Suns defenders to form dynamic duo
SUNS defender Kade Kolodjashnij says he is excited to form a backline combination with prized recruit Lachie Weller that has been four years in the making.
Weller is completing his first pre-season on the Suns primary list but it is his second with Kolodjashnij, one of the many familiar faces the former Fremantle player has reaquainted himself with in his Gold Coast homecoming.
The pair first crossed paths at the end of 2013 when Kolodjashnij – taken at No.5 in the AFL draft that year – slogged out a pre-season with Weller, who was a Suns academy player at the time.
Kolodjashnij rated the halfback highly and hoped to link up with him at AFL level before Weller eventually joined the Dockers at the 2014 draft.
“It’s great to have him back at the club,” Kolodjashnij said.
“He was actually at my first pre-season. He was in the academy so he did bits and pieces of the pre-season in my first year.
“Everyone has always rated him highly as a player and he is just as good a person as well.
“We thought he would come to the Suns through the academy but he missed out.”
Both are medium-sized defenders who are poised to play a lot of football together, in between Weller’s potential stints through Gold Coast’s midfield.
“He is going to be good for us and he’s training really well at the moment,” Kolodjashnij said of Weller.
“He is super strong and fit so he is going to be good to get him down back and maybe on the wing and midfield at times.
“He brings a bit of experience. We have a young group and he is going into his fourth year next year.
“He has a few games under his belt now so he can add some experience to the group.”
Suns co-captain Steven May and fellow senior players Jarryd Lyons and Tom Nicholls made early returns to preseason yesterday, joining the first to fourth-year group.