Through pure necessity, the likes of Aaron Hall, Jesse Lonergan and Touk Miller were all exposed to increased midfield minutes in the back half of the 2015 season.

With Gary Ablett, Dion Prestia, Jaeger O’Meara and David Swallow all sitting in the stands for extended periods, inexperienced players were forced to shoulder much of the load inside the engine room.

And while the situation last season was far from ideal, the emergence of the club’s second-tier midfielders remains arguably the biggest positive to come out of a difficult season at Metricon Stadium.

The rise of Hall, Lonergan and Miller has been evident across the first two NAB Challenge games, with the trio all playing vital roles as the SUNS’ big name midfielders remain absent for the time-being.

“It’s awesome to see,” Tom Nicholls told SUNS TV.

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“We obviously lost a few A-grade midfielders along the way last year but we’ve uncovered some potential A-grade midfielders in those boys (Jesse Lonergan and Touk Miller) as well.

“Aaron Hall’s another one that’s been playing really well so it’s good to see.”

Even with the impending return of Ablett and Prestia to the senior side, the depth of the midfield group is now a major strength for the club, particularly with the versatility of its key members and their ability to play anywhere on the ground.

“We’ve got plenty of depth and the thing with those boys is they can push up forward or hold up a spot down back too so they’re very versatile players,” Nicholls said.

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“You look at those names who are going to come back and on paper it’s awesome, but out there on the field it’s even better.

“So can’t wait for little Dids and Gaz to come back and same with Jaeger and Dave and all those other boys.”