Gold Coast captain Steven May is confident that the club’s tall timber in defence can stack up well no matter how the opposition sets up.

The blueprint that delivered last year’s premiership to Richmond revolved around playing with one tall forward, however not all teams are likely to follow suit in 2018.

North Melbourne, who the SUNS face in Cairns this Saturday, could be one team who opt against that trend after playing both Ben Brown and Jarrad Waite throughout the JLT Community Series. 

This then presents Gold Coast’s selection committee with the question of who to play alongside May in defence.

Rory Thompson looks to have the edge after a strong pre-season, however he’s been pushed hard by Jack Leslie and Max Spencer.  

“Having Rory (Thompson) out there has been a big plus,” May told the media on Tuesday at the 2018 AFL Queensland Season Launch.

“Jack Leslie and Max Spencer have come a long way so hopefully at stages three of us will play, depending on match-ups of course.”

After being forced to play in a variety of roles last year due to various injuries, having a fit-and-firing Thompson in the line-up could allow May more freedom to help out his fellow teammates.   

It’s something the captain is keen to continue improving on, having shown on plenty of occasions the ability to take an intercept mark.

“If Rory can lock down the big gorilla down there, whoever it may be, I can help him out in the air but also help out the other guys.

“I think if you look at the best defenders in the comp…they don’t just beat their man, they help out.

“I’ll be able to have more of an impact on the game and hopefully take my game to a new level.”

Along with fellow captain Tom Lynch, the key defender will also be responsible for driving senior coach Stuart Dew’s insistence on more mental toughness among the group. 

“With a young group, mental resilience is an underrated attribute that you need to have. 

“As the (2017) season wore on, we had some really big losses and there's a difference between losing and losing badly, in terms of morale around the club…and we’ve focused on that over the pre-season.

“Whether we are in the position and if we’re going to lose the game or not, it’s going to come down to how much fight the boys put up.”