By Jacob Kagi
 

With one of the biggest kicks in the game, it's in coach Guy Mckenna's best interests to manage youngster Trent McKenzie's workload.

After resting the booming left footer from last week's match against the Western Bulldogs, McKenzie returned refreshed and kicked two monstrous goals from outside 50m against Fremantle at Patersons Stdaium on Saturday.

Far from a one-trick pony, McKenzie added a career-high 24 disposals and seven tackles in the best match of his burgeoning AFL career.

"It was one of my better games, that's for sure. I was pretty happy with it. I was pretty much the same as the team, I started all right but I ran out of legs a little bit at the end," McKenzie said.

"I really felt like my body needed a bit of a rest [last week] because I was struggling to maintain the right intensity but now I'm feeling fresh and it's good to be back in.

"I'm just really hoping I can achieve that consistent good footy for the rest of the season."

As for McKenzie's impressive highlight reel, peppered with long-range goals, McKenzie said he had worked on developing his trademark left kick.

"I work on it a fair bit at training with a few of the boys," he said.

"We have a few contests with kicking them from outside 50, so that gives me a lot of practice."

While McKenzie was impressive, Gary Ablett was clearly Gold Coast SUNS best performer. The former Geelong midfielder had three goals, 20 kicks, 14 handballs and 14 tackles.

And McKenzie said the performance highlighted Ablett's effectiveness as a leader.

"I thought he was very good, he just works so hard every week," he said.

"He's a great teacher. He leads by example and shows us how it's done. On the other side, he uses his voice to teach us how to run and do different things, so he's really good for us.

"When you make a mistake, he comes up to you and tells you what you've done wrong and what to do next time.

"He's helped a lot of us, not just myself."