Gold Coast Suns vs Port Adelaide AFL Home and Away 2020 - Round 1. Will they once again fade into obscurity as quickly as they arrived? A team that became virtual witches’ hats halfway through the first quarter. A week after uncharacteristically dismantling premiership fancy West Coast, all of a sudden there was a weight of expectation on Gold Coast’s shoulders.
For the first time since Gary Ablett had the team at 7-2, fans could see that something was happening. Looking at the players who didn’t pull on a Guernsey against the Suns, one can put forward an argument for as many as 10 players that may feel a tap on the shoulder before too long. 18-year-old Matt Rowell has burst onto the AFL scene in a Judd-like manner that has only been seen only a handful of times before. These questions will be answered in due course, but for now, Heaven help the next team that has to face the Suns next.Also, mcpherson (Adel) has been crippled for most of his time.
There was hope in the air.
It was pure, enthusiastic, and tough in a way that has so rarely been seen from Metricon Stadium.
Only four Suns players had less than 10 touches.
Kicking three goals, and setting up a few more, King showed the AFL world why there was so much hype surrounding him and his brother when the pair were drafted.Back in defence, and unheralded Sam Collins took Taylor Walker to the cleaners in a masterclass. It may now be time for Nicks to completely restart the club from the ground up.From the first minute of this contest it was clear there was only one team that truly wanted this victory more. The Suns have assembled a class of talent that rivalled their first influx of juniors, the job now was to keep this group together.Fast forward to the 2019 Draft. It was obvious to everyone that two best mates; the two clear standouts of the draft class would head up to the Gold Coast, and so it came to be, with Matthew Rowell, Noah Anderson and Sam Flanders at pick 11 giving the Suns even more talent to their already bulging pool.Now that we’ve delved into the backstory of the Suns, we come to their first ever victory over Crows. A game that will change the fortunes of each team.
We spoke last week about former captain Taylor Walker after his frankly dismal performance in Showdown 48. Only time will tell, but they’ve got the best chance to sustain this enthusiasm and aggression that will deliver the success everyone has craved.As stated last week, Matthew Nicks has a massive job on his hands. Anyone can contribute to The Roar and have their work It was lucky for them that at the other end, the Suns kicked only two goals from nine attempts. 1262968185,1262968185 + Gold Coast is looking to make it five home wins in a row when it takes on Adelaide in the battle of the Uniteds, but is facing an opponent reportedly treating this game as a mini 'grand final'. Rory Laird had the most touches of any Crow, but his stats were inflated by the sheer amount of ball that Laird was forced to deal with and his disposal with ball in hand left a lot to be desired.Nicks has a lot of hard decisions to make at the selection table. The AFL had gifted the Suns the first pick in the draft, giving them the first two selections, along with pick 11 they acquired in a trade with Carlton. You must provide an email address to create a Roar accountWhen using Facebook to create or log in to an account, you need to grant The Roar permission to see your email address
It was billed as the ‘Acid Test’ for the Suns. Such was the Suns dominance, the Crows failed to register a score in the first quarter. Fischer McAsey became the long term option in defence, Reilly O’Brien officially took control of the ruck, and Darcy Fogarty was installed in the forward 50 as the team’s resident bull.But after three rounds of the 2020 season, it has become clear that a lot more needs to be done. The game will be televised live on Channel 7 in Adelaide from 2.35pm (ACST). Touk Miller was a midfield beast with 26 touches, Jarrod Witts the clear winner of the ruck duel, not only in the clearances but around the ground, all of Hugh Greenwood’s 10 touches were contested and he laid 13 crunching tackles to go along with his grunt work under the packs, Brandon Ellis and Lachie Weller produced magnificence every time they touched the ball, setting up countess Suns forward thrusts, and Darcy Macpherson made his presence known underneath Ben King, always buzzing around and ensuring the ball was under control if King failed to mark the pill.We could carry on for days gushing over the young Suns, and they deserve every ounce of praise that comes their way. Matched up with Fischer McAsey, King was a force to be reckoned with, and every time he was near the ball something good happened for the Suns. So what happens next for both sides, one that is on the rise after an entire existence of mediocrity, and another that has seemingly never bottomed out but looks increasingly like they’re on their way to rock bottom.Here are the Mongrel’s talking points from Gold Coast’s victory over the Crows.This time last year (Round Three, not June) Gold Coast has won two games on the trot. Port Adelaide Power are favourites for the game which is scheduled to start at 7:25 pm. Then, as quickly as hope came, it was gone, and by season’s end, the Suns had lost 18 games on the trot and had plummeted back down to the depths.This was the restarting of a franchise that completely failed to get off the ground the first time.
Those who, on paper, should make up a relatively decent side. No longer is there any doom and gloom in the Gold Coast sky, and a genuine belief has engulfed this playing group. Jack Lukosius, Izak Rankine, Ben King, Sam Collins, Darcy MacPherson, Ben Ainsworth, Brayden Fiorini, Peter Wright, Lachie Weller. Jordan Gallucci was a first round selection but he hasn’t been able to find consistent enough form, and younger players have gone past him. The Adelaide Crows as a club have never been this uncompetitive, and there will be more pain in the short term.