Matthews coached Brisbane to three consecutive premierships and is currently the deputy chairman at the Lions.

He was sceptical when Gold Coast joined the league in 2011 and reiterated his view last night that there is not enough demand to warrant two sides in southeast Queensland.

“I thought that from the very beginning,” Matthews told the Seven Network.

“Nothing will change that. The Suns might win premierships, that’s not the issue.

“I don’t think there is a demand for two teams in this part of the world.”

The Suns and Lions have struggled in recent years, both on and off the field.

Recent crowds have been modest at the Gabba and Metricon Stadium.

The Suns have crashed after a bright start to the season, while fellow expansion side Greater Western Sydney is on track to achieve their maiden finals berth.

The Lions have enjoyed just one win this year – over Gold Coast.

Matthews doubted whether the league would seriously look at changing the status quo.

“The people who made that decision are still running the AFL,” he said.

“While those people are running the AFL, I don’t think anytime soon will there not be two teams in southeast Queensland.”

The struggling Suns meet fellow startup franchise, the Greater Western Sydney Giants, in Sydney on Saturday – and what a difference a month has made to the fortunes of the two youngest AFL clubs.

After three rounds the Suns were flying at 3-0 and the Giants were 1-2. But four weeks on and the Suns have crashed to 3-4 on the back of four straight losses.

Conversely, the Giants are entrenched in the eight with a healthy 5-2 record after four consecutive wins, including a 75-point thrashing of defending three-time premiers Hawthorn.

While pundits endlessly debate the different list policies of the competition’s two newest franchises, the Giants aren’t interested in adding to the chatter.

“Externally, I suppose a lot of people compare the Giants and Gold Coast,” Giants’ winger Tom Scully said.

“But definitely, internally as a footy club, we don’t spend too much time thinking about how our list compares to others.”

A win on Saturday would enable GWS to emulate their 6-2 start of last season.

All the external hype about a maiden finals campaign and even a genuine title tilt doesn’t seem to have penetrated the Giants lair.

“It’s a long season and we’re under no illusions, we’ve still got a long way to go and a lot of improvement ahead,” Scully said.

A former No.1 draft pick for Melbourne, Scully is one Giant posting career-best numbers in 2016.

He is averaging close to 27 disposals a game, well up on any of his six previous AFL seasons.

“I’ve been steadily building,” Scully said.

He believes the spate of early thrashings GWS suffered helped toughen up their many talented youngsters.

“A lot of the group have been there since the start and they endured the tough times, but I think it’s built resilience in our group,” Scully said.

“Things take time and as you can see now, the guys are 22, 23 years old, they’ve played four of five years at AFL level. so they know what it takes.

“I think persistence has paid off for the footy club. They put a lot of games into those guys early on and it’s certainly paying dividends for us at the moment.

Crowds and membership figures are on the up for the GWS Giants, with club officials confident membership will hit the 15,000 mark for the first time before the season ends.

-AAP