Gold Coast Suns: 2019 fixtures, preview, list changes, every player and odds

Mick Stirling

Gold Coast Suns: 2019 fixtures, preview, list changes, every player and odds image

In music and literature the word ‘Sun’ evokes happiness, growth and good health, but in the AFL it implies all the opposites.

Things are bleak on the Gold Coast and it’s hard to see any light at the end of the tunnel; if finishing one rung above the wooden spoon wasn’t bad enough the Suns have endured a post-season from hell as their two co-captains and a few others departed for, ironically, sunnier shores.

The floundering franchise has been forced to change tack, approaching the trade period with a determination to find experienced footballers of strong character who will give their all and not just look at the club as a temporary home.

It’s going to take more than a coat of paint to convince the top youngsters taken in the draft that Gold Coast is a place to start a family, but great empires are built on adversity and if Stuart Dew can get a few more wins on the board there’s hope, and that’s not a bad thing.

After all, what doesn’t kill us only makes us stronger - and Gill McLachlan isn’t going to let anything kill the Suns.

List changes

In

Corey Ellis (Richmond), Anthony Miles (Richmond), George Horlin-Smith (Geelong), Jack Hombsch (Port Adelaide), Jack Lukosius (Woodville West Torrens), Izak Rankine (West Torrens), Ben King (Sandringham Dragons), Jez McLennan (Central District), Caleb Graham (Gold Coast Academy)

Gold Coast Suns draft 2018 Jack Lukosius Izak Rankine Ben King

Out

Aaron Hall, Kade Kolodashnij, Tom Lynch, Steven May, Jack Scrimshaw

Best Brownlow chances

Lachie Weller $501, Aaron Young $501

You have to go deep down the Brownlow odds to find a Gold Coast player, and while many punters love the lure of a longshot, there are better ways to blow a buck than put it on a Sun.

Tom Lynch was the club’s equal-leading vote winner in 2018 despite playing less than half the season and is now gone. If you really do think a miracle may happen, put your money on Brayden Fiorini. He shared the lead with Lynch and, unlike some of his teammates, has room for improvement.

Brayden Fiorini

Players to watch

Jack Lukosius, Anthony Miles

Gold Coast had a few strategies available to it at the draft and went with the South Australian option, selecting Lukosius and Izak Rankine with picks 2 and 3. Lukosius will be burdened from the outset with the job of shining as the Suns’ great forward hope of the future, all the while being courted backstage by every other club in the competition. 

Of all the experienced players Gold Coast brought in, Miles is the one most will expect to have an immediate impact. He knows how to get the ball and is determined to show he’s able to match it with the best. Miles may not rack up the Brownlow votes but expect the former Tiger to be the most popular fantasy football team member around the country.

#Anthony Miles

A last chance to watch?

Michael Rischitelli, Pearce Hanley

That’s right, Rischitelli’s not gone yet despite Channel 7 giving him a send off at this year’s Brownlow broadcast, but he has been moved to the rookie list which is no longer a sign of a long and prosperous on-field future. The Brisbane best and fairest winner is heading into season 16 knowing that a 17th is extremely unlikely.


‘Risky’s former Lions teammate Hanley is probably already looking at property back in Ireland for a 2020 move. The once-durable but now injury-plagued 30-year-old hasn’t been able to string together more than half a dozen consecutive games since moving to Metricon and the frustration is clear. Hanley is out of contract at the end of 2019 and, even if his body holds up, the challenge to keep his head and heart in the game may prove too much to go on. 

