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The Gold Coast Suns won a thriller against the Essendon Bombers on Sunday, though the match was still alive even in the final seconds.
» Click here to read the full match report
Final score
Gold Coast Suns 0.12.7 (79)
Essendon Bombers 0.12.4 (76)
The AFL wasn’t kidding when it promised to spread this year’s JLT Community Series matches far and wide across Australia, with the Gold Coast Suns taking on the Essendon Bombers from the seaside north Queensland city of Mackay. Join The Roar from 4:40pm (AEDT) for all the live scores and analysis.
On paper, it’s Gold Coast’s home game, but given the Suns have had to travel 1,033 kilometres for the fixture, Sydney would have been a closer destination.
And it appears both the Suns and the Bombers will be resting some marquee players for the marathon journey, with Essendon resting captain Dyson Heppell and midfielders Zach Merrett and David Zaharakis, and the Suns leaving behind co-captain Tom Lynch and former Collingwood ruckman Jarrod Witts.
As expected, Gary Ablett’s return to football will wait until the Suns’ final pre-season match against the Western Bulldogs on March 9, as the superstar continues his rehabilitation from the shoulder injury that prematurely ended his 2016 campaign.
Key forward Joe Daniher returns to the side after being left out of last week’s season-opening loss to Collingwood, while veteran midfielder Brent Stanton has also been included for his first match since being banned for 12 months last January as part of the doping scandal.
former captain Jobe Watson will also be looking to dust out the cobwebs following a year on the sidelines, after looking nearly back to his best against the Magpies.
Second-year star Darcy Parish was impressive in the loss, racking up 24 possessions, and with plenty of his fellow midfielders rested for this game, he’s well placed to go even better here.
For the Suns, experienced recruits Pearce Hanley and Michael Barlow were both impressive in last week’s triumph over Brisbane, racking up 19 possessions and a goal each, and with fellow midfielder Aaron Hall also left out, you’d expect both of them to rack up plenty of midfield time.
Prediction
With both sides leaving out some first-choice players, this match is difficult to predict, but the Suns have more talent at their disposal, and ‘only’ having to travel 1,000 kilometres for the match might be enough to see them over the line.
Gold Coast by 26 points
Join The Roar for live scores and blanket coverage from Mackay from 4:40pm (AEDT).
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