AFL Gold Coast Suns: Stats that show Suns are historically inefficient going inside 50

A historically inefficient forward line is hurting Gold Coast’s hopes of a maiden finals berth as the hot-and-cold Suns search for answers.

A historically inefficient forward line is hurting Gold Coast’s hopes of a maiden finals berth as the hot-and-cold Suns search for answers to their shocking form away from home.

The loss to lowly North Melbourne at the weekend continued a run of eight consecutive road defeats, prompting Damien Hardwick to declare his side needed to “grow the f--- up” in an impassioned post-match press conference.

It was a massive come down from seven days earlier, when the Suns showed incredible mental fortitude to overrun a surging Collingwood and keep their perfect record at People First Stadium intact.

Hardwick’s side is comfortably the worst travelling team in the competition, with almost every key metric dropping off a cliff when compared to its form at home.

Gold Coast’s shock loss to North Melbourne continued a run of eight away defeats this season. Picture: Morgan Hancock/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

But one constant across the season, home or away, has been the Suns’ lack of bang-for-buck in their forward 50 entries.

They rank No.2 for inside 50s this season, behind only Brisbane, but 17th for score per inside 50. Only 40 per cent of forward-50 entries hit the scoreboard.

The Suns had 16 more inside-50s than North Melbourne on Saturday but were unable to convert that territory dominance into a winning score.

That mid-forward connection breakdown became one of the key focus areas in match review this week.

“We had a lot of inside-50s but just didn’t take our chances,” Suns forward Ben Long conceded.

“At times the flow of play and connection between the mids and forwards, we weren’t on the same page. More so just connecting with a kick inside 50. We’re getting opportunities, but we’re just not getting bang for buck.

“It’s hard to swallow. We’re looking to be a solid side and we expected to beat North.

“We’ll obviously work on it. Take what we can from the game and learn from it. But to be honest it was hard to swallow. We’re looking forward to what’s next.”

Suns’ Forward 50 Return (Champion Data)
2024	AFL Rank
Inside 50s	57.0	2nd
Score per Inside 50	40%	17th
Kick Inside 50 Retention	40.8%	18th
Forward 50 Ground balls	-5.3	18th

Never in the 18-team era has a team ranked in the top three for inside-50s and bottom three for inside-50 efficiency, until now.

And it gets even worse.

A staple of Hardwick’s premiership-winning Richmond sides was tackle pressure, particularly in the front half.

The Tigers brought forward-half pressure acts back into vogue and that blueprint was quickly copied by the rest of the competition, understanding how important field position and territory dominance was.

But it is a style Hardwick has not yet been able to implement on the Gold Coast, at least to the same standard.

Ben Long says the Suns are getting to work improving their forward 50 efficiency. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

The Suns are the worst in the AFL at retaining possession when going inside 50, with almost 60 per cent of their entries falling into opposition hands. They also rank dead last for ground ball gets inside 50.

Ben King and Jack Lukosius have been lauded for their goal kicking exploits in recent months but the pair struggle to make an impact defensively.

King averages just 5.1 forward half pressure acts (FHPA) per game and Lukosius 4.6.

Among key forwards who have played 10 or more games this season, only his brother Max and Jesse Hogan average fewer FHPA than King.

Using the same 10-game metric, Lukosius ranks last among general forwards.

But against North, the blanket assessment was that too many players underperformed in the defensive aspects of their game.

Earlier this week vice-captain Sam Collins revealed there were some home truths spoken about in match review. He said the Suns’ intent was not up to standard over the four quarters.

Effort is one of the easiest yet most important KPIs of a football side. It was a stinging appraisal of the playing group from the coaching staff.

Worst Seasons for Kick Inside 50 Retention (Champion Data)
Club	Season	Percentage
Gold Coast	2024	40.8%
Gold Coast	2019	42.7%
Hawthorn	2004	43.6%
Essendon	2015	44.1%
North Melbourne	2020	44.3%

“There were moments where we did bring it, we just didn’t bring that intent for long enough,” Long said.

“When it’s your time to go you have to really go and we didn’t do that over four quarters.”

Long’s bone-rattling tackle on Billy Frampton set the agenda for the Suns in the win over Collingwood a fortnight ago.

The 26 year old is quietly compiling a career-best campaign, not only on the scoreboard but also with his tackle pressure which rates in the upper echelon of general forwards in the competition.

Among all Suns forwards he ranks second for FHPA this season, only marginally behind Malcolm Rosas Jr who is banging down the door for an AFL recall.

In his four AFL games this season, Rosas Jr averaged 12.8 FHPA – among the top-15 general forwards in the AFL and the best at the Suns, with Long and Jake Rogers not far behind.

The goal sneak was in close to career-best form before he went down with a hamstring injury against Hawthorn two months ago.

He returned to action in the VFL at the weekend and impressed with 17 disposals, two goals and five tackles.

Be it structure or personnel, it is clear something must change if the Suns are to become the finals contender Hardwick and others expect them to be.

Originally published as AFL Gold Coast Suns: Stats that show Suns are historically inefficient going inside 50