Gold Coast mid-season report card: Will wild weather clear for Suns?

THE Gold Coast Suns are at a crossroad but more wins such as those against Hawthorn, West Coast and Geelong will be a start in getting them on the right track.

THE Gold Coast Suns are at a crossroad and the upcoming few weeks could determine both the season and immediate future of the club.

The result of upcoming fixtures against Hawthorn, Carlton and St Kilda will impact their hopes of a first finals appearance, coach Rodney Eade’s position as well as other senior football officials and potentially Steven May and Gary Ablett’s decisions on whether they remain at the club.

When tall Sam Day dislocated his hip in the first quarter of Gold Coast’s opening pre-season game against Brisbane, Eade must have been wondering if another injury-ravaged season lay ahead.

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The Suns have so far avoided replicating the past two years with all but Day now on the injury list and nearly all the highly touted draftees have had an influence in their first season.

Eade will be judged on what he can get out of the Suns in the final season of his three-year contract at the club and he is yet to categorically convince the club he should be at the helm beyond 2017.

Steven May is yet to decide whether he’ll stay at the Suns. Picture: Getty Images

Injuries blurred the lines in his first two seasons and it is as hard as ever to gauge his influence on the team’s performances now.

Eade has frequently rolled out some of the youngest teams in the competition this year.

Historic wins over Hawthorn and West Coast and another promising victory over Geelong have been short highlights in a year where the gap between the good and bad couldn’t be bigger.

For fleeting moments the Suns look to have finally figured out who they are, their game plan and how to win but the same side has frequently fallen to pieces when the heat is put on them by an opposition team.

Frustrated coaches don’t know what they will get from quarter-to-quarter and have lamented their lack of fight.

Gold Coast showed enough fight to record a tight win over West Coast but the Eagles did their best to give the game away with their own late mistakes.

The Suns need more wins like those against West Coast. Picture: AAP

Jarrod Harbrow’s drink-driving charge and Jack Martin’s assault within 48 hours of each other isn’t cause for concern surrounding the culture at Gold Coast - it is one of the few areas where Eade’s influence has been visible.

Rather it is the absence of Harbrow, who has been among Gold Coast’s best players, for at least this week’s game against the Hawks that troubles fans the most.

Suns football manager Marcus Ashcroft knows how important the upcoming period is for Gold Coast remains confident the side can get the wins they need while determining Harbrow’s final club-imposed suspension.

“The next two weeks are critical for us to ensure we continue to build on what we have done over the last week or so,” Ashcroft said.

“Jarrod will be missed. He has been one of our best three of four players all year. But we are also confident in the players that are there.

“They had a great result on the weekend and the confidence is really high.

“The evidence they can actually fight back and win a game of footy is going to help them when they playing a foreign environment.

“Having beaten Hawthorn back in Round 3, that memory is still current in the players’ minds.”

ROBBO SAYS

A mixed half-season has Rodney Eade no guarantee to coach next year. Been pasted three times (both Adelaide teams and GWS), but beat Geelong, Carlton and West Coast, so they are capable. China was embarrassing, as was the Lion loss.

Rocket’s lot has been painful — morale and cultural issues in season one, injuries last year and all over the shop this season. His main job is drag a consistent level of competitiveness from his squad.

ADAM COONEY SAYS

After the Melbourne game it looked as if the sun was setting on a another Rodney Eade coaching tenure. Lacking leadership during that second half, I feared it may unravel up there. You know things are tense when Rocket kicks Gary off the massage table to get some tension relieving treatment to the upper deltoid area himself.

But a stirring victory over the Eagles breathed some life into the Suns’ season. Then Jarrad Harbrow breathed some life into a police breatho last week and subsequently was suspended.

Still in the hunt but unlikely to sneak into the eight.

MONEY MAN

GARY ABLETT: The former skipper is averaging the most possessions (32.11) of his past four seasons and has showed his best football isn’t beyond him.

Where will Gary Ablett be next year? Picture: AAP

SURPRISE PACKET

JACK LESLIE: It has taken four seasons to play regular senior football, but Leslie has improved so much he is now keeping Rory Thompson out of the team.

GONE BACKWARDS

TOM NICHOLLS: He was Gold Coast’s preferred ruckman for the past two seasons, but the arrival of Jarrod Witts from Collingwood has kept him out of the senior team for the whole season so far.

SEASON SNAPSHOT

(17th — 3 wins, 7 losses — 78.9%)

SO FAR ...

R1 L2 Brisbane

R2 L102 GWS

R3 W86 Hawthorn

R4 W28 Carlton

R5 L67 Adelaide

R6 L13 North Melbourne

R7 W25 Geelong

R8 L72 Port Adelaide

R10 L35 Melbourne

R11 W3 West Coast

THE RUN HOME

R12 Hawthoen MCG

R13 Carlton MS

R14 St Kilda ES

R15 North Melbourne MS

R16 Sydney SCG

R17 Collingwood MS

R18 Western Bulldogs CS

R19 Richmond MS

R20 Fremantle DS

R21 Brisbane G

R22 Essendon MS

R23 Port Adelaide AO

STAT LEADERS

Ranking Points

Gary Ablett 111

Aaron Hall 96

Jarrod Witts 95

Jarrod Harbrow 94

Steven May 91

Disposals

Gary Ablett 32.1

Aaron Hall 26.5

Michael Barlow 26.4

Jarrod Harbrow 25.5

Jarryd Lyons 25.4

Kick Rating

Brandon Matera +8.1%

Tom J. Lynch +7.1%

Jack Martin +6.8%

Adam Saad +6.3%

Gary Ablett +6.1%

Contested Possessions

Jarryd Lyons 13

Gary Ablett 12.6

David Swallow 10.3

Touk Miller 9.9

Michael Barlow 8.3

Uncontested Possessions

Aaron Hall 20.8

Gary Ablett 18.9

Jarrod Harbrow 18.5

Kade Kolodjashnij 17.8

Michael Barlow 17.4

Metres Gained

Aaron Hall 535

Gary Ablett 483

Pearce Hanley 416

Jarrod Harbrow 393

Alex Sexton 363

Intercept Possessions

Steven May 7.8

Jack Leslie 6.6

Rory Thompson 6.3

Jarrod Harbrow 5.6

Jesse Joyce 5.4

Score Involvements

Gary Ablett 8.4

Tom J. Lynch 8

Aaron Hall 6.9

Brandon Matera 6.9

Michael Barlow 6.2

Pressure Points

David Swallow 46.5

Gary Ablett 42.6

Jarryd Lyons 40.7

Michael Barlow 38.9

Touk Miller 35.6

Goals

Tom J. Lynch 25

Brandon Matera 19

Peter Wright 12

Callum Ah Chee 11

Aaron Hall 9

Originally published as Gold Coast mid-season report card: Will wild weather clear for Suns?