Prediction Something special is brewing on the Gold Coast in 2022/23

[Sherrinator]

Their current team is by far the most solid across the board that they’ve had. Playing Weller at HB and Lukocius as KPF will be a good step forward.

 

[BigVic]

I got Miller to win the Brownlow this year

 

[WillHayward]

Definitely my second team this year

But..

I feel like every year I am positive about the Suns from March to May... Before the inevitable...

So I'm very cautious...

That fwd line still looks very sketchy...

Need Ainsworth and Sexton to have huge years ..

 

[Sky]

They looked very good by foot vs Geelong.

Everyone looks good by foot against us because at least 15 players above 28 are in the best 22

 

[maskmcgee]

Good midfield but what about the forward line and defence?

How'd the Dogs make the GF?

 

[Lord_Flashheart]

I got Miller to win the Brownlow this year

fetching around $21 at the moment, very tempted

 

[Coolangatta]

Wait until they get Clarkson next year.

 

[Lord_Flashheart]

Nice to see you still around and giving us a nudge Matchu

To those who are saying that we are like this every year, yes you are right, we always come out guns blazing and then fall in a heap by round 6.
This year just feels different. I'm on board the Suns for finals 2022 train.

 

[Shooter#17]

One things certain, they're a bigger chance of achieving anything than Carlton are

 

[Sturty2Hurty]

Such a weird team. Last year I felt like they tried to play champagne footy too much. The left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing. For every bit of wizardy there is a player running to the completely wrong spot.

 

[La Dispute]

Is that a foregone conclusion though? Tim Taranto made the jump in his third season with the Giants and won the club B&F ahead of some seriously talented players and that was of course the year that GWS made the grand final.

When do highly touted elite mids typically make the major stride from flashes of brilliance every now and then to consistent elite footy? We saw Sam Walsh make the jump in his third year as well in 2021 and became an All-Australian mid. Who's to say Rowell and/or Anderson won't do the same this year?

These guys are the exception rather than the rule though. Rowell missed almost an entire first season and then half his second season and needs a good run at it, but he's a very good player and should be elite at some point.

Anderson has had a more consistent run at it and I'd anticipate he will become a better player than Rowell due to his combination of X-factor, neat kicking, hybrid midfield game there's just no obvious timeframe when that'll occur though. Makes slow progress every year.

Gold Coast just needs to make sure these two stay at the club and help build them into a finals team.

 

[La Dispute]

One things certain, they're a bigger chance of achieving anything than Carlton are

Rent free.

 

[kreglze]

I think this year will have ups and downs, like all young teams.

The King injury is a massive negative for the club (though him reportedly re-signing till 2024 is great news).

I think what gets lost with a lot of pundits and 'experts' is the fact Witts went down in round 3 last year and we had no recognizable ruckman as back up (underdone Zac Smith

32

Zac Smith

Age

34

Ht

206cm

Wt

105kg

Pos.

Ruck

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.4

3star

K

5.3

2star

HB

7.1

4star

CL

3.0

4star

HO

21.9

5star

No current season stats available

D

11.0

3star

K

6.0

3star

HB

5.0

4star

CL

2.2

4star

HO

13.6

5star

doesn't count).

Witts is so important structurally to giving our midfielders first use and him going down basically meant we were playing off the hands of the opposing ruckman every game. He is also important in keeping other ruckman honest, and the games against St Kilda and Adelaide last year, we were undone late by Ryder and O'Reilly having massive last quarters, and the result may have been different with Witts involved.

I know it is only pre-season, but against the Cats he was dominant, admittedly against little opposition. Miller and Anderson will look much better in the midfield being hit by the big man, and they are coming off an AA and CA Young Player Of The Year Awards while sharking taps from the opposition.

IMO he is more important to us than King.

I think we will hit 10 wins this year, and that is the bare minimum for Dew to keep his job. Our biggest worry is can we kick enough goals? Hopefully 3 for Lukosius and 4 for Ainsworth on Monday are a sign of better things to come.

 

[FeastOrFamine]

Hopefully, for their sake, they can finally have a good run at it and escape the bottom four. I think it's about time they had a bit more injury luck, which will go a long way to ensuring that they remain competitive in the second half of the year.

 

[windyhill]

King re-signs for two more. Fantastic news.

