Peter Knights, Paul Feltham, Norm Dare and Robert Walls).

The average home attendance during those six years was 9250, in which only two Bears played more than 100 games.

The AFL's 17th franchise – the Suns – arrived almost 20 years later, and to date, has achieved almost identical results.

They won 34 of their first 132 matches, have played no finals and used just two senior coaches in Guy McKenna and Eade.

One area the Suns burn the Bears is average attendance, which has been a highly commendable 14,104.

So the extra 5000 faces every second week on the Coast shows this incarnation of an AFL team has already been far more successful.

Four players have topped a ton of games played (Jarrod Harbrow, Michael Rischitelli, Tom Lynch and Matt Shaw).

If you want to dig a little deeper, the clubs had similar, poor training and administration facilities, until the Suns' new $22 million facility was opened in February.

They also had one high-priced recruit each, to help sell the game off the field and win it on the field – Gary Ablett and Warwick Capper (who signed fresh from a 103-goal season for the Swans).

It's now up to new CEO Mark Evans, Eade and the rest of the Suns team to ensure the story takes a different twist to that from the Bears era.