An ugly night of football as predicted

Rodney Eade predicted an ugly game of football during the week and that’s exactly what was served up on Saturday night at Metricon Stadium. With the gulf in class and experience almost as wide as it could possibly get, the Gold Coast SUNS played extra numbers behind the ball for large patches of the night to try and stifle the Swans' forays inside 50. For the second week running, Tom Lynch spent a sizeable portion of the game in defence, playing in between Lance Franklin and Kurt Tippett. He plucked ten marks for the night and impacted a handful of other contest to be one of the SUNS' best performers. Although, with Charlie Dixon out and Peter Wright playing just his first game it was a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul. Sydney won all the key indicators with more disposals (+145), uncontested possessions (+125), contested ball (+16) and the inside 50 count (+19). But despite the Swans' dominance, the SUNS' inexperienced outfit was able to stem the bleeding – particularly in the second half when it looked like the game might be blown open.

Gulf in midfield class earns recognition... finally

52-point losses rarely look as impressive as it did on Saturday night. And this is solely due to personnel. The majority of the football landscape may still not be recognising the devastating state of injury affairs in Carrara, but it is beginning to gradually make waves. Issues in the middle of the ground might sound like a broken record, but when you take your five best midfielders out of any team it is always going to be a difficult mountain to scale. If Sydney were without Dan Hannebery, Josh Kennedy, Luke Parker, Jarryd McVeigh and Kieren Jack, even they would struggle to cope. And when you consider Hannebery (42 disposals) and McVeigh (39 disposals) did what they pleased and then Lewis Jetta (31 disposals) and Tom Mitchell (33 disposals) chipped in too, the depth and class in the midfield was insurmountable. A 44-point half-time deficit looked like it could turn real ugly, so to only lose the second stanza by just over a goal was a major positive for Eade and his SUNS.

Another scalp for big Nicholls

Tom Nicholls’ emergence as one of the best young ruckmen in the game continued in Saturday night with another scalp. This time he got the better of Sydney’s Mike Pyke, who was playing his 100th game. It has become a common trend in this column in the last month, but there is no argument that Nicholls’ form in the last four to six weeks has probably been second to none at Metricon Stadium. And his scope for improvement is a tantalising thought for everyone involved with the Gold Coast SUNS. Nicholls accumulated an equal career-high 18 possessions, 22 hitouts, six clearances and six marks. He took a handful of telling marks in the defensive arc, going back in the hole to help support an undermanned defence when Steven May was forced from the ground early in the third quarter. Nicholls has now played the last seven games in succession – the most fruitful spell of his short career – and with his form line on an upward trajectory who knows what he may produce in the back half of the season, especially when Gary Ablett and David Swallow return.

Kolodjashnij standing tall despite lack of experience around him

The term ‘second-year blues’ is as fashionable in football as ‘frontal pressure’ or ‘plus one’. But it is something young defender Kade Kolodjashnij is ensuring isn’t associated with his brand. In difficult circumstances for any player, not alone one with less than thirty games of senior experience, the Tasmanian has been forced to grow up quickly in the space of ten weeks thanks to a plethora of injuries. In the last month, Kolodjashnij has been Gold Coast’s quarterback, directing traffic with his polished left, setting the SUNS up from the back half of the ground. It’s a role the football department would have pencilled Nick Malceski in for. But injuries and form have forced Eade to put his faith into Kolodjashnij and he is growing by the week, with another four-quarter performance on Saturday night. Kolodjashnij finished with 27 possessions against the Swans, 522m gained (15th in the competition for round ten), seven rebound 50s and eight marks.

Lonergan taking strides in defence

If Kolodjashnij is one that has been forced to grow up quickly due to the dire state of injury affairs, then another Tasmanian in Jesse Lonergan is in the same boat. After spending the duration of his football life playing in the guts, Lonergan has spent the last six weeks down back playing on small forwards. He hasn’t always come out on top, but he always fights until the final siren. On Saturday night, the big-bodied utility produced arguably his finest effort at AFL level, registering 23 possessions at disposal efficiency of 78.3 per cent, six marks and five tackles. His toughness over the ball suited an opposition like Sydney and the growth in his game has undoubtedly been fast tracked by an increased exposure this season. An exposure that may not have happened if the injury toll wasn’t so large.

May might be the next victim of the injury curse

Just when it appeared like the injury curse couldn’t get any worse, Steven May hobbled from the ground early in the third quarter and immediately had ice strapped to his upper leg. It emerged in the wash up that he was substituted out due to a groin issue, with the medical staff erring on the side of caution with their best defender. Opposed to superstar Lance Franklin, May broke even with the star Swan in the opening half, winning a handful of one-on-one contests that could have turned into scores. With Alex Sexton, Harley Bennell and Jack Martin falling victim to the injury curse in Tasmania, May followed suit on Saturday night. Rodney Eade must lay awake at night and wonder what he has done to deserve such a debilitating injury curse. There were only 26 players to pick from for the Sydney game. An unbelievable figure. It remains unclear at this point if May will miss any games, but given his efforts on Jarryd Roughead and Franklin in the last fortnight, he is arguably the most important player at the moment.