After a promising debut year in the AFL, SUNS defender Charlie Ballard looks to have evolved his game even further with a full pre-season in the books.

He was one of the shining lights in the tight loss to St Kilda in Round 1 and says it’s been all the work off the field which has given him belief in his own game.

“I reckon I’m getting more confidence,” Ballard told SUNS Media.

“Just having an extra year under my belt and knowing players better I feel like I’m able to use my voice a lot more and able to get involved offensively.

“So yeah I’m feeling a lot more comfortable.”

Ballard was prolific in the final quarter against the Saints, accumulating nine out of his 24 total disposals in the last term.

The 19-year-old said he was playing on instinct when the game was on the line and never thought twice about attacking a contest.

“There was a fair bit of scatter going on but we just did what we could to try to get as aggressive as possible and try to get an extra goal or point to get over the line,” Ballard said.

“I guess we don’t want to go into old habits of last year which was a lot of bombing down the line when we were under siege but I guess it was pretty good to get involved offensively.”

Of note in Ballard’s game was his ability to cut off the Saints’ forays inside 50 with the second-year defender ranking elite in intercept possessions (12) and intercept marks (4). 

He says it’s an aspect of his game he has focussed on developing further.

“Pretty early we wanted to notify my strengths and weaknesses and that (intercepting) was obviously one of my strengths,” he said.

“(I) was obviously working towards getting better at that and using that as much as possible but also balancing that with one on one defending.”

“I’ve put a lot of weight on as well so that’s helped in those sort of contests where I wouldn’t usually go that well.” 

The SUNS will need that skillset again on Sunday when they take on Fremantle, who scored a league-high 141 points in Round 1 against North Melbourne. 

Ballard and the rest of Gold Coast’s defensive unit will be preparing for a similar offensive threat this weekend, having to combat the likes of tall forwards Cam McCarthy, Matt Taberner and the possible inclusion of Jesse Hogan. 

“We’ll look at what they do and depending on if they have ins or outs,” he said. 

“But we’ll see what they did well and where we can expose them and see how we go.”