Presenting all you need to know about the Suns ahead of the Saturday night game at Metricon Stadium:
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In their first season under the coaching of Stuart Dew, Gold Coast started the season well, defeating North Melbourne in torrential rain in Cairns in round one, then cruising past Carlton at Etihad Stadium in round two. But with their home ground, Metricon Stadium, out of action due to the Commonwealth Games, the Suns were forced to travel far and wide in the ensuing rounds, hosting home games in Perth and China. The travel appears to have taken a heavy toll, as the Suns will go into Saturday night's game against Collingwood having lost eight matches in succession, a run of results that sees them sitting 15th on the ladder with a 3-10 record. They started brightly against Hawthorn in Launceston last weekend, only to fail to kick a goal in the second and third quarters and subsequently slump to a 53-point loss.
What they're saying
Suns coach Stuart Dew spoke to the media on Wednesday and said Gold Coast's backline was set to be boosted by the return of Steven May (ankle) and Rory Thompson (hamstring). He also spoke about the tough task of quelling Collingwood's impressive forward line.
"They're tough to match up on," Dew said. "Even within pre-season and training we get our guys to play on tall and small. Jesse Joyce has played tall and even Charlie Ballard a little bit last week got some good experience on (Jack) Gunston and (Jarryd) Roughead. It adds to the flexibility. We don't want to get too rigid in our match-ups because then you can get wheeled around a little bit."
Dew also spoke about the need for his midfielders to play smarter.
"We've got to get our decisions right, when to go in and when to stay out," Dew said. "A lot of our clips on Monday we had three or four on the inside and no cover on the outside. In terms of it being a worry, obviously Collingwood are really impressive in that regard and we have to get our balance right and guys making those decisions of when to impact and when to cover."
Player to watch
Former Adelaide midfielder Jarryd Lyons was the Suns' best player in their loss to Hawthorn last weekend. Lyons finished the game with 29 disposals and three tackles and will be looking to put together a similar performance against Collingwood on Saturday night.
Last year's match between Collingwood and Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium was playing in driving rain (AFL Photos)
Last time: Round 17, 2017 at the Etihad Stadium
Match report excerpt: Collingwood has put a torrid week behind it, grinding out a 15-point win over Gold Coast at a wet Metricon Stadium on Saturday night.
While the 15.13 (103) to 13.10 (88) victory eases the pressure on Nathan Buckley – at least for a week – it does no favours for out-of-contract Suns coach Rodney Eade.
Gold Coast had to play the second half with just 20 fit players after losing co-captain Steven May (hamstring) in the first quarter and midfielder Jarryd Lyons (ankle) in the second.
The Suns were gutsy but the injuries shouldn't take any shine off the Magpies, who snapped a four-game losing streak.
With the ground deluged by rain on two occasions the skills weren't always the best, but both teams cranked the pressure up in an entertaining contest.
Buckley cracked a cheeky smile in his post-game press conference, musing that it was always better to win.
"We were able to finish pretty strong, benefited by the fact they had a couple out - obviously their skipper and a bloke who's been playing pretty well through the midfield," Buckley said.
"So the footy gods were smiling on us tonight and we were able to take advantage of it in the last quarter."
In a see-sawing match, Ben Ainsworth's goal midway through the final term reduced the margin to three points, but back-to-back goals to Josh Thomas and Ben Reid gave the Magpies the breathing space they needed.
GOLD COAST 2.1 7.5 10.8 13.10 (88)
COLLINGWOOD 5.4 7.5 10.9 15.13 (103)
GOALS
Gold Coast: Wright 3, Martin 2, Lynch 2, Ainsworth 2, Lyons, Hall, Rischitelli, Swallow
Collingwood: Reid 3, Fasolo 2, Wells 2, Thomas 2, Moore 2, Blair, Elliott, Maynard, Sidebottom
BEST
Gold Coast: Ablett, Rosa, Wright, Ainsworth, Martin
Collingwood: Sidebottom, Treloar, Reid, Fasolo, Pendlebury, Thomas
INJURIES
Gold Coast: May (hamstring), Lyons (ankle)
Collingwood: Nil
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Haussen, Williamson, Mollison
Official crowd: 17,275 at Metricon Stadium
