It is 207 days since the Gold Coast SUNS’ last AFL game, but no longer are the players looking back.

After a long, hot summer and an encouraging three-game NAB Challenge series it’s all about the next eight days and the lead-up to the Round 1 clash with Melbourne at the MCG on Saturday 4 April.

Selection under new coach Rodney Eade will be one of the most eagerly awaited in club history.

In any season Round 1 is special.  And as the SUNS head into their fifth AFL season six players are on track to play Round 1 for the club for the fifth year in a row – Gary Ablett, Jarrod Harbrow, Brandon Matera, Dion Prestia, Michael Rischitelli and David Swallow.

But this year Round 1 is even more special.

Among the 24 players who played a draw against the Brisbane Lions in the Suns final pre-season hitout last Friday night, no less than five are in line for their official Suns debut.

Hoping to join an all-time SUNS playing list that presently numbers 67 are off-season pick-ups Nick Malceski and Mitch Hallahan, plus new draftees Touk Miller, Adam Saad and Jarrod Garlett.

Even if only four of these five make the final selection cut it will be the biggest SUNS newcomer contingent in club history, aside from the very first AFL game against Carlton in Round 2 2011 at the Gabba when obviously all 22 players wore the SUNS jumper for the first time.

With captain Ablett and Jack Martin set to be available for Round 1 after sitting out last Friday night, coach Eade and his coaching panel looks set to have as many as 42 listed players (including rookies) available for the start of the premiership.

Only the suspended Tom Lynch, the injured Charlie Dixon, Clay Cameron and the unavailable Timmy Sumner will definitely not be available.  

But still a large cluster of SUNS newcomers look set for the Demons in what will be another new chapter in club history.

Five times three players have debuted for the SUNS together:

Round 3 2011 v W/ Bulldogs (Etihad Stadium) - Michael Coad, Daniel Gorringe and Maverick Weller

Round 7 2011 v Brisbane (Gabba) – Sam Day, Joey Daye and Lynch.

Round 22 2011 v Adelaide (Metricon Stadium) – Nathan Ablett, Tom Hickey and Joel Tippett.

Round 1 2013 v St.Kilda (Metricon Stadium) – Greg Broughton, Tom Murphy and Jaeger O’Meara.

Round 1 2014 v Richmond (Metricon) – Clay Cameron, Sean Lemmens and Jack Martin.

If Miller, Saad and Garlett were all to make the Round 1 selection cut it would be the equal biggest AFL debutant group since 12 players debuted together in the club’s first game – Harley Bennell, Dixon, Karmichael Hunt, Marc Lock, Alik Magin, Matera, Trent McKenzie, Prestia, Seb Tape, Josh Toy, Zac Smith and Swallow.

Three times previously the club has fielded three AFL debutants together.  They were the aforementioned Coad, Gorringe and Weller (2011), Sam Daye, Joey Daye and Lynch (2011), and Cameron, Lemmens and Martin (2014).

If Miller, Saad or Garlett get the selection nod they’ll follow just three players who have played in Round 1 in their first season at the club – Aaron Hall (2012), Cameron and Lemmens (2014).

Jaeger O’Meara (2013) and Martin (2014) played in the first game for which they were eligible for selection but only after spending 12 months at the club and playing in the NEAFL side before they were officially drafted to the club.

The 12 debutants of the SUNS’ very first game also played in the first AFL game for which they were eligible but they, too, had spent an extended period at Metricon during the club’s infancy.

O’Meara, still to play this year after off-season surgery on both knees, will have a special interest in selection and whether coach Eade elects to throw him straight in against Melbourne in Round 1 after doing all that has been asked of him in preparation.

O’Meara, the 2013 NAB AFL Rising Star, has never missed an AFL game, playing a club record 44 consecutive games from debut.

Also on the line is the SUNS’ second-longest consecutive game streak of 40. That stands to the credit of Danny Stanley, who hasn’t missed a game since Round 5 2013.  He sat out last weekend’s final hit-out with a quad strain.

Others in line to play Round 1 for the first time for the SUNS - aside from the players new to the club - are Kade Kolodjashnij and Alex Sexton, who played in the NAB Challenge draw with Brisbane, and Andrew Boston and Josh Hall, who played in the Reserves’ six-point win over Brisbane.

If Miller, Saad or Garlett win Round 1 selection they will follow just two SUNS players who have debuted at the famous MCG. Josh Caddy did so in Round 23 2011 against Melbourne and Piers Flanagan likewise against in Round 21 2012 against Hawthorn.

Among those out of contention for Round 1 selection this year is the player who in the corresponding game last year polled most B&F votes on debut in SUNS history.

Cameron, back into full training after a bout of glandular fever disrupted his preparation, polled 12 votes on debut against Richmond at Metricon Stadium.

His B&F ranking from five judges eclipsed the previous best debut performance of an equivalent 11.25 votes from four judges by Zac Smith and Dixon in the SUNS first game in 2011, and Lynch’s equivalent 10-vote debut in Round 7 2011.

Coad holds the record for most possessions for the SUNS in his AFL debut – 20 against Carlton in Round 3 2011. Next best is the 19 possessions on debut by Kyal Horsley (2012) and Kolodjashnij (2014), and the 17-possession debut of Swallow (2011), Lynch (2011), Jeremy Taylor (2011) and Aaron Hall (2012).

Lynch, Dixon and Josh Hall share the record for most goals for the SUNS in their AFL debut. Each kicked two to surpass even those who had played AFL football elsewhere before joining the SUNS.

Michael Rischitelli holds the record for most possessions among all players in their first game in the red and gold - 31 in the club’s first AFL game against Carlton in 2011. Daniel Harris had 30 possessions in the same game.

If Garlett is included in Round 1 he will be 18 years 336 days on debut and the 16^th SUNS player to play before his 19^th birthday.

David Swallow is the club’s all-time youngest player at 18 years 134 days, followed by Sexton (18/168) Lonergan (18/171) and Prestia (18/172).

Miller would be 19 years 41 days on debut and the 33^rd teenager on the club’s all-time list, while Saad would be 20 years 255 days old on debut and the first Suns rookie to play at AFL without playing in the NEAFL side.

Malceski, the SUNS’ boom off-season recruit after 176 games with the Sydney Swans, will be the oldest player in his first game for the club at 30 years 240 days. He’ll surpass ex-Collingwood ruckman and current SUNS NEAFL coach Josh Fraser, who was 29 years 87 days in his first outing in red and yellow in Round 2 2011.