Your 2023 Gold Coast Suns season preview is here, just in time for the start of the new AFL season! Everything you need to know about the Suns is here, all in the one article – aren't you lucky. We’ve got information about squad changes, rankings and stats from last year, key matches to look for, as well as none other than ex-AFL star Heath Shaw’s opinion on how the Suns will go this season.
Let’s get cracking shall we!
Recruitment Report
Let’s take a little look at the new signings for the Suns, along with all the players they’ve parted ways with:
Ins: Jed Anderson, Tom Berry, Connor Blakely, Bailey Humphrey, Lloyd Johnston, Ben Long, Brodie McLaughlin and Jake Stein
Outs: Jack Bowes, Matt Conroy, Josh Corbett, Jez McLennan, Oleg Markov, Patrick Murtagh, Rhys Nicholls, Izak Rankine and Rory Thompson
2022 Rankings
Where did the Suns rank for disposals in the AFL last season? Or what about clangers? All the key rankings for the Suns are below:
Kicks: 13th
Handballs: 18th
Disposals: 18th
Marks: 17th
Hit-outs: 3rd
Frees For: 10th
Frees Against: 10th
Goals: 9th
Behinds: 10th
2022 Stats
Who had the most goals for the Suns? Who had the most marks? All these stats and more can be found below:
Most Disposals: Touk Miller - 626
Most Tackles: Matt Rowell - 158
Most Clearances: Touk Miller - 172
Most Marks: Ben Ainsworth - 127
Most Goals: Mabior Chol - 44
3 Key Matches To Watch
These are the key matches you can’t miss if you’re a Suns fan (up to Round 15):
Match 1: Round 1, vs Swans, at Heritage Bank Stadium (Sat, Mar 18, 8pm)
Match 2: Round 3, vs Cats, at Heritage Bank Stadium (Sun, Apr 2, 2:10pm)
Match 3: Round 10, vs Lions, at Gabba (Sat, May 20, 7:30pm)
2023 AFL Season Expectations
Bon Jovi: “It’s now or never, we ain’t going to wait forever”. The Suns have made all the right moves in the last two years, mixing experience in the side a focus on developing youth by getting games into them.
One year on, there key forward and key to them playing finals in King is back, is this year the year. Plenty of talent and a few surprise packets in 2023 will help the September tilt.
Predicted Finish: Between 8-14
