NEAFL 2015 Round 9

Gold Coast Suns Reserves v Sydney Swans Reserves

Saturday 6th June 2015
12.00pm
Metricon Stadium

When the AFL released its fixture for the 2015 season, Saturday the 6th of June would have been one of the first dates that many Swans fans would have circled in the expectation that it would be the first clash between Nick Malceski and his ex-teammates. And on Saturday Malceski will indeed take the field in Suns colours to play a Swans team, but it will be the reserves and not the seniors that will be his foes at Metricon Stadium. Despite some quotes from coach Rodney Eade suggesting Malceski was a chance to earn a recall to the seniors, multiple weeks out with an injury combined with poor form prior to it meant realistically he was never going to earn that recall.

The Suns Reserves were the easybeats of the competition last year losing all 18 games, and while they have again struggled with injuries they have at least produced better results on-field managing to win 2 games for the year and being relatively competitive in most of their losses. However with a strong Swans outfit traveling to Metricon, it is hard to envisage the Gold Coast adding to their wins column.

NEAFL Ladder
PositionTeamPlayedWinsLossesDrawsFFForAgainstPercentagePoints
1Aspley87100850583145.80%28
2UWS Giants76100768547140.40%24
3Sydney Swans75200633411154.01%20
4NT Thunder75200652560116.43%20
5Ainslie74300699603115.92%16
6Sydney University74300592520113.85%16
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7Southport7340059563493.85%12
8Redland7250048759282.26%8
9Gold Coast Suns7250056773177.56%8
10Brisbane Lions7160047264772.95%4
11Eastlake7070039988645.03%0

Recent Form
Reserves
RoundTeamVenueResultFA
R1AinslieAwayWin10851
R2UWS GiantsHomeLoss58121
R3Gold Coast SunsAwayWin11042
R4Sydney UniversityAwayWin6928
R5UWS GiantsAwayLoss8188
R6SouthportHomeWin9745
R7BYE    
R8Brisbane LionsHomeWin11036

Gold Coast Suns Reserves
RoundTeamVenueResultFA
R1UWS GiantsHomeLoss89120
R2AspleyHomeLoss105119
R3Sydney SwansHomeLoss42110
R4Brisbane LionsHomeWin7449
R5SouthportHomeWin118104
R6BYE    
R7UWS GiantsAwayLoss106122
R8NT ThunderAwayLoss33107

Past Meetings
2015
Round 3 @ Harrup Park, Mackay
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4Final
Gold Coast Suns0.32.93.95.1242
Reserves6.29.512.916.14110
TypePlayers
GoalsNaismith 5, Rose 2, Nankervis 2, Jack, Taylor, Mitchell, Goodes, Wilson, Marsh, Campbell
BestMarsh, Mitchell, McLaren, Robinson, Goodes, Davis

2014
Round 4 @ SCG
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4Final
Reserves7.211.716.919.17131
Gold Coast Suns1.31.52.54.731
TypePlayers
GoalsNankervis 4, Tippett 3, Marsh 3, Membrey 2, Perris, Lockyer, Wray, Hewett, Hiscox, Robinson, Head
BestNankervis, Biggs, Jones, Robinson, Dick, Marsh

Round 7 @ Metricon Stadium
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4Final
Gold Coast Suns1.33.34.89.1266
Reserves0.55.99.912.1385
TypePlayers
GoalsMembrey 3, O'Keefe 2, Hewett 2, Nankervis 2, Preen, Rohan, Pyke
BestMembrey, Jack, O'Keefe, Robinson, Lockyer, Hewett

Round 19 @ Blacktown International Sportspark
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4Final
Reserves2.33.67.913.1492
Gold Coast Suns0.32.74.96.1046
TypePlayers
GoalsNankervis 2, T.Mitchell 2, Membrey 2
BestFoote, Roberts-Thomson, Jack, O'Keefe, Wright, Hewett, Towers

Last Round
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4Final
Reserves2.56.810.916.14110
Brisbane Lions0.12.33.45.636
TypePlayers
GoalsTowers 4, Nankervis 3, Rose 3, McLaren 2, Hiscox, Fyffe, Bird, Foote
BestDavis, Derickx, Towers, Rose, Bird, Hewett

TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4Final
NT Thunder3.17.411.915.17107
Gold Coast Suns4.34.64.74.933
TypePlayers
GoalsHerbert, Ellis, Downie, Wright
BestCameron, Wright, Broughton, Malceski, Smith

Team List
Listed players
#NameGamesGoalsVotesNotes
1James ROSE7113First time in the best players list.
9Abaina DAVIS71195 games in a row in the best players list, BOG last week
10Zak JONES6012 
13Toby NANKERVIS7137Senior emergency.
14Craig BIRD228 
17Jack HISCOX695 
19Tom DERICKX605 
22Dean TOWERS264 
28Nic NEWMAN410 
29George HEWETT636 
30Sean McLAREN674 
33Brandon JACK554Senior emergency.
36Aliir ALIIR403 
42Xavier RICHARDS615 
45Jordan FOOTE730 

Changes
In: Jack, Jones
Out: Harrison MARSH (senior emergency), Sam NAISMITH (?)

