AFL Sydney v Gold Coast: The numbers that show the Suns’ midfield is best in the business

Isaac Heeney might be the most in-form player in the competition right now but Gold Coast’s midfield brigade is the best in the business according to Champion Data. And it’s not even close.

Gold Coast’s engine room is humming like we’ve never seen it before and Sunday afternoon at the SCG is the stage to make a serious statement.

Isaac Heeney may be the competition’s top midfielder through the first two months of the season but the Suns boast the best on-ball brigade of them all – and it’s not close.

The Swans’ superstar is comfortably rated the best player in the AFL after earning more midfield minutes this season, but the man sniffing at his heels hails from the Glitter Strip and his posse of possession-getters are on fire.

Matt Rowell has enjoyed a similarly sensational start to the season, averaging 27 disposals (19 contested), 9.6 clearances and 6.8 tackles to lead Gold Coast’s glut of ball magnets.

Best mates Matt Rowell and Noah Anderson have enjoyed super stars to season 2024. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

In Rowell (No. 2), Noah Anderson (No. 8) and Touk Miller (No. 10) the Suns’ entire starting rotation ranks in the top 10 among midfielders according to Champion Data.

No other club features more than one.

When you consider Sam Flanders, currently the third-ranked general defender, was averaging 29 disposals and 3.5 clearances before his shift into defence a fortnight ago, the Suns have ostensibly featured four top 10 caliber on-ballers so far this season.

Add two-gamer Sam Clohesy into the mix, who is the top-ranked winger by a wide margin – albeit from a small sample size – and Hardwick has his midfield well and truly humming.

Champion Data’s Top-Ranked Midfielders (2+ games)
Rank	Player	Rating
1	Isaac Heeney (SYD)	144
2	Matt Rowell (GCS)*	131
3	Jack Steele (STK)	130
4	Zak Butters (PA)	128
5	Caleb Serong (FRE)	128
6	Zach Merrett (ESS)	127
7	Tom Green (GWS)	121
8	Noah Anderson (GCS)*	119
9	Lachie Neale (BRI)	119
10	Touk Miller (GCS)*	118

Gold Coast is unbeaten at home but winless on the road this season.

Hardwick’s side faces one of the sternest strips in footy on Sunday when it travels to Sydney to take on the Swans.

But the Suns are among the best-performed travelling teams at the SCG having won three of their past five matches there.

Hardwick said the Suns coaching staff would have a contingency plan in place should Heeney get off the chain however he backed his midfield group to be the more damaging of the two.

“He’s in a rare vein of form,” Hardwick said of Heeney.

“We’ll certainly back our guys in to start with but whether it’s at stoppage or on turnover he’s valuable in both facets of the game (so) we’ll have some plans in place if he does get out of hand.

Isaac Heeney is in career-best form after earning more midfield minutes this season. Photo by Phil Hillyard

“We’ve seen if you do let him go he can really hurt you, but we also want to back in our players to understand and execute their roles and hopefully they have to worry about our guys going the other way.

“They’ve got a great midfield, I think we have a great midfield, and as most people would say the game is won or lost there, so our boys are looking forward to the challenge and I’m sure the Sydney boys are the same.”

Originally published as AFL Sydney v Gold Coast: The numbers that show the Suns’ midfield is best in the business