Jack Bowes’ reintroduction to AFL football didn’t come in ideal circumstances, with the SUNS going down to Carlton by 35 points.
Playing his first senior match since injuring his quad in round 13, Bowes racked up 20 disposals on the wing, but says there are a number of things to improve on for this weekend.
“We didn’t work hard enough especially in the midfield, our effort wasn’t there,” Bowes said,
“It was a bit of method as well, I felt we played a bit too predictable down the line.
“Especially in the wet conditions we didn’t really force Carlton to defend and they were able to slingshot through the midfield and play counter-attacking football and make us defend.”
They’ll need to get it right on Sunday when they take on the number-one ranked contested ball side in the competition, Melbourne.
The SUNS last came up against the Dees during round 8 in a “home game” at the Gabba.
It was ultimately a day to forget for Gold Coast fans, with Melbourne running riot to record a 69-point victory, and Bowes says the SUNS will be hunting redemption this time around.
“We respect them highly, we played them early on in the year and I think we’ve got to go out there and repay ourselves for what happened that round,” he said.
“They’re obviously a really highly respected midfield but we know we’ve got the talent to match it.
“Early in the year we were matching them in contested footy… if we’re able to bring that this week and bring what we know we can do, we know we can beat any side on our day."
The match will be Bowes’ first at the MCG in Gold Coast colours, and presents an opportunity for the SUNS to affect other clubs’ plans heading into September.
“It’s really exciting, it’s more exciting that we get to try to stir the pot a little bit as well with teams vying for finals there,” Bowes said.
“We obviously beat Sydney and that’s sort of put a dent in their run into finals.
“If we get the chance to go out there and hopefully knock Melbourne off it would be good to get something out of our last four weeks of the season like that.”
