Game on as Suns get set for AFLX
ACCORDING to Springwood Pumas product Alex Sexton, there is no substitute for match fitness no matter what form of the game it comes in.
Sexton was among 14 players named by the Gold Coast Suns to play in the helterskelter form of Aussie rules named AFLX at Allianz Stadium in Sydney on Saturday.
It is a quickfire format played on a rugby league-size ground, of 20 minutes duration, with 10-point goals and changeovers on a last-touch out of bounds rule. But it gives players a hitout under match conditions.
“We have trialled it in training and it’s just a fast, exciting version of the game,” Sexton said.
“It’s going to be hard work because you can get found out pretty quickly.
“But we’re excited just to compete against opposition instead of ourselves, which we have been doing for the whole pre-season.
“You’re just putting into practice everything you do in pre-season.
“Match fitness is the most important thing you get out of that. This is just another excuse to get out and compete with the best in a quicker version of the game.”
After a series of injuries and some off-field personal drama, Sexton is ready to let rip and feels he is in the best shape he has been for a while.
The same fitness level spreads across the Suns group.
“I’m fit and healthy and in a good place personally and I think you’ll find that with the majority of the group,” he said.
“(At the moment) there are only a couple in and out of training.”
Which, the former Springwood and Redland player says, means only one thing – that competition for places in the team for Round 1 is getting warm. “You only have to watch it in our match sim (simulation) drills to know the competition is on and that it’s heating up,” Sexton said.
“But that’s healthy for a football club.
“You’d rather there be numbers out there instead of injuries because it’s obvious with injuries who’d be playing in Round 1.”
The Suns have drawn Western Bulldogs and Sydney Swans in their pool of the AFLX and will be led for the first time by midfielder Touk Miller, who heads a very young squad.