Stuart Dew already noting players to replace Rankine
Gold Coast Suns coach Stuart Dew is trusting his playing group to fire without gun forward Izak Rankine, noting who might step up to take his role.
AFL
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Gold Coast Suns coach Stuart Dew has plenty of “trust” in his playing group to cover the loss of star forward Izak Rankine, saying his departure is an opportunity for someone to step up.
The 22-year-old requested a trade to the Adelaide Crows at the end of the 2022 season after four years at the Suns.
Dew said several players were already putting up their hand to replace Rankine, with pre-season beginning on Monday.
“We’ve got high trust in this group, they’re proven through the two interrupted years they can look after themselves and prepare ready to go,” Dew said.
“It’s an opportunity isn’t it, Izak didn’t play the last game (where the Suns defeated North Melbourne 114-47) and Malcolm Rosas stepped up, I think he had five shots on goal and Alex (Sexton) got back in.
“It won’t change too much, it’s just an opportunity for someone else and we anticipate the ball coming inside-50 a bit so whoever is down there is going to get a lot of opportunities and we think we can fill that for sure.”
Small forward Sexton is contracted to the Suns until the end of 2023, but spent mixed time between the Suns’ seniors and VFL side in 2022.
21-year-old Rosas junior played just four games for the club in 2021 but became a consistent part of the forward line in 2022 notching 15 for the season.
Dew also confirmed young star Ben King would be on track to make his return to AFL football after an anterior cruciate ligament tear sidelined him prior to the 2022 season.
“He’s in good shape, he’s done a lot of work, clearly it’s been a learning curve for him and he’s attacked it … he’s a nice recruit to have ready to come in given I still remember the feeling when he went down pre-season.”
Dew acknowledged the team were searching for better results after finishing one place short of finals.
“Our role, footy department specifically, is to make sure we get the results on field and we’re really comfortable with our progress but we know that the biggest challenge comes now,” Dew said.
“The big step is getting into the September action and I think as a club and footy department that’s what we’re focused on.”
At a grassroots level, the Gold Coast has become a powerhouse in grassroots from the QAFL, which is dominated by the Broadbeach Cats, Labrador Tigers and Palm Beach, up to the Southport Sharks and Suns reserves who overrepresented Victorian teams in VFL finals this year.
“A lot of our staff members are in and around in those (local) clubs, they’ve got children at those clubs so there’s a natural relationship there but our players take a particular interest in local footy as well,” he said.
“I think that’s one of the strengths of our playing group, they really acknowledge the importance of community football, we really feel like a community club ourselves, so I think it’s fantastic and our players are good role models for these juniors around the place.”
Suns “desperate” to break AFLW’s top tier
The Gold Coast Suns are “desperate” to break into the AFLW’s untouchable tier of teams next year, following their best season to date.
The Suns finished ninth in Season 7, their best result since joining the competition in 2020, with five wins and five losses.
But coach Cameron Joyce said they’re yet to challenge the competition’s best.
“I think there’s been five or six teams that have been strong since the inception of the AFLW, which everyone knows and those teams are still the same right now,” Joyce said.
“There’s a gap in the competition and us and other teams are desperate to close that.
“There’s a number of things in terms of how we need to improve our ability to be more competitive against Brisbane, Melbourne, North Melbourne, those three and others.
“We’ve played three of the top four teams this year so we’ve been able to have a good look at where we’re at, but also where we need to improve.”
Joyce came to the Suns in 2021 and has played a major role in bringing the team from winless to now just over a win away from finals football.
“As a team, we’ve come from not winning a game 16 or 17 months ago to three wins and then five wins, and bam, we’re a couple of kicks off playing in finals,” Joyce said.
“We had a number of players increase their performance, we’ve seen that in a number of awards from best and fairest, all Australian, 22 under 22 squads, that are starting to get some reward and recognition.
“While we’re not content, we’re certainly happy with our progress.”
The players will have an extended nine-month off-season but Joyce said a lot could wrong for teams if they don’t manage that time well.
“I think it’s really important, because there will be players in the competition and teams that get it wrong, that it’s really important for us to get it right,” he said.
“That’s not over training, that’s not going crazy with our program, it’s finding that balance between giving the players a good rest and giving them a chance to recharge and then being able to build up accordingly.”
Captain Tara Bohanna said the break was well needed after playing back-to-back seasons in 2022.
“Towards the end there’s a bit of burn out, not just the two seasons but the two preseasons,” Bohanna said.
“I think it’ll be a good refresh, and I think it is critical that we do get that time off so we can reset and get a bit hungrier to go again.”
Bohanna said the players were also pushing for a proper season of more than just 10 rounds.
“If we can, it looks like we might get to play 12 or 14 games in the next couple of years,” she said.
“It is definitely the next step for us. We had the two seasons in one year where we got to play 20 games, which is great, but if we only have 10 games in a year it goes to the other extreme of not enough (games).
“Clearly we can play 20 games in the year. Hopefully we can keep building towards that because it would be awesome and you can really see where you’re at.”
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