Best 44 for Gold Coast

[WERRIDEE 5,483]

Today Gold Coast tomorrow GWS

B: Lemmens, Collins, Swallow

HB: Lukosius, Ballard, Weller

C: Ellis, Miller, Humphrey

HF: Davies, Chol, Holman

F: Ainsworth, Casboult, King

FOLL: Witts, Anderson, Rowell

IC: Flanders, Hollands, Rosas, Graham

Reserves

B: Farrar, Andrew, Budarick

HB: Powell, Brock, Long

C: Constable, Atkins, Sharp

HF: Sexton, Day, MacPherson

F: Jeffery, Burgess, Oea

FOLL: Moyle, Fiorini, Tsitas

IC: Uwland, Berry, Blakely, Stein 

[Bombay Airconditioning 6,400]

You left out who they selected this year with pick 7 Werridee.

[layzie 33,884]

Their backline really Swallows the Lemmens. Jokes aside it was really impressive this year.

Will be interesting to see this side with Ben King off a full pre-season, they are developing a bit of fire power up front.

The player that most intrigues me is Lukosius. What is he? They have tried him out in a number of roles and he can't seem to find his niche. If they can get him to hit his straps along with continued progression of Rowell, Anderson and co then we should see more improvement from the Suns in 23. 

 

[DeeZone 9,918]

Agree layzie they could force their way into the top eight next year, they have talent to burn, just have to hold onto it.!!

[DeeSpencer 25,785]

2 hours ago, layzie said:

Their backline really Swallows the Lemmens. Jokes aside it was really impressive this year.

Will be interesting to see this side with Ben King off a full pre-season, they are developing a bit of fire power up front.

The player that most intrigues me is Lukosius. What is he? They have tried him out in a number of roles and he can't seem to find his niche. If they can get him to hit his straps along with continued progression of Rowell, Anderson and co then we should see more improvement from the Suns in 23. 

 

At this stage he’s Jack Watts.

Doesn’t run hard enough to play wing. Doesn’t get the ball as a forward. Isn’t trusted defending down back.

I think they have to pick forward or back and stick with it, and I’d pick back because his elite skill is his field kicking. 

[radar 1,865]

Who cares - who can we pinch next year?

[layzie 33,884]

9 hours ago, DeeSpencer said:

At this stage he’s Jack Watts.

Doesn’t run hard enough to play wing. Doesn’t get the ball as a forward. Isn’t trusted defending down back.

I think they have to pick forward or back and stick with it, and I’d pick back because his elite skill is his field kicking. 

Definitely, no more chopping and changing. Stick him back and get it into his hands. 

[grazman 7,444]

I feel for Gold Coast supporters, I imagine them watching the Suns and waiting for them to make the finals must be something like being an audience member on the opening night of Samuel Beckett’s play ‘Waiting for Godot’.   I think GCS ‘could’ jump into the eight (and I think they might for periods) but ultimately I think they will fall just short which is why I’ve picked them for 9^th as the close, but not close enough team for 2023.  

Firstly the draw.  Now the Suns are actually turning into something resembling a decent footy team it looks pretty good on paper They play Brisbane, Carlton, Sydney, St Kilda, Adelaide and North twice.  Given where I think those sides will finish I think there’s at minimum 7 wins in there for the Suns and we should know as early as round 6 whether they are on track to make their first finals outing with difficult, but winnable matches at home early against the Swans and Cats as well as North, and trips on the road against the Dons, Saints and Freo in Adelaide for the Gather Round.

The biggest issue I think with the Suns is their defence.  They coughed up 100 point games to the opposition seven times in 2022 and losing six of those games.  Collins, Ballard, Swallow, Lemmens, and Weller back from an ACL are all gritty and dour triers – they’ll throw Long back there to add to that group,  but the only really classy ball user they have back there is Lukosius who I’m very undecided on.  With more size and competitive juices he’d be playing forward or in the midfield, but he’s playing back for his kicking ability, but last year wasn’t his best only going at 60.8%  which was a dramatic drop off.  Maybe having Wil Powell back this year (his career kicking % is 73.5 compared to Jack’s 69.2) helps improve that aspect by taking some of the pressure of Jack.

The starting midfield is strong for the Suns, but the depth is questionable.  Witts is a very capable ruckman who gets a good chop out from Chol who delivers as a genuine forward/ruck option.  Miller, Rowell and Anderson are all top shelf and get adequate support from Fiorini, Ellis and Holman.  They’ll be hopeful that Sharp can come on to hold down a wing, but the other wing is an issue.  You just get the feeling that along with the Bowes contract, the Atkins contract will comeback to haunt them for someone that has struggled to establish themselves in the Suns midfield – which shouldn’t have been an issue for someone signed on a five year contract.

People should be realistic on how much influence King will have on his return from an ACL, but it poses an interesting problem for the Suns whether to go taller by keeping the stop-gap Casboult who was very good last season in the same side with Chol and King.  They have some reasonable medium options like Sexton, Jeffery, and Stein who was picked up as a rookie from GWS (to replace Corbett)  if they decide for a more defensive forward line, but will need more out of their other small forwards now Rankine has left – it’s probably the one area of need where they need to recruit for in the future. 

Overall I’m bullish about the Suns, but can still see enough holes on the list to leave them just out of the eight.  9^thseems about right.

Edited March 2, 2023 by grazman

[WERRIDEE 5,483]

On 12/7/2022 at 12:14 AM, WERRIDEE said:

Today Gold Coast tomorrow GWS

B: Lemmens, Collins, Swallow

HB: Lukosius, Ballard, Weller

C: Ellis, Miller, Humphrey

HF: Davies, Chol, Holman

F: Ainsworth, Casboult, King

FOLL: Witts, N.Anderson, Rowell

IC: Flanders, Hollands, Long, Constable

Reserves

B: Farrar, Andrew, Budarick

HB: Powell, Brock, Graham

C: Macpherson, Atkins, Sharp

HF: Sexton, Day, Rosas

F: Jeffery, Burgess, Oea

FOLL: Moyle, Fiorini, Tsitas

IC: Uwland, Berry, Blakely, Stein, McLaughlin, Johnston, Faulkhead, J.Anderson

Revised best 44 for Gold Coast