Dual Brownlow medallist Gary Ablett, Jaeger O’Meara and Harley Bennell feature prominently among Gold Coast’s headline acts, but the GC SUNS could add to its stable of stars by grabbing a high-profile free agent this off-season.

The recent retirements of veterans Nathan Bock and Tom Murphy, as well as the pre-season departure of Campbell Brown, will see almost 500 games experience leave the holiday strip.

As such, General Manager of Football Operations, Marcus Ashcroft, told The Gold Coast Bulletin the club’s list & strategy team had been surveying the free agency landscape with significant interest.

“Once you get a few injuries to your most experienced players, you become vulnerable,” he said. “That was always going to be a risk.

“We’ve also been planning over the last few months, ¬investigating free agents and other mature talent that might be able to come our way.

“We’re going to be active in the free agency space.

“We certainly know that we do need to have that balance right between mature talent and elite young talent.”

While talented free agents will be looked at, Ashcroft suggested Gold Coast may opt to tap in to the unearthed talent pool.

“Our recruiting guys will look at the different leagues, the SANFL, WAFL, the VFL, for players who might come through and be able to play on our rookie list as a mature rookie,” he said.

“We’ll also look at other talent that may be trade options, without compromising the core group of players we have already extended and re-signed. That’s our No. 1 priority but we also understand that in and around those guys we need to have some mature talent.

“We’re extremely confident the experience they’re gaining through these adverse times is going to better equip them going forward.”