Back-to-back wins in Victoria amongst plenty of external noise has only reinforced that the SUNS are on the right path according to SUNS General Manager Football Jon Haines.
Haines commended the attitude of the SUNS staff and players after being forced to hastily travel to Victoria, as well as their commitment to the task in preparation for two big games against Richmond and GWS.
“We got the news with four hours’ notice without any idea of how long we’d be away. The staff and players attacked it well with a terrific attitude. The time away was really well spent and to get the two results was incredible pleasing,” Haines said.
“It’s testimony to the amount of work that has been going on throughout the course of the year and it’s reinforcement that we’re on the right path – that the style of play and the focus on being a consistent team, we’re starting to show some signs in the right direction.
“We’ve got six weeks to go with some strong opposition over the next month which the boys are looking forward to.”
Tackling machine Hugh Greenwood won’t be available for those remaining matches after suffering a season-ending knee injury in the win against the Giants.
The 28-year-one has however been cleared of what was feared to be an ACL injury.
Haines says the SUNS have an array of options to fill the void.
“Thankfully, it’s not an ACL injury which would have been a far longer period out of the game,” Haines added.
“Typically, it’s a three-to-four-month rehabilitation period… that’s the initial diagnosis and what we’ll plan for.
“We’ve got Noah Anderson, Lachie Weller, but also within our VFL team we have Alex Davies – he’s a similar big-bodied midfielder and Hugh’s been doing a lot of work with him.
“We’re really comfortable with the guys who are in that mix already, as well as in the VFL who can cover his absence.”
The SUNS now return home to Metricon Stadium for just the second time since the mid-season bye, taking on the premiership-contending Western Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon.
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“We’ve had to relocate a number of times and haven’t been in front of our home games as much as we would potentially have liked,” Haines continued.
“We’re really hopeful that our SUNS fans get out and support us on Saturday, it’s a game against one of the best teams in the competition and they’re the teams we really want to test ourselves against.”
