Unpacking the Suns’ four priorities for trade period and national draft

The footy world is bewildered at the Suns paying top dollar – in this case at least pick 6 – for Daniel Rioli. However, CALLUM DICK writes, the Suns’ priorities are different to most clubs.

Daniel Rioli. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

Gold Coast is willing to go chips-in to secure the talent it believes can help finally break its finals duck, chasing a high-profile trade for dashing Tiger Daniel Rioli.

So far only pick 6 has been discussed in a potential trade for the recently minted Jack Dyer medallist, but while Richmond is keen on pick 23 as well, packaging them is not on the Suns’ agenda. The standoff between the two clubs will likely cause trade talks to drag into next week.

The Suns have four priorities during the trade period.

Any scenario in which those four boxes can be ticked will be seen as a win.

The Jack Bowes to Geelong deal seems to hang over the Suns’ head like a dark cloud. No matter how many heads-up dealings have been made since, the average AFL punter still sees the Suns as an easy trade target – and perhaps rivals do, too. But we have short memories.

Only last year they were the envy of the AFL world when they successfully traded their way to a glut of draft picks that landed them four academy stars in the first round.

So successful was the Suns’ draft strategy last year that the AFL will change the bid-matching process from next year to make such a haul infinitely more difficult.

Don’t hate the player, hate the game.

Now the Bowes deal is again being discussed, somehow, as an example of why the Suns would be willing to part with both 6 and 23 for Rioli. But such a package has not been discussed.

And even if it was to play out that way, so long as the Suns ended the trade period with the aforementioned four boxes ticked then it would be a job well done as far as they are concerned.

The Suns will land Daniel Rioli during the trade period. Picture: Michael Klein

Gold Coast is one of the few clubs that doesn’t want to get any younger. As list boss Craig Cameron said on Tuesday, they were the “third-least experienced side” in the competition this year.

They played 17 players aged 23 or under last season. The majority of those are in their best-23.

The retirements of Brandon Ellis and Levi Casboult – and exit of Sam Day – only makes them even greener.

This may be a stacked draft, but the Suns already know their target – Lombard – and anything beyond that would be a bonus. Adding multiple 17 year olds this year would not move the needle towards finals, but Rioli and Noble might.

With their academy access and priority to attract ready-made talent, the Suns are playing a different game to the rest of the AFL. They simply value picks differently to what other clubs would.

Gold Coast is not Geelong. It can offer the lifestyle but not the location.

It is not Carlton or Collingwood – two established powerhouse clubs in the heart of Melbourne that can tempt players home to Victoria on brand value alone.

If the Suns want to become a destination club then they need to win games of football. To do that, they need to bring in established talent.

It can’t be Dan Houston, because the wantaway Port Adelaide star prefers a move to Victoria.

Rioli and Noble are two players who, at 27, are in the prime of their careers and actively want to move away from Melbourne. Such players are a scarcity.

Rioli might not be Houston. But he is absolutely the next-best thing in trade period. And for pick 6, which would otherwise be caught up in any bid on Lombard, it could be a price the Suns are willing to pay.

Gold Coast believed it was on the cusp of a finals berth last year and fell short. Now, after 12 months under Damien Hardwick, 2025 is make or break.

No coach knows how to get the best out of Rioli than Hardwick.

Rioli’s arrival would unlock options for the Suns. It would allow Sam Flanders to remain in midfield, where he starred at the end of the season. It strengthens the greatest area of need.

And he is versatile. He started his career as a small-forward and spent the first six years of his career there under Hardwick before shifting to defence in 2022.

The Suns made a concerted effort in 2024 to play players in multiple positions. Think Flanders at halfback and midfield and Mac Andrew forward and back. Hardwick spent all year tinkering with his side so that he knew what was at his disposal for a full tilt in 2025.

The 2023 draft crop of Jed Walter, Ethan Read, Will Graham and Jake Rogers will be a core four that the Suns can build around for at least the next decade.

Will Graham. Picture: Michael Klein

Jed Walter. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

Lombard will arrive in November and immediately improve the forward line. Uwland is a goalkicking midfielder who is already being touted as a potential No. 1 pick next year – and there could be as many as three more academy stars pushing for first round grades by the time the 2025 draft rolls around.

This is the path that Hardwick and co. plans to follow to the premiership he promised when he walked through the door last August.

Perhaps the AFL world still sees the Suns as an easy fleece in the trade period. But they are playing a different game to the rest of the competition and so long as they get the pieces of the puzzle they are after, they will be happy.