WINNING NOT MILESTONE KEY FOR DEW
ONLY one milestone is of interest to Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew this weekend and it is not his 100th game in charge of the Suns.
A week after signing a two-year contract extension, Dew’s coaching tenure will hit triple figures on Sunday when the Suns face Essendon at Marvel Stadium.
“For me I’ve never been a milestone person. I’m not much of a birthday person either, so numbers and milestones for me are probably lower on the agenda,” said Dew. “It’s something I will look back on but I would just love to win the game first and foremost.”
Gold Coast celebrated the coach’s re-signing with an emphatic after-the-siren win over Richmond last Saturday that kept the club’s slim finals hopes alive.
Now the test for Dew is to harness that excitement and refocus for another do-or-die clash against a Bombers team that looks a far tougher proposition than it did a month ago, following wins over Sydney, St Kilda and Brisbane.
The Suns sit a game and percentage outside the top eight and remain in the hunt for a maiden finals appearance, however a loss to Essendon on Sunday would all but rule them out with five games to play.
“There’s a number of teams in that same situation. I think what we’ve done well this year is worry about ourselves,” Dew said.
“We have a firm focus on Essendon this week.”
Former Gold Coast tall target Peter Wright has booted 15 goals in the past four weeks, including five in the win over Brisbane at the Gabba, while Jake Stringer dominated the Suns in round 22 last season with five majors in a 68-point Essendon victory.
Izak Rankine is expected to return after missing the win over Richmond and will take the place of Malcolm Rosas Jr, who injured his hamstring against the Tigers.
Oleg Markov is also in line for a recall.
“We’re still searching for that perfect mix but it’s pretty handy to have those couple of guys available (for selection),” Dew said.