The Gold Coast SUNS are at home to a Melbourne side making their fourth interstate trip in five weeks of AFL competition.

The visitors trip to Metricon Stadium comes on the back of  road trips to Darwin, Brisbane and Sydney and with GC SUNS players looking to celebrate skipper Gary Ablett’s  250th Premiership match in style, it wont be an easy encounter for the desperate Demons.

Opposition Coach Brett Munroe has analysed the match and statistically matched the two sides below.

 

CLEARANCES (vs. Opposition)

GC SUNS +2.6 (5th)

Melbourne -9.5 (18th)

 

CONTESTED BALL (vs. Opposition)

GC SUNS +1.6 (9th)

Melbourne -25.7 (18th)

 

TACKLES (vs. Opposition)

GC SUNS -0.2 (9th) – average 61.2

Melbourne -2.8 (13th) – average 61.9

 

DISPOSALS (For)

GC SUNS 354 (12th)

Melbourne 315 (18th)

 

UNCONTESTED MARKS (For)

GC SUNS 70.2 (16th)

Melbourne 71.5 (14th)

 

INSIDE 50'S (For)

GC SUNS 50.3 (12th)

Melbourne 39.9 (18th)

 

DID YOU KNOW?

This week will be Melbourne's 3rd interstate travel in the last 4 Rounds (Rd17 Darwin vs. Bris, Rd19 Sydney vs. GWS).

 

KEY PLAYERS

Melbourne

2 N.Jones – Hard Working / Tireless (played every game in 2013) Midfielder, averages 26 disposals (50% contested), 6 clearances & 3 Inside 50's.

38 J.Howe – Talented, High Marking Forward (also spends time on the Wing). Constantly appears in Mark of the Round, but adept at ground level as well. Averages 14 disp, 6 marks, 2 I50's – kicked multiple goals in 8 games this season.

6 C.Dawes – 1st Year Recruit, restricted to 11 games due to injury. Displayed strong form in several games, as a Deep Target or working High as a Release Option. Highlighted in Rd10 vs. Haw (21 disp, 12 marks, 5 I50's) & Rd14 vs. W.Bulldogs (12 disp, 7 marks, 5 I50's, 3 goals). Missed last week with Calf Tightness and expected to return.

 

Who will get the job on Gary?

31 J.Grimes – Melbourne Co-Captain, has recently being playing Run With roles through the Midfield (Rd19 vs. C.Ward, Rd18 vs. D.Wells). Grimes works both ways and has a good balance between Contested & Uncontested Ball.

13 J.McKenzie – Normally gets the big jobs as a close checking Midfield Tagger. Last played in Rd11 (missing with an Elbow Injury). Named as an emergency last round.

26 D.Nicholson – In Melbourne's Rd14 win vs. W.Bulldogs, Nicholson ran with R.Griffen (constantly pressured Griffen, finishing with 11 Tackles). Nicholson last played in the Rd16 loss to Geelong but was named amongst the Best Players for Casey Scorpions last week.


In the Media

GC SUNS assistant coach Dean Solomon in the lead-up to Saturday's match against the Demons.

“No doubt Melbourne will be quite disappointed with their effort last week and that spells a lot of danger for us,” he said.

“They’re going to be coming up ready to compete so we need to be on our game and leave no stone unturned.”

 

Melbourne senior coach Neil Craig said the Round 20 fixture would give his playing group an opportunity to perform on the road. 

“It’s an opportunity for us to travel again, which is really important, to give our guys experience on how to travel and still perform on the road,” he said.

“We’ll continue to try and look for improvement over what we’re doing over the next four week block.”