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The Gold Coast Suns face a big test without Gary Ablett when they face the Western Bulldogs at Cazaly’s Stadium today. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 4:40pm (AEST)
Last week, against Collingwood, the young Suns stood up when their leader dislocated his shoulder in the third term.
With only two interchanges in the last quarter, and a charging Magpies outfit, the Suns held on without their leader to record one of their greatest victories in the clubs short history.
The Suns now have to play the rest of the season without Gary Ablett, after he elected to have surgery on his shoulder this week, after seeing a specialist doctor in Melbourne.
They start the challenge this week against the Western Bulldogs in Cairns at Cazaly’s Stadium.
The Bulldogs take over from Richmond who played at the stadium against the Suns from 2011 to 2013. They will be glad they left the venue.
In the three matches in Cairns between the two, the Suns won two of them.
Both were close wins for the Suns with the last one coming from a Karmichael Hunt kick after the siren. Richmond exacted revenge by defeating the Suns in Cairns last year.
Despite the loss of Ablett, the Suns have a good record over the Bulldogs.
They have won their last two matches including a 45-point win at Metricon Stadium in Round 10. The Suns have also won 8 of their last 11 matches in Queensland with two of those losses coming against the last two Premiers in the competition.
The match is a tough proposition for the Bulldogs even with the loss of Ablett. Their recent form hasn’t been too bad though.
They have won two of their last four matches and pushed the Cats all the way last week at Simonds Stadium. If they are to win today then their tackling pressure and clearances need to be great.
The Bulldogs are the number one tackling team in the competition, averaging 76.1 tackles per game. If they apply that pressure then the Suns, without their leader, may make mistakes which create opportunities for the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs also need to match the Suns in the clearances. Gold Coast is the number one team in the competition with an average of 41.7 clearances per game. The Western Bulldogs need to match them in that area to be a chance.
They also need to find a target up forward who will kick a minimum of three goals. In each of their wins this season, one Bulldog player has kicked 3 goals or more to win the match.
The same needs to happen against Gold Coast.
With no Liam Jones in the team, it will be up to Stewart Crameri, or Jake Stringer, to kick those vital goals for the team.
They have made one change to the team for the clash. Shaun Higgens has been omitted with Sam Darley replacing him.
The Gold Coast Suns have made two changes. Gary Ablett is out with Trent McKenzie joining him with a hamstring injury. Replacing the duo is Tom Murphy and Matt Shaw.
For Gold Coast it will all be about exposing the Bulldogs defence with their tall forwards. It will also be about controlling the midfield.
Last time these two teams met, Tom Lynch, and Charlie Dixon, had a field day.
Between them they kicked 8 goals as the defence had no answers to the tall forwards.
If they expose the Bulldogs again like this then they will be hard to beat.
The Bulldogs are a better chance to win today than in the match they played in Round 10, but they will fall short of a win in Cairns.
Gold Coast by 20 points.
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