A bumper Saturday of AFL begins at Metricon Stadium this afternoon with 11th up against 12th, as Gold Coast Suns and Adelaide Crows look for four points to keep in touch with the top eight. We’ll have live scores from 1.40pm AEST.
Both teams come into this afternoon’s game off a fortnight’s break having had their mid-season bye in Round 13.
For the Crows the bye couldn’t have come at a better time having lost their past three matches, the most recent being a 38-point submission at the hands of Richmond at Etihad Stadium.
Brenton Sanderson’s side were one game away from the Grand Final last season but at 5-7 with ten games to play the Crows look unlikely to feature in finals football at this point in time.
Sanderson has recalled Brent Reilly, Brad Crouch and Aiden Reilly – who will make his first start of the season – to make the trip to the Gold Coast. David Mackay, Ian Callinan and Shaun McKernan have all been omitted.
The Suns’ last four games has yielded the same amount of wins as the Crows – one – yet Guy McKenna’s young side enter this game far more bullish than their opponents.
Fighting losses against Essendon, Hawthorn and Geelong will give Gold Coast fans optimism as the club continues to gain experience and move up the AFL ladder.
McKenna has made five changes to the starting side with Karmichael Hunt, Maverick Weller, Greg Broughton, Andrew Boston and Steven May all set to return for the home side.
Adelaide have clearly held the upper hand over the Suns in previous encounters, winning all four matchups by an average of 70 points including a 91-point hammering of the Suns at AAMI Stadium in Round 23 last season.
But the 2013 Suns are different to the outfits of the past two seasons, and there is plenty to suggest that the Crows might not be up to the 2012 edition that reached the top four.
The home side will fancy their chances in this one and it wouldn’t surprise to see the Suns record their first-ever win over the Crows.