Jack Lukosius (centre) is mobbed by teammates after kicking one of his trademark long-range goals last year. Photo: AFL MEDIA

GOLD COAST
2023 record: 9 wins, 14 losses (15th)

THE INS
Jack Mahony (North Melbourne), Jed Walter (Palm Beach Currumbin), Ethan Read (Palm Beach Currumbin), Jake Rogers (Broadbeach), Will Graham (Palm Beach Currumbin), Sam Clohesy (Werribee), Will Rowlands (Norwood)

THE OUTS
Mabior Chol (Hawthorn), Jed Anderson (delisted), Elijah Hollands (Carlton), Connor Blakely (retired), Chris Burgess (Adelaide), Jeremy Sharp (delisted – Fremantle), Charlie Constable (retired), Jake Stein (delisted), Brodie McLaughlin (delisted)

THE STRENGTHS
After luring triple premiership coach Damien Hardwick to take over from Stuart Dew, and adding another four first-round picks to their stockpile of early draft selections, the time has finally come for the Suns to grow up and be taken seriously. It feels as though this will be a seminal moment in the history of the chronically underperforming club. It’s almost make-or-break time for Gold Coast. As Jerry Seinfeld once told Kenny Banya: “This is the meal … so stock up buddy boy.” With Jed Walter, Ethan Read, Jake Rogers and Will Graham joining the likes of Matt Rowell, Noah Anderson, Ben King, Jack Lukosius, Bailey Humphrey and Mac Andrew, the Suns’ future looks very bright indeed (assuming they can stave off the dreaded go-home factor). And while they missed the finals again last year, in a sign of maturity, the Suns went 5-4 when inspirational co-captain Touk Miller was sidelined with a knee injury. Miller is a genuine star of the competition with two All-Australians in his back pocket as well as an AFLCA player of the year and a pair of best-and-fairests. With Miller sidelined for 10 weeks in 2023, Rowell, Anderson, David Swallow and ruckman Jarrod Witts were the main drivers behind them finishing fourth in the AFL for clearances and seventh for contested possessions.

THE WEAKNESSES
Hardwick has a big job ahead of himself to put all the pieces together and finally make the Suns a top-eight contender. It’s a good thing he signed a six-year contract because one gets the feeling he’s going to need every bit of that time to make a go of it up there. For starters, Gold Coast had the 12th-best attack last year as well as the fifth-worst defence – the definition of no man’s land. It’s little wonder they finished in the bottom four for the ninth time in 13 years. For the second year in a row they made a strong 7-7 start to the season, before falling away spectacularly. After Round 15 in the past two years, Gold Coast’s combined record is 5-12. It’s a recurring theme that has plagued the Suns for almost a decade. They started 2021 with three wins from their first seven games before losing 11 of their last 15, in 2020, they crumbled to win just one of their last 10 matches after making a 4-3 start, and the year before, they began 3-3 before losing their final 16 games. Meanwhile, in 2018 they could only manage one win from their final 17 outings following a 3-2 start, in 2017 they started 3-4 before dropping 12 of their last 15 games, and in 2016 they won their first three matches only to lose 16 of their last 19. Overcoming the mental barrier they routinely face in the second half of seasons will be an achievement in itself. The fact that fellow expansion club GWS has already made six finals appearances, including a grand final, further highlights how inept the Suns have been for a very long time. And in 2024, Gold Coast has a lot of ground to make up. Last season, it ranked 16th in the league for disposals and 15th for tackles which indicates an unwillingness to get its hands dirty. The knock-on effect was dramatic as the Suns came in 14th for inside 50s and 15th for marks inside 50, making life pretty tough for key targets King, Lukosius and Levi Casboult. There’s a lot of hype around the Suns, but boy is there a lot of work to do as well.

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ONE TO WATCH
After spending the first four years of his career in defence and on the wing, Lukosius was moved forward last year with great results. The South Australian kicked a career-high 39 goals, including three bags of five and a haul of four, to prove himself to be just as effective up forward. The exciting 23-year-old compiled an entertaining highlight reel with some of his goals absolute bombs from well outside the 50m arc. Just five games shy of his 100th, he seems to be only scratching the surface of his enormous well of talent, and 2024 could be a landmark season for the youngster.

UNDER THE PUMP
Alex Sexton has an uphill battle on his hands to remain a Sun beyond 2024. The enigmatic forward enters the final year of his contract having only played 12 games in the last two seasons. The 30-year-old clearly has talent, as evidenced by his six-goal bag against North Melbourne in the final round of 2023. The remarkable fact that he hadn’t featured in the Suns’ line-up in the 19 rounds prior to that match sums up his career in many ways. Despite his ability, the knock on him has been his defensive efforts in attack. If he doesn’t pull the finger out and give it his all this year, his career will likely end.

BEST 22
B: Wil Powell, Sam Collins, Mac Andrew
HB: Brandon Ellis, Charlie Ballard, Rory Atkins
C: Sam Flanders, Matt Rowell, Brayden Fiorini
HF: Ben Ainsworth, Jack Lukosius, Bailey Humphrey
F: Levi Casboult, Ben King, Malcolm Rosas
R: Jarrod Witts, Noah Anderson, Touk Miller
Inter: David Swallow, Sean Lemmens, Nick Holman, Darcy Macpherson
Emerg: Connor Budarick, Joel Jeffrey, Ben Long, Hewago Oea

For those wondering where the Suns’ ‘Big Four’ from last year’s draft are, calm your farm. There is plenty of time for those boys to work their way into the line-up. As is tradition with Footyology’s ‘Tale of the Tape’ series, draftees are made to earn their spots and are very rarely parachuted into the pre-season best 22. But it would be no surprise to see some, if not all, of those fellas earn their debuts this year. Luckless Lachie Weller has been left out of the side after he suffered a second ACL rupture late last season, which will likely see him sidelined for majority of the upcoming campaign.

*all team stat rankings mentioned are based on differentials, not totals (apart from overall offence and defence).