Gary Buckenara analyses Gold Coast’s list after 2016 season
JAEGER O’Meara choosing Essendon is worst-case scenario for Gold Coast but there is a way the Suns can make it work and it involves the No.1 pick. GARY BUCKENARA’S LIST ANALYSIS
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THE Suns had a horror season with injuries and two key midfielders have requested a trade but there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Don’t be fooled by their ladder position this year — this Gold Coast list, when fit, can knock on the door of finals. Their best 22 can compete with anyone, especially when Gary Ablett is up and going.
Yes Dion Prestia and Jaeger O’Meara have requested trades but the former has played just 20 games in the last two seasons and the latter hasn’t played at all. They’re not the be all and end all for the Suns despite being very good players.
When Gold Coast have had their best side on the park they’ve pushed the top teams, even away from home but it’s the depth that has fallen and that’s why they’ve struggled to cope with the injury toll.
That’s where development comes into it and that’s taken a bit of a step back because the NEAFL team the young guys have played in hasn’t been a good one, they get smashed every week.
They’ve recruited a bit with that in mind I think, getting players from the WAFL or SANFL to come across and build up the reserves but they need to step away from that.
Ablett is a gun, as is Tom Lynch and David Swallow if he can get his body right. Kade Kolodjashnij is a good player, Aaron Hall and Touk Miller have taken steps forward and Josh Schoenfeld shows promise as do Sam Day and Jack Martin.
Peter Wright is a very good young player who plays his best footy closer to goal while pinch-hitting in the ruck. He doesn’t have the tank to play as a No.1 ruckman but I wouldn’t use him in that role anyway, I would use him sparingly as a ruckman and only really if he was finding it hard to get into the game — a bit like what Hawthorn used to do with Jarryd Roughead.
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I really like Adam Saad, he’s got great kicking skills and takes the game on. He’s got that long quick kick I speak about a bit — it penetrates and gets to its target fast because it stays very low.
Nick Malceski is one I’ve been disappointed with, it hasn’t quite worked out. He should be one of their leading players but he’s not. He’s in their best 22, just. But as their list develops I think he’ll drop out of that and become a depth player. The Suns hoped he’d be a good B-grade player for them for some time but he’s dropped to a C-grader.
Despite getting good concessions when they first game into the competition, it’s time the Suns went back and invested heavily in the draft and their academy to bring in good young kids.
They’ve been left behind with their academy when compared to the Swans and Giants — they’re not getting the free hits in terms of being able to draft players no one else can because of they’ve been part of their academy.
A concern for the Suns is they’ve had a lot of highly-touted players leave through either not being able to conform to the demands of AFL and possibly a combination of the lifestyle on the Gold Coast compared to a footy state like Melbourne or Adelaide. That may be why the development of some of these players has been stunted or why they’ve wanted to go back home and into a more footy-orientated environment. They must get that aspect right.
An important question they need to ask themselves is: Where do they all see the club now? Do they see themselves as a contender or having taken quite a few steps backwards?
Everyone at the club needs to be on the same page with that because that’s the only way good decisions can be made and a true understanding of where the list is at can be achieved.
In terms of trades Prestia and O’Meara want out and getting top-end draft picks in return should be Gold Coast’s priority. Forget players, get into the first-round of the draft and load back up with top talent to refresh and regenerate after losing players.
Prestia is definitely worth a first-round draft pick and Gold Coast should target Richmond’s No.6 pick but might press for a little bit more to see if they can get something else on top of that. But I think pick No.6 alone is fair.
O’Meara is a whole other kettle of fish. If he chooses Essendon that’s the worst-case scenario.
The Bombers will play hardball and so will Gold Coast to get the best deal, so what becomes important is their relationship with O’Meara and his manager. Keep that relationship solid so that makes him want to do right by the club that invested in him. Alienate him and he won’t have that connection and won’t feel bad about walking into the pre-season draft and to Essendon for nothing. That will hurt.
If he picks Essendon a way they could do the deal is ask for the No.1 draft pick but give up one of their own first-round picks. They did a deal with Melbourne last year to get their first-round pick, currently No.8, while they’ve also got their own first pick, currently No.4 . So they could say to Essendon we’ll give you O’Meara and pick No.8 for pick No.1 and see if the Bombers, considering they’re getting all their top players back, might be willing to drop back a few places in the draft.
I think that would be a good enough deal to get Essendon to give up the prized No.1 pick.
If he chooses another club his value alone is one top-10 pick.
In terms of players at other clubs, one I would be looking at is Jarrod Witts from Collingwood. He’s a ruckman who isn’t getting a look in despite playing good footy at VFL level and the Suns are crying out for a ruckman.
WHAT THEY NEED
The obvious one is to retain players. In terms of what they don’t have is a ruckman to help Tom Nicholls, they’re desperate for one. Wright is there but as I explained he’s more a forward-ruck rather than a ruck-forward. They’ve lost a lot of inside midfielders so that’s an area to look at — inside mids who can win the footy and make good decisions when they get it. The Suns also need more outside pace and rebound defenders with good kicking skills to help Adam Saad and wingers with good kicking skills to deliver inside 50. They’re the critical needs.
WHO’S UNDER THE PUMP?
Jarrad Grant is definitely under the pump, he hasn’t really produced much since joining the club. Jack Leslie, Matt Shaw and Clay Cameron also need to show something as do Daniel Currie and Keegan Brooksby who have been back-up ruckman but haven’t really performed. Ex-Hawk Mitch Hallahan has been injured a lot but when he’s played he probably hasn’t delivered on what the club was expecting but he may survive because the Suns do need inside midfielders.
WHO SHOULD GO
Seb Tape, Luke Russell, Danny Stanley and Tom Keough have already been delisted but I think Brooksby hasn’t done enough and should be on the way out. He’s played the back-up role but I think there are now better options out there in terms of more athletic ability for what the AFL system demands. I also think time is up for Currie.
CRYSTAL BALL
Gold Coast was on a fast track but then a huge injury toll derailed that as well as what looked like a culture issue within the club that saw the likes of Charlie Dixon and Harley Bennell depart. When you’re trying to establish a club, having culture issues like the Suns have had can be hard to bounce back from, it can take a while. So from board level down there needs to be patience and understanding.
Having said that, if they have a better season with injuries next year, and surely the luck has to turn at some stage, they should be pushing up into finals calculations.
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