 

[KingCoasters]

I feel like our backline has been the best part of our team for a couple years now, but you can only do so much when it’s coming in as much as it does.
Wil Powell

27

Wil Powell

Age

24

Ht

188cm

Wt

87kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

11.2

3star

K

6.0

2star

HB

5.2

4star

M

2.8

3star

T

2.2

4star

MG

161.0

3star

D

11.8

3star

K

5.2

2star

HB

6.7

4star

M

1.7

2star

T

1.2

2star

MG

156.7

3star

D

8.8

3star

K

5.6

3star

HB

3.2

3star

M

2.6

3star

T

1.6

4star

MG

133.2

3star

should be pushing for the 40 man AA squad
Collins excellent key defender
Lemmens really came on last year and shut down some of the games best mediums and smalls
Weller played his best footy for us in defence
Ballard great interceptor and is developing well into the 2nd key defender (hopefully Graham or Thompson come on so he can play third tall)
The 6th spot is up for grabs (looking like maybe Swallow or Markov or Graham)
And they’ve all probably played 50+ games together now so as long as our midfield is competitive, our defence will hold their own against most forward lines.

 

[Bostonian]

How many games will they win interstate?

 

[Tiger_Of_Old]

He was an outstanding junior KPF. So was Jack Watts though. It doesn't always translate to AFL level.

It's all well and good to talk him up as the next big thing up forward, but he's yet to prove it in an AFL season proper. Certainly not enough to claim can consistently bang them through the big sticks when to this point of his AFL career, he's not done that.

The Gold Coast have never lacked talent.

Jack~Jack

 

[The Kings Ransom]

Good midfield but what about the forward line and defence? 10th-14th finish

I think our defence is actually quite solid and should improve on last year.

Lemmens Collins Graham
Weller Ballard Powell

Is probably how we'll line up in round 1 given WCE likely to go tall up forward.

Collins, Lemmens and Ballard pretty solid defensively
Ballard and Powell good interceptors
Weller and Powell to provide some drive
Graham borderline AFL standard now after learning on the job the last 2 years. Looked much better in pre season. Obviously still a long way to go.

Back ups:
Budarick - to play on the zippy smalls, coming back from an ACL.
Markov - to provide some run (17 games last year)
Farrar - mid sized interceptor (10 games last year)
Rory Thompson - Finally back on the park and a chance to come in after the first few rounds. Frees Collins and then Ballard up to be more interceptors whilst he locks down on the biggest forward. Unlikely to recapture his previous form, but he was very much underrated beforehand.


We did concede the 6th most points last year
But when you have a 191cm guy playing ruck it's pretty hard to defend teams streaming out of the middle.
Witts back in obviously helps massively.

Thompson, Budarick effectively new recruits.
All players, bar Collins I'd expect to improve this year compared with last.

I reckon we'll be closer to 8th best defence.



The forward line with King is obviously a massive question mark.
Can see us remaining in the bottom 4 for goals kicked.



14th attack
8th defence

= finishing ~10th?

 

[Cursed Cat]

Been following this team from afar for most of its existence and I don't think I've ever been more convinced that they are on the precipice of something significant. The Miller-Rowell-Anderson midfield combination is going to test every team in the AFL and it's only going to be tougher for opposition if Witts stays healthy. Miller is already a superstar, Rowell looks like he's rediscovered his best and Anderson is a lot better than most people think. I believe their midfield is absolutely ready to take them up the ladder in 2022.

The only thing that will ruin 2022 for them in my mind is multiple significant injuries.

I like it.
I don't think they'll remotely challenge for anything, but I like it.

I'm a bit of a they're-my-2nd-club-because-reasons man myself, and the-signing Ben King has been huge.

Vultures have been circling, prompting predictions of the Suns imminent demise on the back of a King defection. His signature was all-important.
I'm sure the Suns would have liked to wrap King up long-term for 10 years but it looks as though Ben wasn't biting. It's still a win, though.

Losing Witts last year was just as big a loss as King himself will be in 2022; his leadership was sorely missed in 2021. There's nothing flashy about his game but he gives them a harder edge.

I like their midfield mix too, especially if Rowell gets some continuity into his football; Miller is the type of hard-nosed scrapper every team wants to build their midfield around, and I'm with you on Noah Anderson Matchu, he's already shown plenty of promise - just turned 21, yet to chalk up 50 games.

I can't see them making the 8 this year, but they really should be pushing to match the club-record 10 wins from 2014.

 

[Jen2310]

They have the talent. And said talent is now physically maturing. Touk as captain (co-captain) I think might spring board something special going forward. He is the type of captain you'd jump on his back and follow.

Luko seems to be a nice replacement for King in the short term (just imagine in 2023 when they partner the forward line together) Casbolt does his job.

The midfield is growing. Anderson and Rowell you can sense injury free (touch wood -- for Rowell) they can be anything.
Oh and Chol seems to be a decent pickup too.

