Gold Coast Suns say its ‘our responsibility’ to make most of strong AFL draft hand

A generous AFL handout after a horror year has gifted the Gold Coast Suns with a huge swag of high draft picks. Now its up to them to nail the players they use those picks on.

Gold Coast Suns are determined to capitalise on their strong hand in next week’s national draft, with the club accepting it’s “our responsibility” to make the most of a generous AFL assistance package.

The Suns were granted a priority pick at No.1 in this year’s draft, as well as the first pick of the second round (No.19) and the ability to pre-sign any academy members without facing rival club bids.

Stream over 50 sports Live & On-Demand with KAYO SPORTS on your TV, computer, mobile or tablet. Just $25/month, no lock-in contract. Get your 14-day free trial and start streaming instantly >

Matthew Rowell is the nominal No.1 pick and is expected to be a Sun. Picture: Dylan Burns/Getty Images

Having already held pick No.2 after finishing on the bottom of the ladder this year and Brisbane’s first pick (No.15) as part of a 2018 trade, the Suns have been left with four selections inside the top 20 of what is rated a strong draft.

“It’s up to us now to really utilize that and capitalise on what we’ve got,” Gold Coast recruiting manager Kall Burns told the Herald Sun.

“That’s our responsibility to do that and we’ll just keep supplementing that with really good, mature players.

“Bringing in (Brandon) Ellis, (Hugh) Greenwood, (Zac) Smith this year (in the trade period), who are strong characters and very good footballers, we feel like we’re getting that nice balance now along with the maturity of the group.”

The Suns have been on struggle street for too long, but help will soon be at hand. Picture: Getty Images

While they have not ruled out trading picks one and two, the Suns are widely-tipped to select Victorian best mates Matthew Rowell and Noah Anderson.

The assistance package also allows Gold Coast to pre-sign their academy team captain Connor Budarick, a midfielder likened to Essendon’s Devon Smith and considered a second-round prospect under normal circumstances.

The Suns made four selections inside the top 23 in last year’s national draft and have had 19 players sign contract extensions in the past 12 months.

Noah Anderson could also be a Sun if Gold Coast plum for the two best players in the draft. Picture: AFL Photos/via Getty Images

“That’s really, really positive signs,” Burns said.

“They’re committing to the club but they’re committing to each other. The real positive to take out is this group think they’ve got something special and they’re really dedicated to each other so that’s extremely positive.

“Our strategy was to go to the draft last year and this year really strongly given the hands that we were dealt. That was no doubt our strategy, ‘Let’s go big in the draft in 2018 and 2019, potentially even 2020 and see where we go from there’.”

MORE AFL NEWS:

Originally published as Gold Coast Suns say its ‘our responsibility’ to make most of strong AFL draft hand