The Suns get around Matt Rowell after a goal against Adelaide in his sensational start to 2020. Photo: GETTY IMAGES

With one of the most exciting young lists in the competition, Gold Coast looks as though it is finally on the verge of launching a meaningful, sustained challenge on the top eight over the next few years.

The sceptics will rightfully counter that contention by pointing out this isn’t the first time in the Suns’ history that their list has been stacked with a bevy of promising young footballers.

But the difference is that this current crop seems to have bought into coach Stuart Dew’s vision and is committed to the cause of bringing the expansion club some overdue success.

The Suns might have only won 5.5 games last year, but in terms of percentage of games won in a season, it was the third most successful campaign in their 10-year history.

The following players are just four of the Gold Coast squad who seem destined to take the next step in 2021 and assist their club in building on its modest gains.

BEN AINSWORTH

The 23-year-old small forward is right in the sweet spot of his career when players usually go to the next level.

With 57 games now under his belt and heading into his fifth season, history suggests the time is now for the former No.4 draft pick to really announce himself.

He’s definitely shown glimpses of his potential in his first four seasons, but after managing to get some continuity, not only in the number of games he played in 2020, but also in pre-season training, he is developing at a rate which suggests his impressive performances might become more frequent than ever before.

“He’s got a really good understanding of his body now,” Suns football manager Jon Haines told Footyology. “That’s a really important step for any young player to take.

“We’d expect him to be a regular AFL player week in, week out, but also making a really strong contribution to the team week in week out. He certainly makes a strong contribution around the club, he’s becoming more and more explicit with his communication among the group and communicating to the coaches.

“He’s a real professional with the way he prepares, so we expect that trajectory with Benny to continue this year.”

CONNOR BUDARICK

The 19-year-old burst on to the scene in 2020 and looked as though he had been playing AFL football for 10 years, slotting seamlessly into the Suns’ backline and quickly becoming a permanent fixture in that part of the ground.

After debuting in round one, the Suns’ academy product played every game before injury cut his season short in round 16.

So impressive was he that he earned a Rising Star nomination for his round three performance against Adelaide, which saw him register career highs in disposals (16), marks (six), contested possessions (six), contested marks (two), inside 50s (five) and goals (one).

“We had a really good feel for Connor given our knowledge of him and his understanding of us for five or so years through the academy pathway,” Haines said.

“So we weren’t surprised in the sense of how well he took to the AFL environment. He’s a really driven, conscientious, determined young man, but he’s also got a fair amount of talent as well – when you put those together it’s a really good combination.

“The back six team really like him down there. He’s very courageous, very brave and makes good decisions.”

But Budarick could be on the verge of already adding some extra strings to his bow after just 15 senior games.

“I think if we look at his pathway from an academy perspective, he’s played a fair bit of midfield before as well during his junior career,” Haines said.

“So whether it’s this year or in the future, there’s potentially an opportunity for Connor to explore some other areas of the ground as well, which will really elevate his game and help the team.”

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WIL POWELL

An unassuming member of the Suns’ exciting bunch of youngsters, Powell has slowly gone about his business under the radar, all the while compiling an impressive career to date.

With each passing season, the 21-year-old has built more and more consistency in his game, so much so that after 35 matches, he is now basically a regular member of the Suns’ best 22.

And now that his body is taking the shape of an AFL footballer, the young defender is primed for rapid improvement in his game this season.

“He’s been able to put a lot of size on and certainly strength as well over the last four years,” Haines said.

“His running has always been a really big strength, he was a good under age runner and always competed well at athletics carnivals and so on, so we knew he had a good endurance base.

“He’s going really well, we like playing him at half-back. He started in the early days, year one and year two, more wing/half-forward, but we felt that he really helped us at half-back last year and that’s where he contributed to the team.

“He’s incredibly courageous and reads the game really well and distributes the ball really well … and we think there’s plenty more improvement in front of him as well.”

MATT ROWELL

Has there been a more talked-about five-game player in the history of the VFL/AFL?

The former No.1 pick was brilliant in the very small window of football he played last year, so much so that the possibility of winning the Brownlow Medal in his debut year seemed very real for a period.

After an impressive first game against Port Adelaide, Rowell turned on the turbo boosters to collect a perfect nine Brownlow votes from his next three games, becoming just the fourth player in history to register at least 20 disposals and two goals in three consecutive games inside his first four matches.

But that’s all the footy public would see of him for 2020, as a serious shoulder injury in round five cut short his campaign. And while that hasn’t stopped the hype and excitement building up around him heading into his second year, the Suns are just treating him like any other player on the list and simply hope he continues to improve as a footballer.

“We understand the interest given the way he started his career the last year prior to his shoulder injury, but I think we and the industry largely need to keep things in context. He’s played five games of AFL footy and he’s 19 years of age,” Haines said.

“We see the way he prepares, we see the way he trains, we see the level of care and interest he has in his teammates, clearly that’s going to hold him in really good stead, but our expectations of him are he goes out and performs to the best of his ability and plays his role. And if he does that, he’s going to have a really strong impact in games.”

Given where the Suns ended up on the ladder last year, it should come as no surprise that they finished quite low in many key categories. But Haines believes Rowell will unquestionably help improve the side in disposals, marks, tackles and inside 50s in 2021, especially with help from the likes of Touk Miller, Noah Anderson, Hugh Greenwood and David Swallow.

“Particularly in his role as inside mid,” Haines said. “We deliberately put him straight in there and he earned that right in the early part of 2020.

“He’s a winner, he wants to win, he’s used to winning, and he’s used to helping teams work their way into winning positions and that certainly drives him.”