Gold Coast SUNS coach Rodney Eade has praised the response of suspended trio Harley Bennell, Trent McKenzie and Brandon Matera after they were banished to the NEAFL for breaching alcohol protocols.
 
All three players were key contributors in the reserves second consecutive win against local rivals Southport at Metricon Stadium. After receiving a brutal pasting in the media throughout the week, with some calling for him to be traded at season’s end, Bennell answered in a resounding manner – finishing with 40 possessions, 10 clearances and two goals.
 
If you do the crime, you do the time. And the three have now served their punishment and put their hands up for an immediate recall on the back of an effort performed with the right attitude according to Eade.
 
“Those three were probably the main difference. I could tell on Thursday, I mentioned at the press conference on Thursday, you could tell at training that they were engaged. That they had moved on, they trained really well,” Eade told reporters following the SUNS' 41-point loss to Adelaide on Saturday night.
 
“Their performance today was a) pleasing, but b) didn’t surprise me after what I saw on Thursday and after talking to them.”
 
With their debts repaid, Eade revealed Bennell, McKenzie and Matera would return to face the West Coast Eagles in Perth on Saturday night. A crucial encounter for Gold Coast who were severely undermanned against the Crows, so will welcome the return of the talented trio.
 
“It was always going to be depending on how they reacted attitude wise – it was the main thing. And b) they didn’t have to be the best players, but if they worked hard the way we wanted them to work, that they’d certainly be back in the next week,” Eade said.
 
Another player who was ineligible for selection last weekend was utility Danny Stanley. The 27-year-old missed the opening couple of weeks of the season with a quadriceps injury and then suffered a concussion upon return in the NEAFL.
 
Stanley would have played against the Crows had he not also been sanctioned for breaching club guidelines. Like Bennell, he responded in emphatic fashion by accumulating 38 disposals to be one of the SUNS' best performers in the reserves.