Gold Coast
Coach – Stuart Dew
2020 –
Points For – 12th
Points Against – 15th
Top 5 Best and Fairest
- Sam Collins
- Touk Miller
- Jarrod Witts
- Hugh Greenwood
- Brandon Ellis
2020 Rising Star Noms
Matt Rowell (Rnd 2)
Connor Budarick (Rnd 3)
Izak Rankine (Rnd 6)
Noah Anderson (Rnd 7)
Ins – Elijah Hollands, Aiden Fyfe, Rhys Nicholls, Rory Atkins, Oleg Markov, Jacob Townsend
Outs – Jacob Dawson, Corey Ellis, Sam Fletcher, Pearce Hanley, Jacob Heron, George Horlin-Smith, Jesse Joyce, Anthony Miles, Mitch Riordan, Josh Schoenfeld, Peter Wright
My Prediction
Last season was an important one for the Gold Coast as they finally looked like they had the bones of a good team without being reliant on individuals. They had their task made much easier with the help of the AFL gifting them another raft full of young talent. I have a scary feeling they got it right this time.
I think Markov is a shrewd moneyball style pick up for their backline and will give them someone with some strength back there and give Collins some support. Collins himself has been a great pick up and a real consistent performer. Budarick looks like a player and Lukosius represents a class user and threat off half back. I think they need more from their backline this year but the bones of a good backline are there.
The midfield is developing nicely. Rowell before his shoulder looked frighteningly good. They would want to sign him to a ten year contract as soon as he’s ready. Anderson is a class act as well and I would love to see Rankine through the wing at different stages. Miller went to new levels last year and Ellis looks another good solid pick up. The pressure being relieved from Swallow shows as well and he looks like the player it was suspected he would be.
The forward line has some amazing talent as well. Ben King is going to rip some games apart this year. Greenwood was an astute pick up and took his game to levels I didn’t see at Adelaide. Ainsworth is a quality small forward and who knows what Rankine will be capable off after some of the things he did last year.
Jury still out on Dew, he has the talent now and he will need to improve on this year. I don’t rate him from a tactical point of view at this stage but maybe we will see more from him as the team gets more experiences. The rucks for the Suns are thin on the ground. They have Witts who has shown himself to be one of the top ruckman in the competition but if he goes down, they are straight into the rookie list and probably Zac Smith who had one good season a long time ago.
I like the way their list is coming together. Surprised they didn’t have another quality dip in the draft this year. They obviously have a bit of faith that their list is good enough to get to the next level. I am not sure they bat deep enough yet. That being said, they should improve this year, not enough to make the eight but enough to look like they could. I think they will finish between 10 and 14.