The loss of the of the most influential player in this team this season may challenge the side. A little reshuffling will be in order as Naismith had been sharing the number 1 ruck duties with Derickx. His role is likely to be directly taken over by Nankervis with McLaren another ruck option if required. Marsh has been marshaling the back line superbly this season and deserves his inclusion in the seniors as an emergency.

There are a few options available to cover his spot as a medium defender. Jones could slot straight into Marsh's spot, or he could move into the midfield and in turn push out Foote to defence. Otherwise, Abe Davis or Sean McLaren could also be asked to stake a spot in the defence to cover some of the many talls the Suns have in their line up.

Academy Players/Topups
#NameGamesGoalsVotesNotes
47Matt WILSON110 
50Anthony TREACY200 
51Jake BROWN000Debut
57Jake VEALE000Debut
58Darcy BARON-HAY000 
59Ryan HEBRON000 
60Tim COENEN000 

In: Baron-Hay, Brown, Coenen, Hebron, Veale, Wilson
Out: Jackson CRAWFORD, James CUBIS, Zac FYFFE, Spencer KROCHMAL, Lachlan MAPLES


Statistics

Disposals
PlayerGamesAvg. Disposals
Tom MITCHELL333.3
Craig BIRD231.5
George HEWETT626.3
Adam GOODES226.0
Daniel ROBINSON624.8

Marks
PlayerGamesAvg. Marks
Aliir ALIIR46.0
Toby NANKERVIS75.4
Craig BIRD25.0
Adam GOODES25.0
Dean TOWERS24.5

Tackles
PlayerGamesAvg. Tackles
Harry CUNNINGHAM28.0
Tom MITCHELL37.3
Ben McGLYNN26.0
Craig BIRD25.5
Daniel ROBINSON64.8

Hitouts
PlayerGamesAvg. Hitouts
Sam NAISMITH524.4
Tom DERICKX622.2
Toby NANKERVIS712.3
Daniel ROBINSON62.3
Adam GOODES20.5

Clearances
PlayerGamesAvg. Clearances
Craig BIRD210.5
George HEWETT68.3
Daniel ROBINSON68.0
Adam GOODES27.0
Tom MITCHELL37.0

Inside 50s
PlayerGamesAvg. Inside 50s
Adam GOODES26.0
Harry CUNNINGHAM25.0
Brandon JACK64.7
Craig BIRD24.5
Dean TOWERS24.5

Rebound 50s
PlayerGamesAvg. Rebound 50s
Nic NEWMAN43.8
Aliir ALIIR43.8
Xavier RICHARDS63.2
George HEWETT62.7
Zak JONES62.5

Goals
PlayerGamesTotal Goals
Sam NAISMITH714
Toby NANKERVIS713
James ROSE711
Jack HISCOX68
Sean McLAREN67

Votes
PlayerGamesTotal Goals
Harrison MARSH720
Abaina DAVIS719
Tom MITCHELL316
Zak JONES612
Daniel ROBINSON611

Gold Coast Suns Reserves (listed players in bold)
    
B:43. Jared ELLIS46. Josh HALL21. Jack LESLIE
HB:54. Lachlan RITCHIE15. Daniel GORRINGE48. Seb TAPE
C:7. Nick MALCESKI47. Tim JONES53. Darcy TRASK
HF:27. Clay CAMERON38. Tyrone DOWNIE39. Louis HERBERT
F:49. Dyson BUDARICK23. Charlie DIXON50. Glendon WOOSUP
Foll:2. Zac SMITH36. Greg BROUGHTON34. Josh GLENN
Int:52. James HOLLAND55. Jesse JOYCE51. Connor WEST
 56. Robert BLOOD  
Emg:45. Tyler CORNISH57. Josh COOPER58. Curtis MARSDEN

In: Dixon, Glenn, Blood, Budarick, Holland, Jones, Joyce, Trask, West, Woosup
Out: Matt SHAW (illness),Peter WRIGHT (seniors), Jackson COLLINS, Josh COOPER, Blake ERICKSON, Damien HECTOR, Joel KARWAN, John MACANSH, Ethan REEVES, Matt WELLS

Keep in mind this side was named before it was announced that their seniors team had 2 further changes with the net result being Clay Cameron and Greg Broughton replacing Matt Shaw and Harley Bennell in their seniors team. This reduced their number of listed players to 11 and 2 of Cornish, Cooper and Marsden will come in as emergencies.

Charlie Dixon will provide a great test for our tall defenders. Whichever of them (most likely Richards or Allir) ends up marking Dixon will probably require assistance from their defensive teammates as I don't think they possess the required strength to wrestle Dixon one on one.

The Suns don't lack for talls at either end, but are severely lacking in genuine ball winners with perhaps Josh Glenn the only listed player suited to playing in that position. Ellis may get a run as an onballer but the rest of the numbers will have to be made up from their topups.