Heading to Darwin to face the 2015 premiers in round one was always going to be a tough assignment for the Gold Coast SUNS reserves.
The SUNS showed plenty in the opening half, keeping the Thunder goalless in the first quarter to lead by as much as 27 points early in the second.
But Gold Coast couldn’t sustain the pressure in the extreme humidity, kicking just one goal in the second half to go down to the NT Thunder by 18 points, 8.10 (58) to 11.10 (76).
Despite the loss, there were some positives to take home with development coach Max Rooke pleased with how his team started the game.
“It was obviously a bit disappointing not to get the four points, a long way to go to come back with nothing,” Rooke said.
“But there was obviously some good patches of footy.
“We did start well, we probably could have been further in front. Missed a few easy goals and I think they just showed in the second half our boys got a bit tired.
“I’m sure they were a bit tired too but they just kept cracking in around the contest and we weren’t able to match them in the end.”
Tasmanian Mackenzie Willis was best on ground for the SUNS and his ferocious attack on the football was a particular highlight.
“I really liked the way he attacked the ball, body lined the ball and really drove through it and he was running really well linking up through half back,” Rooke said.
“We threw him in the midfield and he was throwing his weight around in there too. Just gave us plenty of zip, which not many of the other boys were able to do.”
18-year-old Brayden Fiorini was also impressive in the narrow defeat with Rooke describing the midfielder’s first half as ‘outstanding’.
“Kept winning the clearances, just uses the ball really well. He’s just a smart player and he probably faded out a bit as the game wore on, but his first half in particular was outstanding,” he said.
The job doesn’t get any easier for the NEAFL team this week with Gold Coast taking on last year’s grand finalists Aspley in the curtain raiser at Metricon Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The two sides faced off in a practice match two weeks ago with Aspley winning by 22 points and the Hornets will present another good challenge for the NEAFL SUNS.
“It is a good challenge. Hopefully we can get the win, have a really good week on the track, work really hard,” Rooke said.
“We’ve got a fair bit to improve on and I’m sure we’ll be pretty competitive.”
NT THUNDER 0.2 5.3 10.7 11.10 (76)
GOLD COAST 3.4 7.7 7.8 8.10 (58)
GOALS
NT Thunder: J Cooper 2, M Hagan 2, J Shannahan, D Ewing, S Talbot, E Frank, J Williams, S Rioli, T Eldridge
Gold Coast: J Grant 2, B Fiorini, D Stanley, J Karwan, C Loersch
BEST
NT Thunder: N Vea Vea, B Rioli, C Ilett, J Peris, M Rosier, J Brennan
Gold Coast: M Willis, K Brooksby, J Leslie, B Fiorini, S Tape
