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Has Gold Coast’s time in the sun arrived? Is their fifth year in the competition going to be the season they play finals for the first time?
More than their ambition, it should be nothing less than minimum standards.
It’s worth remembering that the Suns were sitting third on the ladder after Round 9 in 2014, and were still sitting in the eight after sixteen rounds. Of course, we know what happened next – Gary Ablett went down, the Suns were picked apart, and Guy McKenna was unceremoniously dumped as senior coach.
Check out the rest of Rosey’s AFL preview series here.
Rodney Eade was installed as the new man, and brings with him a well earned reputation for getting an immediate spike in performance from clubs he takes over. He’s never had pure talent like this at his disposal either.
Let’s have a look at what might be his best side:
B: T.McKenzie R.Thompson K.Kolodjashnij
HB: N.Malceski S.May J.Harbrow
C: D.Prestia G.Ablett J.Martin
HF: H.Bennell T.Lynch D.Stanley
F: B.Matera C.Dixon S.Day
Foll: T.Nicholls D.Swallow J.O’Meara
Int: M.Hallahan S.Lemmens M.Shaw A.Sexton
Em: Z.Smith A.Saad J.Lonergan
It’s difficult to look at this side without your eyes popping out of your head at the sight of all this latent ability. The sneaking suspicion lingers that it won’t be too long before everyone else is playing for second.
There might be the odd disagreement, but Gary Ablett is effectively the undisputed best player in the league. While there may have been some that are his equal over the history of the game, I’d take some convincing that there’s been any better.
David Swallow proved himself worthy of his status as a number one draft pick last season, doing the hard work on the inside, driving the ball forward with authority, and then hitting the scoreboard as the best midfielders do.
Jaeger O’Meara is entering his third season at AFL level. Chris Judd won a Brownlow in his third. Let’s just say it’s not beyond O’Meara to emulate him, and leave it at that.
Dion Prestia is the ball magnet work-horse whose kicking is just suspect enough that he will run around unaccompanied for the next decade gathering possessions at will, Dane Swan-style.
Harley Bennell has more talent in his body some bottom sides have on their entire list. If he can ever truly deliver on it, there’ll be no stopping him.
Even if all of the above is dripping with hyperbole, and likely it is, some judges think Jack Martin is going to be the best of the lot, which is still saying something. We didn’t see as much of him as we would have liked last season, due to a long-term shoulder injury, but his final round four-goal performance whet the appetite for what is to come.
Mitch Hallahan has already shown this pre-season that he’s going to be an astute addition to this midfield, and will do his best work inside the contest to release his highly skilled teammates.
Tom Nicholls, Zac Smith and Daniel Gorringe, in that order, bring a competitive edge the ruck division, but it’s time for someone to stand up and own it.
The above group will be driving the ball forward to a three-pronged tall attack of Tom Lynch, Charlie Dixon and Sam Day, with Brandon Matera feeding hungrily and wreaking havoc at their feet.
Lynch is a man mountain who won the Suns goal-kicking last season with 46 majors, and ranked fourth in the competition for contested marks. He’s only just turned 22 and isn’t going backwards anytime soon. We’re looking at the next premier centre-half-forward.
Charlie Dixon is even bigger than Lynch, and in my opinion will be just as good, if not better. He will be scary good if he can shake his persistent injuries. Dixon loves taking an opposition body on the way through, as all big forwards should, and has beautiful hands and a deadly kick.
Day is still building into his career, but is behind the other two, and needs to work on his mobility and ground coverage.
Matera is as sharp as they come, blessed with footy smarts, and always has time on his side. Another who has been plagued by injuries, he never wastes a touch and will be even more difficult to contain as he grows in experience and more opportunities come his way.
The backline is armed with left-footers that can pierce an opposition midfield.
Nick Malceski is coming off an All-Australian year, and provides death by a thousand carefully delivered cuts, pinpointing disposal either short or long. Trent McKenzie prefers unleashing the longer bombs like an Exocet missile.
Jarrad Harbrow is the old guard down back, and Kade Kolodjashnij is the new. The latter will have a license to attack, which he’ll do smoothly, while the former will take on more defensive responsibilities.
Rory Thompson and Steven May in the key defensive posts are All Australians-in-waiting if there’s ever been them. Admittedly, Thompson plateaued or even went backwards last season, lacking in running impact, but May took a huge leap forward to become a defensive and offensive force down back.
Both need to start backing themselves more in the air, and could look to someone like Brian Lake as to the players they can become.
This is a squad that boasts ball-winners, ball-users and gun key position talls. They’ll have dominant players on every line, and when they’re on, they’ll look as slick as any outfit in the league.
Rodney Eade will harness and weaponise the attacking flair even further, while slowly stiffening the team defence over the next two years.
The only questions remaining will be whether he can deliver an immediate bump up the ladder, or will the young players need a year to adjust to his demands?
Something tells me the Suns will rise, and it’s going to be a sight to see.
Predicted ladder spread: fifth – eighth
Predicted finish: sixth
Rosey’s ladder
6th – Gold Coast
7th – Geelong
8th – Richmond
9th – Essendon
10th – Brisbane
11th – Adelaide
12th – Collingwood
13th – Greater Western Sydney
14th – West Coast
15th – Carlton
16th – Melbourne
17th – Western Bulldogs
18th – St Kilda