It definitely wasn’t the most aesthetically pleasing victory, but in a year that has yielded only three wins, any win is a good win as far as the Gold Coast SUNS are concerned.
Rodney Eade was far from satisfied with the performance of his players in Gold Coast’s 14-point QClash win over Brisbane at the Gabba, with only a small handful making a telling contribution in the outcome.
Tom Lynch produced another performance right out of the top drawer, to be the match winner against the Lions. The spearhead booted five goals, to go with nine marks – five of which were taken inside 50 – and 18 possessions. He led by example once again and was rewarded with the Marcus Ashcroft medal as the best player on the ground.
In the face of adversity, Eade has discovered another midfielder in Aaron Hall. The Tasmanian forward has spent the last fortnight in Gold Coast’s engine room and the results have been profound.
Against Brisbane on Saturday night, Hall collected a career-high 28 possessions, eight inside 50s, five tackles and three goal assists. He is one of the major beneficiaries of the injury calamity at the current time and is heading towards the end of the season with a full head of steam after overcoming a non-existent pre-season due to groin surgery.
Key defender Steven May didn’t quite have as difficult a task as he has had in recent times, but he still delivered a comprehensive performance against young Lion forward Jonathan Freeman. The 23-year-old didn’t produce the kind of numbers that jump off the page, but he didn’t lose a contest all night to hold Freeman to just four touches, one mark and no influence.
Charlie Dixon overcame a slow start to once again impact the scoreboard effectively. The highly sought after full forward was well held by Brisbane key defender Daniel Merrett in the first-half, before getting his hands on the ball after the main break to finish with three goals, two goal assists and seven marks to provide a strong target in attack.
Who was your best player on round nineteen?
After eighteen rounds, Michael Rischitelli still leads the Fans Player of the Year award on 238 votes, ahead of Adam Saad on 177 votes and Kade Kolodjashnij on 141 votes.
