Gold Coast Suns address Matt Rowell form slump ahead of Western Bulldogs clash

After two weeks where he had little impact, the heat is rising on Matt Rowell to recapture his best form. But one teammate has pointed the finger at those around the midfielder for the reason behind his slump.

Gold Coast ruckman Jarrod Witts says the Suns “have to be better” at supporting Matt Rowell after the superstar midfielder was tagged out of the game in Sunday night’s disappointing QClash defeat to Brisbane.

After a blistering start to the season that had him ranked among the top Brownlow Medal fancies, Rowell’s numbers have dropped substantially over the past fortnight in large part due to close checking from rivals.

Sydney sent James Jordon to Rowell in round seven, limiting him to just 16 disposals and five clearances, yet the Suns were able to win despite his modest impact thanks to a stunning second-half surge.

However against the benchmark midfield in the competition Gold Coast was left to rue Rowell’s lack of influence, with the Lions’ chief stopper, Josh Dunkley, keeping him to 16 disposals and a solitary clearance — the lowest total of his career.

“Rowelly is one of our best players and we want the ball in his hands so we will always be looking for ways to help him,” Witts told this masthead.

“Definitely on the weekend — and potentially the past fortnight — we have to be better. We have to help him out more and find ways to get him more of the ball.

“We’ve played against two quality opponents (Sydney and Brisbane) so the battle is always going to be there. But we can definitely do more to find ways to help him out.”

Without their clearance king at his brilliant best the Suns were smashed around stoppage, 47-29. That flowed into the rest of the contest, with Brisbane also dominating the contested possession battle by plus-22 and inside 50s, 56-40.

“It was disappointing to lose clearance and contested ball off the back of that,” Witts conceded.

“Looking at the season so far, we have been quite strong in that area.

“I think that is the bit that is so frustrating. We didn’t put our best foot forward in a game that was very important to us.”

Witts said Saturday’s blockbuster clash against the Western Bulldogs in Darwin came at a perfect time for the Suns’ midfield to make amends for its down day against the Lions.

The Dogs are flying since the return of skipper Marcus Bontempelli, having won their past three matches by an average of 64 points.

Josh Dunkley clamps Matt Rowell during the QClash.

In that same span Luke Beveridge’s side is plus-47 in clearance differential.

“There’s no better challenge than the Dogs this week,” Witts said.

“They’re going great in their midfield and playing some great footy as a team. It comes at a good time.

“The next couple of weeks is going to be really important for us against quality opposition (Bulldogs and Hawthorn. We get to test ourselves against the best again.”

Gold Coast hits the road this weekend for its annual two-week trip to the Top End for home games against the Bulldogs and then Hawthorn.

The Suns are a perfect 6-0 at TIO Stadium since signing that deal, which included a 64-point thumping of Geelong last year.

Keeping that win streak alive, against quality opposition like the Dogs and Hawks, would position the Suns nicely for a tilt at playing finals for the first time in their history.

“The whole trip has been a successful one for us in the past and we want to keep it that way,” Witts said.

“We love going up there, we play really good footy up there, it suits the way we play.

“Just being up there, getting out in the communities and things like that, you can feel that there is a lot of love for us up there and we really enjoy that.”

Originally published as Gold Coast Suns address Matt Rowell form slump ahead of Western Bulldogs clash