They have developed strong values apparantely this pre-season. Anderson in the leadership group speaks volumes. I think this group is now physically mature to be able to run out games.

But First 8 weeks will be telling. Or I suppose, the last month.

The competition will be better for it when this group starts winning and consistently. Hopefully for their sake, that starts in 2022.

 

[Altum Volantes]

How many games will they win interstate?

Well they’ve got half the Eagles in Perth first up so…..

 

[WillHayward]

I think this year will have ups and downs, like all young teams.

The King injury is a massive negative for the club (though him reportedly re-signing till 2024 is great news).

I think what gets lost with a lot of pundits and 'experts' is the fact Witts went down in round 3 last year and we had no recognizable ruckman as back up (underdone Zac Smith doesn't count).

Witts is so important structurally to giving our midfielders first use and him going down basically meant we were playing off the hands of the opposing ruckman every game. He is also important in keeping other ruckman honest, and the games against St Kilda and Adelaide last year, we were undone late by Ryder and O'Reilly having massive last quarters, and the result may have been different with Witts involved.

I know it is only pre-season, but against the Cats he was dominant, admittedly against little opposition. Miller and Anderson will look much better in the midfield being hit by the big man, and they are coming off an AA and CA Young Player Of The Year Awards while sharking taps from the opposition.

IMO he is more important to us than King.

I think we will hit 10 wins this year, and that is the bare minimum for Dew to keep his job. Our biggest worry is can we kick enough goals? Hopefully 3 for Lukosius and 4 for Ainsworth on Monday are a sign of better things to come.

Honest question.

Have the Sun's just gone from worst rucks (Smith)....

...To the best rucks in the comp (Witts, Andrew, Moyle)?

 

[The Kings Ransom]

Backline:

Took a big stride last year. Collins is serviceable and they hopefully can use either Graham or Thompson as an ok 2nd tall and the other as depth, which means Ballard gets to be the 3rd tall which gives them an elite interceptor. Powell is an excellent all around player. Weller slots in to half back. Then they've got enough options for the 6th and 7th. Ideally 2 of Bowes, Lemmens and Budarick. Markov and Farrar decent depth.


Mids:
Witts, tick. Miller, gun. Rowell and Anderson - yep. Ellis - does his job. Swallow's useful. Gets a bit interesting after that. Fiorini? McPherson? Atkins? Davies? Sharp? Tsitas? Constable?

Forwards:
Lukosius really should be allowed to be the mobile 3rd tall with a couple of mature bodies. Chol and Casboult or Day, not great, but they can do the job. Holman is a decent defensive forward. Ainsworth looks ready to finally produce consistently. Rankine can hopefully settle in more. Flanders, Sexton, hmmm.


They looked very fit and moved the ball well in preseason, but I don't think Dew's every really struggled to get a game plan together and start the season well. They've just fallen off a cliff as the year has progressed.

Can the likes of Fiorini, Atkins, McPherson, Sexton, Chol actually get games week after week and lay a platform of mature bodies for the younger talent to work from?

Down back, they seem sustainable. Witts, Miller, Rowell, Anderson hopefully is sustainable too, although you'd love one or two more proven mids that you can really trust to do a role apart from Ellis and Swallow. Up forward - there's just not a lot you can bank on right now.

Like this analysis.
Although I’d counter a couple of things.
Fiorini looks to have worked on a few of his deficiencies and looked much better end of last year and in pre season to date. Will be a fixture in the middle this year - certainly more game time than D Swallow who is playing more in defence.

Sharp as an offensive winger is in for a great year IMO but obviously quite inexperienced still.

Miller, Rowell, Anderson, fiorini likely to see bulk centre bounces.

From best 22 - swallow, macpherson/Flanders/Davies (probably competing for 2 spot), Weller, rankine, Holman the extended centre bounce rotation.

Bowes also to play mid this year when he comes back from shoulder injury.

Hollands to work his way in

Dedicated vfl depth / injury backups: constable, tsitsas, Atkins

 

[lionshine]

I think the potential of Hollands and Andrew who haven't even played yet is enough to propel them up the ladder in future years. They have the likes of Miller, Rowell, Anderson Lukosius, King(Not this year), Rankine, Powell, Ainsworth, Ballard, Sharp to take them to new heights over the next few years which means by the time Hollands and Andrew come in they could give them that added push to become a top 8 or top 4 side. In Hollands case he could play regularly this season, Andrew probably not until next year you'd think but on talent and athletic ability alone could play seniors this year in my opinion.