The Gold Coast Suns have moved past the Gary Ablett era, thank you very much, and rather than imploding from within, they seem to have emerged stronger, owners of three wins against two losses following the first five rounds of play in the Toyota 2018 AFL Premiership competition.
It was a hard fought win for Gold Coast and true, it came against the Brisbane Lions, but show us a footy player who would claim that a narrow loss to the Tigers was better than a win over the Lions or the Blues, and we will show you a footy player that has taken one too many knocks to the head.
The Suns won 76 – 71 and the victory finds them on the 11th rung of the 2018 AFL ladder. They have accumulated 12 premiership points, behind only the 16 of the West Coast Eagles and the 14 of the Greater Western Syndey Giants, in a lock at 12 with the North Melbourne Kangaroos, the Richmond Tigers, Geelong Cats, Hawthorn Hawks, Adelaide Crows, Port Adelaide Power, Sydney Swans and Fremantle Dockers.
There are 18 rounds, i.e., 17 games remaining on the fixture for the 18 clubs in the competition and things will undoubtedly change, but if finals were played today, they would have to include 11 sides.
The Suns have been the beneficiaries’ of new Coach Stuart Dew’s emphasis on defense. Dew brought over some of his experience from his time with the Giants to instill a new appreciation in the Suns that holding other teams down is a valid route to victories.
The Suns have a difficult stretch and will not have another home ground game until Round 11, due to their facility receiving so much use during the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. They face the prospect of playing the Crows in Round 6 at the Adelaide Oval, but they must be thinking that if the Blues can go to SA and come away winners, surely they can do something similar.
