Gold Coast news: New captain Noah Anderson on Matt Rowell, Touk Miller injury news
Gold Coast have a new captain who is full of belief that Matt Rowell will spurn the advances of rival clubs and re-sign with the Suns beyond 2025. Plus, details on Touk Miller’s knee concern.
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Gold Coast captain Noah Anderson says both he and Matt Rowell “feel a responsibility to help bring this club success” in a strong statement of belief that his midfield partner in crime will spurn the advances of rival clubs and re-sign with the Suns beyond 2025.
Rowell, 23, is off-contract at the end of this season and a slew of Victorian clubs including Geelong, Collingwood, Essendon and the Western Bulldogs are circling to lure him back home.
This week Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick told Code Sports he sat down with Rowell to discuss his future and prove to him how serious the Suns were about becoming a successful AFL club.
When Rowell signed his most recent two-year contract extension at the end of 2022, Anderson soon followed in penning a four-year deal to the end of 2027.
The pair have since established themselves as two of the premier midfielders in the AFL and on Friday, having been unveiled as the Suns’ youngest-ever captain, Anderson hailed Rowell for his impact on the playing group.
“He’s extremely important. He demands respect by the way he plays – he’s probably one of, if not the best, most competitive beasts in the AFL,” Anderson said of Rowell, who was voted into the six-man leadership group.
“The boys adore him. He’s a great connector of people, he’s extremely unique and funny and it’s on us to create an environment that he wants to play footy in and I have extreme confidence that we’re heading in the right direction.
“The way he plays and trains and his elite standards are his own form of leadership, but he’s taken big steps forward this pre-season with some of his off-field stuff and having an influence on the group in other ways.
“I think both of us feel a responsibility to help bring this club success.
“Those who have gone before us … and put so much into this club that haven’t seen success, they have put so much time into us that now it’s our turn to keep moving it forward and keep influencing those young guys and hopefully seeing that success.”
TOUK’S INJURY SCARE
Gold Coast midfielder Touk Miller has been sent for scans on his right knee in what the club says is a precautionary measure after the 28-year-old sat out Thursday’s match simulation.
Miller spent the bulk of Thursday’s session on the sideline and could be seen gesturing to his right leg while in conversation with head coach Damien Hardwick and midfield coach Shaun Grigg.
Miller was sent for scans on Friday morning meaning he was absent from the leadership group announcement, which unveiled Noah Anderson as the club’s new stand-alone captain for 2025.
Depending on the result of the scans, Miller is expected to be on a modified training program next week as he works toward full fitness ahead of the February 20 practice matches against Brisbane and Collingwood.
SUNS NAME YOUNGEST SKIPPER IN THE AFL
Noah Anderson has hailed outgoing Gold Coast skipper Touk Miller as the man who first set him on the path to becoming the Suns’ youngest-ever AFL captain.
Anderson, 23, became the youngest active captain in the AFL when he was unveiled on Friday as the club’s first stand-alone skipper since Gary Ablett Jr (2011-16).
Brought into the leadership group in just his second season at the Suns, Anderson was long considered the heir apparent to Jarrod Witts and Touk Miller who had shared the captaincy since 2022.
On Thursday, Anderson was told by Witts and Miller that the playing group had voted him in as its preferred captain for 2025.
It is understood Witts chose to step down from the leadership group.
Miller accepted the playing group’s decision to move ahead with Anderson as captain and will join Sam Collins as vice-captain this season.
“Touk just said that he felt it was the right time for a change and that they (Miller and Witts) were there to fully support me in the role,” Anderson told this masthead.
“I think that’s probably what I was most happy about in taking the position, knowing I had those two and people like (former captain) David Swallow as well who will be there to support me.”
Anderson said he owed a lot to the experienced leaders at the club who had helped groom him for the captaincy and particularly Miller, who was the first to put it on his radar.
“I just remember having a conversation with him in my second year and he was just floating if the leadership space was something I would be interested in and then it all kind of developed from there,” Anderson recalled.
“Exposing me pretty young to leadership meetings and conversations and giving me more responsibility which at the time was difficult but in terms of growth, for me it was really important.
“Obviously I’ve worked with Touk for 5-6 years now and in a leadership capacity as well … to have that moment with him was pretty special.
Anderson will front a six-man leadership group with Collins and Miller as vice-captains, alongside newcomers Matt Rowell, Ben King and Wil Powell.
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Originally published as Gold Coast news: New captain Noah Anderson on Matt Rowell, Touk Miller injury news
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