Gold Coast win more contested football than any team in the competition, but it will be the GC SUNS’ ability to match Hawthorn’s clinical disposal efficiency that will ultimately decide Saturday’s clash at Metricon Stadium.

The SUNS are winning the war for contested possessions in the AFL, amassing 497 hard-ball gets in the opening three premiership rounds. That total is 24 more than Gold Coast’s closest rival, GWS. 

But turning the football over has been a problem for Guy McKenna and his experienced coaching panel, with Gold Coast ranking last in the competition for disposal efficiency. 

As assistant coach Matthew Primus stressed to reporters on Wednesday, the SUNS can’t afford to turn the ball over against a unrelenting Hawthorn outfit that punishes opposition sides on the rebound, most often through their 2008 premiership captain Sam Mitchell and veteran Jordan Lewis. 

“We have to take better care of the ball. Our skills have to be high because when Hawthorn get the ball it’s pretty hard to get it back off,” Primus said.

“We have to be sharp in that area, and defensively when we don’t have the ball we have to be working twice as hard to get it back, because as teams saw in their match against Fremantle they are incredibly efficient when they get the ball.”

Not surprisingly, Gary Ablett looms as the player most likely to be assigned a hard tag from the 2013 premiers, with SUNS skipper averaging 38 disposals per game against the Hawks in his last three seasons. 

But Primus says his on-ball leader will have no trouble rising above the Hawks’ additional opposition pressure. 

“Gary gets that (tag) every week and he deals with that especially well,” Primus said.

“They’ll have their plans to curb him somehow and we’ll have our plans to make sure we look after him and get him the ball as much as we can

“It should be a good battle but I’m sure Gary will handle himself well.”

While the SUNS will be without dynamic small Brandon Matera, the side has been given a boost with Steven May’s suspension being overturned by the AFL Tribunal. 

Regardless, the Gold Coast midfield mentor said the opportunity to play the competition’s in-form side would be a great test for the senior team.

“The form on our home deck has been going good for the past 15 months or so and we’d like to continue that.

“The challenge is set, so regardless of the 22 we’ll be excited to get out there now.”