It feels very fitting that the Suns are going to wrap up the season with an almost completely irrelevant game down in Tasmania against the worst team in the league. The stakes appear to be North potentially losing the no. 1 pick if they manage to win. It’s pretty much the finale we deserve after a wholly underwhelming season.
The bright spark in my ocean of gloom has been the press around Damien Hardwick’s signing. It’s nice to see some optimistic coverage about the club. I will go further in to depth about his appointment once the season is over but I’ll just say that this is the make or break move for the club as a whole. If Hardwick can’t get the Suns to a prelim then we might as well pack it up. Obviously I don’t think there is much chance of this going badly. Hardwick will absolutely make a difference to the club and refine us into a winning side.
But for now let’s stay focussed on North Melbourne. They have lost two defenders going into the game as Ziebell goes into retirement a week early after that awful attack he suffered last weekend and Luke McDonald is out injured. Basically if we can’t put a big score on this defence then we can write off some player’s futures. Burgess comes in to replace Lukosius, this is a great opportunity for him to put in a performance at the top level against a weaker team and show Dimma what he could bring to the 1’s next season. He has to prove that all the VFL goals he has scored in the last 2 seasons aren’t just empty calories. It makes for a very tall forward line but North do have three key defenders so at least there are clear matchups on field. Chol gets another chance too, he didn’t have good games in the two Kanga’s games in 2022, which is surprising, but he was good at the Bank against them in round 6. He and Casboult should be able to rediscover their chemistry against such a poor backline and if they don’t I would be concerned for what they can offer next year.
Alex Davies comes in for Bailey Humphrey to offer support in the midfield. This suggests we might see Swallow as more of a permanent forward again in, Holman’s role as Davies can take on the extra midfield minutes. He has had a season of midfield play in the VFL so he should be able to handle the workload as the fifth mid in the rotation. I would love to see him do a bit more damage around the ground. So far at this level I have only seen him really contribute at stoppage. I hope he feels more freedom to take the opposition on in the last game of the year and show a wider skillset than we have really seen at AFL level from him.
I think we can sort of skip over the midfield because I would be astonished if they don’t dominate. This current mix that Flanders joined have been able to compete with every team they have played and North are not yet a strong stoppage team. But down back I really want to see if Collins can stop Nick Larkey. He has kicked 11 in the last two weeks so it would be a serious win if we could keep him quiet. Although chances are North will funnel the ball his way every chance they get, so if you stop him North will drop off quite easily.
The only other threats I see are Paul Curtis and Tarryn Thomas, both have looked dangerous recently. Thomas has broken out of stoppages superbly and though he probably shouldn’t be playing AFL football at the moment he could get the Kangaroos going if he isn’t accounted for. Curtis has looked rapid and has an eye for goal on transition so if the Suns get sloppy with the ball someone like Lemmens is going to have to know where he is at all times.
Anything less than a 7 or 8 goal win would be a disappointment, the Suns are a much more capable outfit than North and even on the road you would think we could get the job done without too much trouble. I think there are enough players in the Suns’ side playing for AFL minutes next season that effort won’t be an issue. But if they start playing as individuals they risk losing control of the game. It will be up to the leaders to keep everybody motivated till the game is out of reach. I hope North have decent start to the game so that Gold Coast stay switched on and we can start planning for 2024 before three quarter time. I will have my club champion, some performance reviews and forecasts for the future to come during finals.
Eyes on the Suns 
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