Add Category![*** BESTPIX *** Mac Andrew Media Opportunity](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1280 720"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Mac Andrew posing during a media opportunity after re-signing with the Gold Coast Suns mid-week.Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images
He’s only 20 but this AFL young gun has incredibly leapfrogged Lance Franklin and Dustin Martin, and like Buddy, is thriving in his new coastal home.
In one swoop mid week Gold Coast Suns player Mac Andrew blitzed hundreds of AFL stars across the decades, signing a deal reportedly worth $12m across nine years, averaging $1.3m a year – more than Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin sealed in his heyday with the Sydney Swans.
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Signature moment mid week. Picture: Instagram.
A core group of friends and a coach he responds to set him up. Pic: Instagram/macandr3w
Mac Andrew of the Suns has the most lucrative contract in AFL history now. Picture: Russell Freeman/AFL Photos via Getty Images
He’s expected to follow the AFL legend’s lead and sink much of his earnings into real estate investments on the Gold Coast and in his childhood state Victoria – but there is no doubting which one is winning with the star player.
“I love everything about this place. I’ve made a home for myself up here and have a great support base here,” Mr Andrew said in a statement issued by the club.
The coast was a no brainer in the end for the star player. Pic: Instagram/macandr3w
A tightknit group of workmates helps too. Pic: Instagram/macandr3w
At work. Picture: Instagram.
While Mr Franklin is at a different life stage, favouring the designer look in outer suburbs such as Reedy Creek where he and wife Jesinta have their glamorous home Villa Casa for sale, Mr Andrew favours entertaining, fishing and clubbing as his pastimes.
He even takes fishing holidays in his spare time with mates and there’s no shortage of options for a man like that packing a $1.3m average income level in a city with 70km of coastline and much more in riverfront.
Fishing trip to Straddie. Pic: Instagram/macandr3w
Night fishing. Pic: Instagram/macandr3w
Out and about on the coast. Pic: Instagram/macandr3w
The Nerang River, one of the most favoured freshwater fishing locations on the Gold Coast, conveniently runs alongside the Gold Coast Suns home stadium in Carrara, where the median house price sits below his estimated new annual average income at $1.15m for houses and even cheaper at $749,000 for apartments.
There’s an almost endless list of choices for homes he can afford, given a riverfront home going to auction in Carrara – five minutes from People First Stadium, home of the Suns – last sold for $3.85m two years ago – a figure he’d be able to repay very comfortably.
The property at 4 Garden Grove is a super-sized 1,416sq m block with 24.5m river frontage with the Gold Coast’s iconic skyscrapers as a backdrop, in a modern Cape Cod style, five bedrooms, an impressive lagoon-style pool, firepit, waterfront pavilion, outdoor kitchen, three-car garage and most importantly a boat shed, boat ramp and pontoon.
Buddy Lance Franklin and wife Jesinta prefer a quieter life on the coast now. Picture: Jason Edwards
Former AFL star Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin and his fashion influencer wife Jesinta have officially listed their glamorous Mediterranean-style property Villa Casa for sale.
Across the river in Ashmore is where Culture Kings co-founders and new age richlisters Tahnee and Simon Beard previously broke the suburb record when their six bedroom riverfront estate with all the bells and whistles sold for $4.95m – also a price range he can comfortably service a mortgage on and just eight minutes from the stadium.
In fact only four suburbs on the Gold Coast have median house prices that are above the $2m mark, with 55 more there priced between $1-$1.9m – meaning he could have his pick of where to live, depending on what best fits his playing roster, fitness schedule and social life.
The most expensive suburb on the Gold Coast in latest data is Mermaid Beach where the median house price is $3,292,500, followed by Surfers Paradise on $3.03m, Bundall on $2.2m and Broadbeach Waterson $2.125m.
Simon and Tahnee Beard, co-founders of Culture Kings held the house price record in Ashmore for a stint. Picture: Portia Large (The Pulse with Portia Large).
Culture Kings co-founders Tahnee and Simon Beard entertainment and sports zone at the riverfront home they sold in Ashmore for $4.95m.
Regardless of how he plans to invest his lucrative pay packet, Mr Andrew knows one thing for certain: “I’m really keen to be a part of the first team that wins a Premiership on the Coast,” he said.
“To be the first to do that would be pretty special and something I really want to be a part of. It’s pretty evident we are heading in the right direction and I just want to play my role in what will be something great.”
“I don’t want to take my career for granted, I really want to make the most of it and grab every opportunity with both hands.”
He is now the longest-contracted player on the Suns’ list with his new five-year extension to 2030 to take him through to when he is 26, a club statement said.
Andrew earned selection in the AFLPA 22Under22 team for the first time in 2024, and was involved in one of the moments of the season when he kicked a memorable matchwinning goal after the siren against Essendon in Round 22, the Suns said.