Gold Coast’s Jy Farrar opens up about life in the AFL wilderness

The 28-year-old from Halls Creek in Western Australia was a forgotten man in the Suns’ system until a fortnight ago, when his name surreptitiously showed up as one of five changes to face the Brisbane Lions.

His inclusion was conspicuous only to the most diehard Suns supporters, who might have wondered why, in one of the biggest games of the season, Farrar was brought in for his first game since Round 22, 2023.

Two weeks, five goals and a string of crunching tackles later, “Faz” has played himself into Damien Hardiwck’s finals calculations and into the hearts of those same fans as Ben Long’s forward 50 “bash brother”.

Like Long before him, Farrar has shown out as a defender-turned-forward with a penchant for pressure acts and a surprisingly large bag of goal kicking traits.

“He’s had some really good form in the VFL and offensively he has so much flair, so we always knew what he could bring to the side,” Long said of Farrar.

“But as Jy says, it comes back to contest and defence. That is what I stripped my game right back to as well, that pressure and hunt and being in the contest. We really honed those things. That takes us a long way in winning a game.

“Jy has always brought his grunt and physicality so it’s been really good to see when he’s come in the last two weeks and put blokes on their asses.

“It gets the whole group up and about. I reckon it was the first quarter, in the first few minutes against Richmond, when they got a handball (out) and Jy came flying in and really set the tone. It pretty much set us up for the day.”

Farrar followed up his hat-trick against the Lions with a pair of goals against the Tigers – but his performance was punctuated by two devastating defensive displays in the third quarter that highlighted why he was brought into the team.

As the Tigers cut through the middle of People First Stadium the ball landed in the hands of Seth Campbell, who pinned his ears back and looked to drive inside 50. But before he could find a target he was cut down by Farrar in a brutal-but-fair hit to turn the ball over.

Moments later it was Farrar completing the chase down tackle on young Tiger Luke Trainor in defensive 50 that opened the door for Bailey Humphrey to goal.

“To be honest I don’t even know where it came from,” Farrar said of his crunching tackles, joking he had signed up for “a couple of classes” with Long.

“I’m never one to take a step backwards.”

The sixth-year Sun, who has played just 36 games since his debut in 2020, admitted he thought his AFL opportunity might have come and gone after almost two years on the sidelines.

“Yeah there were thoughts. It was pretty rough in those couple of years. There were times I thought I would never play at this level again,” he said.

“I just came into this year telling myself to take it week by week. AFL footy is hard. Blokes get injured, blokes come in and out of the team. The best you can do is just stay ready.

“It took longer than I anticipated, but I’m just happy to be out there and playing footy in front of Queensland, in front of friends and family, with some of my best mates.”

With four games to go before a likely maiden finals berth, Farrar could be forgiven for feeling the pressure to keep is spot in a side stacked with talent.

But having fought for two years to earn his way back into Hardwick’s calculations, the 191cm jack-in-the-box is happy living in the moment and loving the opportunity to prove himself again and again.

“I’m not really thinking long term anymore, just week-to-week,” Farrar said.

“I just knew if I took the week-to-week opportunities and kept playing good footy at VFL level that something would open up eventually and I’m glad it happened when it did. Now that it has, I’m ready to take it with both hands.

“We talk about it all the time, just be where your feet are. Just worry about the next shift. Don’t think too far ahead and everything else will fall into place.

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“The coaches have made it easy for me. They have stripped it right back to the basics, which for me was contest and defence – do all the gritty stuff that other blokes find it hard to do. We love that sort of stuff.”

A month ago Farrar, who is off-contract at the end of 2025, would have been a near-certain list casualty in the off-season.

Now he looms as a finals wildcard for a Gold Coast side that suddenly has top four aspirations.