SUNS SHINE

Anderson record fourth Rising Star of season for Coast

THE past two weeks have been unusual for Gold Coast Suns midfielder Noah Anderson.

So used to running out alongside best mate Matthew Rowell since his early junior football days, things have changed since Rowell had surgery on a serious shoulder injury.

“I haven’t played with him for a long time,” Anderson said. “But it’s not that different. I still talk to him pre-game and whenever I can, really.

“He’s been watching and taking notes and letting me know what to do better and what I’m doing well. So he’s still as much involved in the group as before.”

Anderson joined Rowell in earning a NAB AFL Rising Star nomination after the best performance of his sevengame career against Sydney.

The No.2 draft pick logged 15 disposals, five marks, seven score involvements and 369 metres gained to help the Suns to their fourth win of the year.

That fourth win coincided with a fourth Rising Star nomination for the Suns behind Rowell (Round 2), Connor Budarick (Round 3) and Izak Rankine (Round 6).

Gold Coast had only one Rising Star nominee last year, Ben King, and none in 2018.

“Four’s pretty good. We’re pretty happy about that,” Anderson said.

“It’s been an interesting year but I’ve loved every moment of it so far. We’ve got a pretty young group so it feels a bit like junior footy. We’re just loving playing footy and loving competing every weekend.”

The son of two-time Hawthorn premiership player Dean Anderson, Noah has received some serious and “lighthearted”

advice from back home in Melbourne.

His new home is that of Suns chief executive Mark Evans, who is still hosting Anderson and Rowell.

“We’re just trying to make the most of it while we can because it’s pretty nice,” Anderson said. “But I’m sure soon we’ll start scouting around for a place to live next year.”

Like Rowell, a “very happy” Anderson is poised to sign a two-year contract extension with the Suns once the freeze on player contracts is lifted.

But his focus for now is the Suns’ return to prime-time football against the Western Bulldogs on Thursday night.

“With the quick turnaround we’ve tried to flip our mindset really quickly from Sydney to the Bulldogs and the Thursday night game is really exciting for the club,” Anderson said.

“We’ll give it our best shot.”