Autopsy Post Gold Coast Suns Season 2020 Review

Oct 24, 2008
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Fantastic write up above so I won’t go into the same issues, for me the season gets a C-

Why? Finished the year poorly, lack of rotation, the playing of favourites, lack of any breakout years ( can’t call first year players as break outs), Hanley, Day and Harbrow.

I fear we lose depth in 2021 and go backwards with injuries.
 
Mar 14, 2014
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Fantastic write up above so I won’t go into the same issues, for me the season gets a C-

Why? Finished the year poorly, lack of rotation, the playing of favourites, lack of any breakout years ( can’t call first year players as break outs), Hanley, Day and Harbrow.

I fear we lose depth in 2021 and go backwards with injuries.
Powell and Luko not breakout?
 

RowellAnderson12

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Nov 4, 2019
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Powell, Lukosius, Ainsworth, Bowes, Greenwood technically all broke out but i do see the word "lack"
 

Mt Isa Mustang

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Nov 23, 2019
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Career season to date (3+ years in)
Ainsworth
Bowes
Ballard
Collins
Miller
Powell
Weller

Basically every youngster (1st or second year) had a good year
King, Lukosius, Rowell, Anderson, Buderick all showed heaps.


Rankine inconsistent but I'd take a 'first season' small forward with 2.4 scoring shots + 0.5 goal assists per game with flashes of brilliance every day of the week. Consistency will come.

For reference

Tom Papley 3.3 scoring shots + 0.5 goal assists
Charlie Cameron 2.8 scoring shots + 0.3 goal assists
Izak Rankine 2.4 scoring shots + 0.5 goal assists
Gary Rohan 2.3 scoring shots + 0.6 goal assists
Dan Butler 2.3 scoring shots + 0.5 goal assists
Jaidyn Stephenson 1.9 scoring shots + 0.8 goal assists
Luke Breust 1.7 scoring shots + 0.8 goal assists
Gary Ablett 1.5 scoring shots + 1.1 goal assists
Anthony Mcdonald-Tipungwuti 1.5 scoring shots + 0.3 goal assists
Robbie Gray 1.2 scoring shots + 0.7 goal assists
Gryan Miers 1.1 scoring shots + 0.3 goal assists


Didn't see a huge amount from Flanders or particularly Sharp but they're only young and can see how they will fit into our team in the next few years if they can continue to develop their play.


Mature recruits in Greenwood and Ellis both finished top 5 in the B+F

We stayed relatively injury free
We got to delist a huge number of non-AFL standard players at the end of the year

So many positives this year.
 

Jirik13

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Jan 22, 2018
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Career season to date (3+ years in)
Ainsworth
Bowes
Ballard
Collins
Miller
Powell
Weller

Basically every youngster (1st or second year) had a good year
King, Lukosius, Rowell, Anderson, Buderick all showed heaps.


Rankine inconsistent but I'd take a 'first season' small forward with 2.4 scoring shots + 0.5 goal assists per game with flashes of brilliance every day of the week. Consistency will come.

For reference

Tom Papley 3.3 scoring shots + 0.5 goal assists
Charlie Cameron 2.8 scoring shots + 0.3 goal assists
Izak Rankine 2.4 scoring shots + 0.5 goal assists
Gary Rohan 2.3 scoring shots + 0.6 goal assists
Dan Butler 2.3 scoring shots + 0.5 goal assists
Jaidyn Stephenson 1.9 scoring shots + 0.8 goal assists
Luke Breust 1.7 scoring shots + 0.8 goal assists
Gary Ablett 1.5 scoring shots + 1.1 goal assists
Anthony Mcdonald-Tipungwuti 1.5 scoring shots + 0.3 goal assists
Robbie Gray 1.2 scoring shots + 0.7 goal assists
Gryan Miers 1.1 scoring shots + 0.3 goal assists


Didn't see a huge amount from Flanders or particularly Sharp but they're only young and can see how they will fit into our team in the next few years if they can continue to develop their play.


Mature recruits in Greenwood and Ellis both finished top 5 in the B+F

We stayed relatively injury free
We got to delist a huge number of non-AFL standard players at the end of the year

So many positives this year.
Really surprised by good Rankine's numbers compared to others.

