AFL 2020: Suns forward Sam Day said players are daunted by the prospect of playing on the road for the foreseeable future
Suns forward Sam Day has declared the playing group isn’t daunted by the prospect of a lengthy road trip after the Queensland government announced strict new travel restrictions on Monday.
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SUNS forward Sam Day has declared the playing group isn’t daunted by the prospect of a lengthy road trip after the Queensland government announced strict new travel restrictions on Monday.
The Suns have taken full advantage of their hub hosting duties to date, winning three straight AFL games against intruders West Coast, Adelaide and Fremantle to rise to second on the ladder.
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But their rich run at home might not last much longer with Queensland-based teams now required to quarantine for 14 days upon return to the Sunshine State, meaning the Suns may face weeks away from home following their clash against Geelong on Saturday.
Day, who kicked one goal in the Suns’ victory over Fremantle on Saturday, believes his side could be tailor-made for hub life following their 10-week stint away from home in 2018 while the Coast hosted the Commonwealth Games.
“We are pretty tight as a group so I don’t feel like it would affect the group’s morale or how we are feeling about each other, it would just strengthen those bonds being in a tight-knit community like the other teams are up here,” Day, 27, said.
“The teams that can adapt the quickest and take any challenge head-on will play the best footy on the weekend because everyone has a tough job at the moment.
“We did have 10 weeks or so where we were playing away most weekends during the Commonwealth Games and had 10 or so days in Perth which was something we are facing at the moment depending on how the fixture goes.
“I feel like the group we have at the moment is a great group of guys who are enjoying each other’s company and if we can keep winning on the weekends it just makes things a little easier.”
Spots in the Suns starting 22 remain a sought after commodity after a combined scratch match with Fremantle and Port Adelaide on Saturday morning.
Suns football operations boss Jon Haines said Josh Corbett, Zac Smith, Izak Rankine, Peter Wright, Sam Flanders and Jez McLennan all performed strongly as the club’s usually lengthy injury list shrinks to just three players.
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“We’ve got great confidence that we’ve got over 30 players that can play AFL football and are really pushing hard for selection,” he said.
“We’ve got great confidence in a number of players that if there was an opportunity in the AFL team we could bring those players in.”
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