Stars back for Dew’s first taste of home
THE return to Metricon Stadium and of a host of Gold Coast’s top talent has Suns coach Stuart Dew upbeat ahead of “stage two” of the 2018 season.
Dew will coach the side for the first time at the club’s Carrara base this Saturday when the Suns take on Geelong in Round 11.
The new Suns coach was forced to put together a makeshift forward line for the club’s Round 9 loss to Port Adelaide in China a fortnight ago.
But with Tom Lynch and Jack Martin back from injury and illness, Sam Day to return from suspension and a plethora of players returning to the senior side and reserves, Dew said his greatest challenge was now deciding who to leave out.
“It’s good to have some back,” Dew said. “Sam was disappointed to miss the China game and Tom was all part of the plan while Jack got crook. They are senior players that come in and the hard decision is who to leave out.
“It’s great to have (Lynch) back. Four weeks ago we decided to take the path we did. We mapped it out well and he is really fit and strong.
“He and Sam can share the load a bit. They are both really mobile and fit so it gives us a lot of options.
“Both are really strong at ground level as well as in the air. We think we will be a little bit more potent than the last couple of weeks.”
Defender Jesse Joyce is likely to return from a corked quad while Sean Lemmens (hand) and Jesse Lonergan are set to return from injury through the reserves.
Dew stepped foot on the Metricon Stadium surface for the first time on Wednesday since arriving at the end of last year, labelling the field “almost too good to play on”.
Dew said he liked the effort he had seen from his team in the first nine games but was adamant they needed to perform for all four quarters.
Dew said he was getting a handle on the list’s strengths and weaknesses.
“It’s been unique in that sense to get to know them off the field,” Dew said. “It’s been a lot of down time together and travel so you get to know the personalities of the players.
“In a game sense I think we are still challenging them and asking those questions, finding the answers and working out how we push the buttons of each player.”