Gold Coast Suns’ 2019 list

No. Name Games Date of birth Height, weight Position
13 Ah Chee, Callum  44  9 Oct 1997  182cm 71kg Forward
9 Ainsworth, Ben  29  10 Feb 1998  178cm 76kg Forward
31 Ballard, Charlie  11  23 Jul 1999  196cm 82kg Midfield
29 Bowes, Jack  27  26 Jan 1998  187cm 78kg Defender
7 Brodie, Will  11  23 Aug 1998  189cm 82kg Midfield
29 Burgess, Chris 0      
25 Collins, Sam 14  15 Jun 1994  194cm 97kg Defender
19 Corbett, Josh 0      
32 Crossley, Brayden  10  16 Aug 1999  198cm 101kg Ruck
45 Dawson, Jacob (R)  3 Nov 1999  182cm 80kg Midfield
12 Day, Sam  110  6 Sep 1992  197cm 102kg Forward
17 Ellis, Corey  27  9 Oct 1996  184cm 80kg Midfield
8 Fiorini, Brayden  26  22 Aug 1997  186cm 75kg Midfield
46 Graham, Caleb    195cm 92kg Forward
1 Hanley, Pearce  145  15 Nov 1988  185cm 85kg Defender
5 Harbrow, Jarrod  224  18 Jul 1988  178cm 73kg Defender
40 Heron, Jacob (R)  10 Dec 1999  180cm 75kg Defender
39 Holman, Nicholas (R)  22  29 May 1995  187cm 84kg Midfield
20 Hombsch, Jack  98  7 Mar 1993  194cm 90kg Defender
33 Horlin-Smith, George  51  22 Dec 1992  188cm 84kg Midfield
38 Joyce, Jesse  47  17 Aug 1997  191cm 90kg Defender
34 King, Ben    202cm 87kg Defender
23 Lemmens, Sean  79  2 Nov 1994  184cm 74kg Forward
21 Leslie, Jack (R)  28  27 Apr 1995  197cm 98kg Defender
41 Lukosius, Jack  0   195cm 83kg Forward
44 Macpherson, Darcy (R)  17  29 Oct 1997  174cm 72kg Forward
4 Martin, Jack  81  29 Jan 1995  186cm 79kg Forward
54 McLennan, Jez    185cm 81kg Defender
2 Miles, Anthony  71  28 Feb 1992  180cm 80kg Midfield
11 Miller, Touk  82  22 Feb 1996  178cm 81kg Midfield
31 Murdoch, Jordan  108  23 Mar 1992  190cm 87kg Forward
22 Nicholls, Tom  45  4 Mar 1992  203cm 102kg Ruck
42 Nutting, Connor  9 Oct 1999  187cm 80kg Defender
27 Powell, Wil  26 Aug 1999  184cm 65kg Forward
37 Rankine, Izak    179cm 79kg Midfield
35 Rischitelli, Michael (R)  236  8 Jan 1986  185cm 84kg Defender
  Scheer, Bradley (R) 0      
36 Schoenfeld, Joshua  14  3 Jul 1997  186cm 75kg Midfield
6 Sexton, Alex  97  3 Dec 1993  186cm 82kg Forward
24 Swallow, David  117  19 Nov 1992 185cm 86kg Midfield
16 Thompson, Rory  103  12 Mar 1991  200cm 100kg Defender
14 Weller, Lachlan  69  23 Feb 1996  181cm 79kg Midfield
26 Wigg, Harrison (R)  16 Oct 1996  180cm 78kg Midfield
28 Witts, Jarrod  80 13 Sep 1992  209cm 111kg Ruck
30 Wright, Peter  49  8 Sep 1996  203cm 100kg Forward
15 Young, Aaron  98  6 Dec 1992  189cm 83kg Forward


 

Gold Coast Suns’ 2019 Fixture

Round Date Opponent Venue
1 Sunday 24 Mar 1:10pm  St Kilda Marvel Stadium
2 Sunday 31 Mar 3:40pm Fremantle Metricon Stadium
3 Sunday 7 Apr 2:20pm  Western Bulldogs Marvel Stadium
4 Sunday 14 Apr 2:40pm Carlton Metricon Stadium
5 Sunday 21 Apr 4:10pm  Adelaide Adelaide Oval
6 Saturday 27 Apr 1:45pm Brisbane Metricon Stadium
7 Saturday 4 May 6:10pm  West Coast  Optus Stadium
8 Saturday 11 May 4:35pm Melbourne Metricon Stadium
9 Sunday 19 May 12:40pm  Port Adelaide  Adelaide Oval
10 Saturday 25 May 7:25pm Geelong Metricon Stadium
11 Saturday 1 Jun 1:45pm  GWS Giants Showground Stadium
12 Saturday 8 Jun 4:35pm  North Melbourne Metricon Stadium
13 Saturday 15 Jun 1:45pm  St Kilda  Riverway Stadium
14 BYE    
15 Saturday 29 Jun 4:35pm  Sydney SCG
16 Saturday 6 Jul 2:10pm Richmond Metricon Stadium
17 Saturday 13 Jul 7:25pm Adelaide Metricon Stadium
18 Saturday 20 Jul 2:10pm Carlton Marvel Stadium
19 Sunday 28 Jul 4:40pm Essendon Metricon Stadium
20 Sunday 4 Aug 1:10pm  Collingwood MCG
21 Saturday 10 Aug 4:35pm  Brisbane Gabba
22 Sunday 18 Aug 4:40pm Hawthorn Marvel Stadium
23 TBC GWS Giants Metricon Stadium

Games played on

Saturday: 12
Sunday: 9

Teams played twice

Brisbane, St Kilda, GWS Giants, Carlton, Adelaide

QClash Brisbane Lions Gold Coast Suns

2019 Preview and premiership odds

It’s not a good thing to head into a season with premiership odds of $251, even worse when the reigning wooden-spooner Carlton is $100 shorter at $151, but that would be a glass-half-empty outlook and that’s not the way the Suns are approaching 2019.

A 17th-placed finish in 2018 doesn’t sound good, but there were four wins including possibly the best in Gold Coast’s history when they downed the Swans in Sydney.

The ‘out’s aren’t great, but Tom Lynch had been injured anyway and Lukosius and Peter Wright are ready to take over the goal-scoring reins, and the midfield is only stronger for replacing the unaccountable Aaron Hall with Miles, Rankine, Corey Ellis and George Horlin-Smith.

The industry-wide gloom and doom about the Suns may yet prove unwarranted and maybe the club’s new theme song should be ‘Always Look on the Bright Side of Life’ as Gold Coast tackles the future with a bright and positive view (…just don’t look too closely at the full lyrics to the Monty Python classic …).


 

Mick Stirling