Everybody talks about getting a midfielder with a inside/outside game, speed but we got some already on the list though not there yet regarding bodies, tank. I would hope Rankine will spend significant minutes in the midfield next year. Flanders too but he is a bit behind in his development.
 

Mt Isa Mustang

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Really surprised by good Rankine's numbers compared to others.

Everybody talks about getting a midfielder with a inside/outside game, speed but we got some already on the list though not there yet regarding bodies, tank. I would hope Rankine will spend significant minutes in the midfield next year. Flanders too but he is a bit behind in his development.
I 100% support Rankine into the midfield calls.
Have seen how great around the stoppages he can be.
The pressure will kind of make him choose the first option instead of option number 5 as well. Not much room to showboat.

I think he can be a gun up there.
Saw how Robbie Graysons was almost best player on the field second half against Collingwood after going to the midfield.
He didn't do anything crazy. Just super clear below his knees and always choosing the right option.
Definitely think Rankine can do that.
 
Aug 17, 2010
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I 100% support Rankine into the midfield calls.
Have seen how great around the stoppages he can be.
The pressure will kind of make him choose the first option instead of option number 5 as well. Not much room to showboat.

I think he can be a gun up there.
Saw how Robbie Graysons was almost best player on the field second half against Collingwood after going to the midfield.
He didn't do anything crazy. Just super clear below his knees and always choosing the right option.
Definitely think Rankine can do that.

The thought of Rankine receiving from Rowell has me...


 

Jirik13

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Jan 22, 2018
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I 100% support Rankine into the midfield calls.
Have seen how great around the stoppages he can be.
The pressure will kind of make him choose the first option instead of option number 5 as well. Not much room to showboat.

I think he can be a gun up there.
Saw how Robbie Graysons was almost best player on the field second half against Collingwood after going to the midfield.
He didn't do anything crazy. Just super clear below his knees and always choosing the right option.
Definitely think Rankine can do that.
McKenna also suggested Rankine moving into midfield this morning on SEN review. Compared him to Ablett there regarding clean hands, reading the game, kick :)
 
Jul 11, 2006
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The thought of Rankine receiving from Rowell has me...



images - 2020-09-29T172459.810.jpeg
 

Jirik13

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Jan 22, 2018
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OK, just re-watched most games. It left me extremely frustrated as we could have easily finished with 7-8 wins from 17 games. It could have resulted in a better chance of attracting some elite player(s) this off-season.

Our 5 wins, we dominated in 4 of them, the one against Fremantle was close one but we played well in the last quarter.

The close losses and draw were extremely frustrating - WB, Essendon, St Kilda, Melbourne - all were very winnable and SUNS were better for significant parts of the games.

Even games against Cats, Collingwood and Richmond SUNS played well and had chances.

In all close games the opposition scored very easily, mostly after our turnovers, mistakes, 50m penalties (B Ellis was one of the worst culprits), kicks straight to opposition.

On the other hand, SUNS often scored through some beautiful links, combinations. No wonder commentators liked our style.

The other frustrating part was how many easy shots we missed - so many. Sometimes we were 2-3 goals up and could put the opposition away only to miss directly in front.

So are we going to improve next year?

Putting extra games into young players should help. Bowes, Ainsworth, Ballard, Collins, Lukosius, King, Powell are approaching or reached 40-50 games. Anderson, Rowell, Rankine are special and should only get better.

At the moment, including Atkins we got 43 players with average age March 2021 24 years 3 months. Best 22 (no Harbrow) 24 years 0 months, still a year from starting to hit the sweet spot.

Another pre-season of physical development, the whole team being able to practice together should help. Extra layers to our plan are still needed. Positive this season was that we were much better in stopping the opposition momentum and were able to adjust on the run.

Shorter games probably helped us and staying mostly at home too. Next year, it looks like 18 min quarters. It would not surprise me if there will hubs again in some form.

In 2021, I will be disappointed if we don’t win 8-11 games (from 22) provided we have again a reasonable run with injuries.

What is your expected/acceptable result next year?
 

Stroppy

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In 2021, I will be disappointed if we don’t win 8-11 games (from 22) provided we have again a reasonable run with injuries.

All else being equal (injuries, trades), 8 wins sounds about right to me as a pass mark provided we are generally competitive and don't get flogged more than once or twice.

But strongly suggest we have a pass mark of 4 wins from our last 11. It is time we were more competitive in the back half of the year.
 
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