For the third time in eight seasons, the Suns have a new coach and are beginning a new era. Will it be third time lucky?
The Good
It’s the same story at the Suns as every year previous: They have a lot of good young talent. With seven Top 20 picks in the last three national drafts, including four in 2016, new coach Stewart Dew has plenty to work with in his first stint as a senior coach.
Speaking of Dew, two premierships as a player and a long apprenticeship under Paul Roos and John Longmire at Sydney is about as good a resume as you could hope to find from an untried coach. That should reassure Suns fans who are still yet to see a finals appearance from their young club.
Finally, Steven May and Tom Lynch continue to be fantastic bookends and developing leaders, Peter Wright is due for a breakout year and Lachie Weller is a great addition to the midfield.
The Bad
Where do we start?
Gary Ablett clearly wasn’t the Gazza of old in his final year in Queensland, but he still won the club Best and Fairest by a huge margin from just 14 games. His departure leaves a fairly underwhelming group of veterans leading the playing group including Michael Barlow, Matt Rosa, Jarrod Harbrow, Pearce Hanley and Michael Rischitelli.
Underneath them, the Suns’ middle agers like David Swallow, Aaron Hall, Jarryd Lyons, Jack Martin, Jarrod Witts, Kade Kolodjashnij and Touk Miller are a solid group but nothing more. And recent recruits Brayden Fiorini, Callum Ah Chee, Ben Ainsworth, Jack Bowes, Jack Scrimshaw and Will Brodie may become quality footballers in the future but haven’t blown the doors off in their first year or two. The fact that the Suns have had so many first-round picks recently but just two Rising Star nominations is alarming for such a young team.
With the Commonwealth Games set to take over Metricon Stadium for the first half of the year, the Suns will be playing home games in Cairns, Shanghai and the Gabba before they return home in early June. While they have seven games at home in the second half of the season, the season could be all but over by that stage.
The Star
Tom Lynch is set to be 2018’s Dustin Martin or Josh Kelly as the speculation over his football future ramps up. The power forward’s manager Robbie D’Orazio stated late last year that he “is a competitive beast and wants to win games of football, and obviously win premierships.” The pressure will be on Dew and his team to prove to Lynch that there is a successful future on the horizon on the Gold Coast.
The Next Big Thing
Lachie Weller was a terrific pick-up despite having to give up #2 as part of the deal. The 22 year-old will of course bring more pace and class to the Suns’ midfield, but most importantly, as a former native of the area and former Academy member, he has a desire to see success in the Sunshine State. Gold Coast is hardly an easy sell to quality young players at the minute, so his signing was a great outcome.
The Verdict
With their draw, lack of star power and young list, it’s difficult to see anything other than a Wooden Spoon for the Suns. Unfortunately, that will throw up serious questions about co-captain Tom Lynch’s future and indeed the future of the club itself.
Prediction: Last
