Gold Coast
Coach – Stuart Dew
2022 –
Points For – 9th
Points Against – 12th
Top 5 Best and Fairest
- Touk Miller
- Noah Anderson
- David Swallow
- Jarrod Witts
- Sam Collins
2022 Rising Star Noms
Joel Jeffrey (Round 10)
Elijah Hollands (Round 21)
Ins – Ben Long, Thomas Berry, Bailey Humphrey, Connor Blakely, Jake Stein, Lloyd Johnston, Jason Gilbee
Outs – Matt Conroy, Jez McLennan, Patrick Murtagh, Rhys Nicholls, Josh Corbett, Izak Rankine, Jack Bowes, Oleg Markov, Rory Thompson
My Prediction
What an absolute shipwreck of a club. Never achieved anything and still leaking quality players they would prefer to keep. They have a game plan that looks like they photocopied off of someone better than them and they look unable to execute. I know they are young, but they are always young because the only players that will agree to go there are players not really wanted elsewhere.
The backline is average at best. Sam Collins is a gun, taken his second chance and run with it. Ben Long who wasn’t guaranteed a game at another mediocre club will come straight into the team here. I think Ballard probably takes a spot on the HB line and then throw a net over a few vanilla plodders to fill the rest of the backline spots.
The midfield is solid. They have real quality in Rowell and Anderson who have grown up together and just need a solid run with injuries. Miller has turned himself into one of the best mids in the game, Hollands finally got the body right and looked good. Ellis and Swallow round out a pretty good midfield. They still lack depth here as well.
The forward line may actually be fun to watch this year. King will be back, Chol looked like he knew how to footy lack year. Small forwards in Rosas and Ainsworth will give effort and Jeffrey looked like something different last year. They certainly could use a player like Rankine who they had until they were so bad that he went to the Crows which are one of the few teams which look even less inspiring.
The rucks are good. Witts has hung around after not being wanted by the Pies and has improved every year. He is probably their most important player. Chol gives him a chop out when needed. The coach earned his new contract but you wouldn’t bet your life on him being there next year. He is almost the personification of the club he coaches, a little bloated, too many chances and uninspiring.
I don’t see them playing finals next year. They have been propped up year after year but the quality in their list just doesn’t go deep enough. They have some really good young players but they also have a whole bunch of filler holding the list together. Could easily drop to bottom four with a few injuries. Most likely they stay in the pack of teams that aren’t good enough to climb into the eight. They will finish in the 10-12 range.