Jarrod Witts will go into the record books on Sunday as the ninth player to captain the Gold Coast SUNS.

The 25-year-old ruckman has been chosen by coach Stuart Dew to skipper the SUNS against Melbourne at the MCG in the absence of the suspended Steven May.

Witts will follow in chronological order Gary Ablett, who had 96 games as captain, Nathan Bock (4), Campbell Brown (1), Michael Rischitelli (17), Dion Prestia (2), Tom Lynch (15), David Swallow (2) and May (13).

He will slot right into the middle of the list of captains in terms of age in game one as captain – younger than Ablett (26), Bock (28), Brown (29) and Rischitelli (28), and older than Prestia (21), Lynch (21), Swallow (21) and May (24).

The honour of leading the SUNS out will add another line to the career of Sydney-born Witts, who has been an invaluable addition to the club since heading north from Collingwood after playing 40 games with the Pies from 2013-16.

He played 18 games in a row for the SUNS to start the 2017 season before missing the last four with a shoulder injury, and has played all 18 games this season.

Things You Might Not Know About Jarrod Witts:

• Born in Sydney, as a six-year-old he was at the SCG in 1999 to see Tony Lockett break Gordon Coventry’s all-time goal-kicking record and ran onto the ground to join the celebrations.
• He played AFL as a youngster in Sydney before switching his sporting focus to cricket and rugby, and only returned to the code in 2009.
• As a cricketer he was a member of the NSW ‘Emerging Blues’ squad, and played alongside current Australian Test star Pat Cummins.
• Drafted by Collingwood at #67 in the 2011 National Draft after he had won the NSW/ACT MVP Award at the national U18 championships, he was originally identified for Collingwood by ex-Sydney Swans fullback Rod Carter in a part-time role as a talent scout in Sydney. He won an AFL scholarship from Collingwood and as part of the scholarship program played with the GWS Giants TAC Cup side in 2011.
• Listed at 209cm, he is the third tallest player in the AFL behind Collingwood’s Mason Cox (211.4cm) and Fremantle’s Aaron Sandilands (211cm).