Alex Sexton says clarity around his role at Suns is behind his standout form for Gold Coast
ALEX Sexton says clarity around his role at the Suns has been the driving force behind his standout form for Gold Coast.
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ALEX Sexton says clarity around his role at the Suns has been the driving force behind his standout form for Gold Coast.
Sexton has been one of the biggest improvers for the Suns in 2018, kicking a team and career-high 27 goals this season while spending the majority of his 21 games playing at forward while rotating through the midfield.
The 24-year-old’s consistency in position is a change from the flexible approach the Queenslander was forced to take under former coaches Guy McKenna and Rodney Eade who used Sexton’s versatility to shift him around the ground.
Sexton said he felt more natural spending the majority of his time at forward.
“Narrowing my focuses and narrowing my role this year has helped me a lot,” Sexton said.
“There is real clarity around my role week-to-week and it’s enabled me to perform and come in mentally fresh.
“Forward comes naturally to me. It was the same when I was younger as well.”
Sexton said his time in nearly every position in his previous six years at the Suns had helped him develop a well-rounded game he was now benefiting from.
“The start of my career I was all over the shop with my positioning and it’s taught me a lot about the game and different positions on the ground,” Sexton said.
“I respect every role on the field and I’m able to play that but still having clarity around my role this year has made me step up.”
Sexton’s right-foot snap from just inside the 50m arc in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s loss to Brisbane earned him a nomination for the AFL’s goal of the year award.
The 186cm talent said he acted on pure instinct when he beat Lions defender Nick Robertson to a ground ball and snapped it under pressure to put the Suns nine-points ahead.
“I’ll just leave it at instinct,” Sexton said.
“I don’t know what was running through my head. I just picked the ball up and thought I’d have a shot and it came off.
“I thought it would be a goal (when I hit it).”
Gold Coast will complete another disappointing season when they go into their final game of the season against Geelong this Saturday.
The Suns have won four games, two less than last year, as they struggle to make an impact in the AFL eight years after their induction into the competition.
But Sexton said he believed the club had found the right man in Dew to take the club forward.
“He is the right man for the job,” Sexton said.
“Stuey has been great this year in building a lot of trust and a lot of tight relationships within the club.
“It’s a footy club and we are all part of it. Upstairs and downstairs we are all part of this one goal.
“Frustrating is a word for (the season) but you have to roll with the punches in a footy club because there is going to be changes.
“(Dew is) my third coach but I have already seen a massive change around the footy club.”
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