Suns mid-season draftee Mitch Riordan shines in club debut for Gold Coast NEAFL side
Mid-season recruit Mitch Riordan has caught the eye of Suns coaching staff with a scintillating performance in his club debut for Gold Coast.
AFL
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
MID-SEASON recruit Mitch Riordan has caught the eye of Suns coaching staff with a scintillating performance in his club debut for Gold Coast.
The no. 2 pick at the AFL’s mid-season draft in May gave the club a taste of what is to come when he breaks into the senior team, making 11 tackles while doing the grunt work inside Gold Coast’s NEAFL midfield in their 12.6 (78) to 9.9 (63) Round 11 win at Fankhauser Reserve on Saturday.
“He was impressive,” Suns NEAFL coach Nick Malceski said.
SUBSCRIPTION OFFER: GET FULL DIGITAL ACCESS + JABRA WIRELESS HEADPHONES
“It was the first time I had seen him play. He has been training for the last coupe of weeks and we wanted to manage him, not throw him straight in.
“He has had a big block of training while getting to know the boys and structures and how we want to play.
“He has fit in really well. The boys were asking where he was early in the year.
“To do that, especially against men, was terrific. It was the first time he had played against men.
“It was a good experience for him and he didn’t shy away from the contest which I love as a coach.”
The Suns caught the Sharks on the hop at Fankhauser Reserve on Saturday, booting three goals in the opening five minutes of the game.
It proved decisive for the Round 11 clash with the Sharks fighting back but managing to only stay around three goals behind throughout the contest.
The victory was Gold Coast’s third of the season and the Sharks second loss, adding to a difficult record against the Suns who they haven’t beaten in five years.
“We didn’t bring it up but in the last couple of weeks, our first quarters have been pretty poor,” Malceski said.
“We spoke about going hard at the start and trying to use our run, we had a couple of guys with good run, especially from the academy that we brought in.
“We wanted to run and test them the other way.
“It starts with the contest every week and we made that a real focus. We ended up losing that by 18 but 16 of them came in the last quarter I think when we were cooked.
“We knew they were always going to be coming. They are a bloody good footy team and Panda (Southport coach Stephen Daniel) has done a great job with them.”
Tom Nicholls was dominant in the ruck and the forwards cashed in, with Josh Gore kicking four goals while Connor Nutting and Brayden Crossley slotted two each.
Michael Rischitelli (32 disposals, one goal) was enormous in the midfield while Jacob Dawson (30 disposals) and Brad Scheer (27 disposals) were also solid contributors.
For Southport it was Tyler Roos (37 disposals, one goal) and Michael Manteit (28 disposals) who led the way while Jed Turner (2 goals) battled hard up front.
SIGN UP NOW FOR OUR FULL ON FOOTY GOLD COAST AUSSIE RULES NEWSLETTER
Track Watch: Doubts grow over star Sun’s Opening Round chances
The Suns could be on the verge of a major Opening Round blow, with one of their brightest stars now officially in doubt to make their first clash of the season against the Bombers.
‘F*** I miss it’: How the Cutters managed to sign former Sun
After stepping away from the AFL due to mental fatigue, former Richmond Tigers premiership star and Gold Coast Sun Brandon Ellis has rediscovered his love for the game, signing with the South Cairns Cutters for the 2025 season. This is why.