AFL Draft: Can the Gold Coast Suns find a way to keep their best players

Mick Stirling

AFL Draft: Can the Gold Coast Suns find a way to keep their best players image

In the days leading up to the AFL draft Sporting News is taking a look at each club’s selections, needs, likely draftees and historical performance on draft day.

Do they like to load up on youth, or prefer to trade away early picks?

Will they lean towards home-grown talent or trust their systems to stop homesick kids leaving in a couple of years’ time?

MORE: Gold Coast's 2018 AFL season review

And what’s on this year’s shopping list: talls, midfielders or a creative small forward?

GOLD COAST SUNS

Draft picks after the trade period: 2, 3, 6, 24, 29, 80

What Gold Coast needs

Players that will stay for the length of their careers!

The Suns need everything. They lost their best midfielder last year when Gary Ablett left, and this year it was gun forward Tom Lynch and defender Steven May, coincidentally the club’s co-captains.

#steven may

Theoretically the midfield has potential with plenty of young, high draft picks who should come good if they stay long enough, but with three picks in the top six they will definitely bring in more elite on-ball talent.

However, at least one of those selections will go on a key forward prospect.

Gold Coast’s likely draftees

With Carlton a lock to go with Sam Walsh the Suns can take a couple of different strategies into the draft.

They may select South Australian trio Jack Lukosius, Izak Rankine and Connor Rozee, hoping a group of players who have been together through their junior years may stick around, and grabbing the best tall in the draft and two gun mid/forwards in the process.

Connor Rozee Jack Lukosius

Alternatively they could go with Victorian twin towers Max and Ben King and the brothers’ Sandringham Dragons teammate Bailey Smith, again with the strategy the brothers will be more likely to stay together on the Gold Coast than risk being spread across the country, and junior teammate Smith will also feel like part of the family.

Either way, the Suns will be going in with the strong hand they need if they’re a chance to their retention problems

Gold Coast’s draft history 2010 – 2017

Number of top-20 selections: 20

Average games played at the Suns by top-20 selections: 49.8

Most games played for the Suns by a top-20 selection
131 Tom Lynch (pick 11, 2010)
117 David Swallow (pick 1, 2010)
110 Sam Day (pick 3, 2010)

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Most games played by rookie draft selections:
83 Danny Stanley (2010)
36 Jesse Joyce (2006)

Through AFL draft history Gold Coast has …

… found it hard to hold on to its best talent. Of the 48 players on the list for the club’s debut season in 2011 only five are still there, while 10 are now at other clubs. Richmond arguably has the best three original Suns with Tom Lynch joining former teammates Josh Caddy and Dion Prestia at Tigerland.

Josh Caddy Dion Prestia

Mick Stirling