AXE HOVERS

Suns to make tough decisions after Bulldogs disaster

GOLD Coast is set to swing the selection axe for Saturday’s AFL clash with Sydney following what coach Stuart Dew described as an “unacceptable” first half against the Western Bulldogs last weekend.

Dew said one decision that needed weighing up was whether to rush ruckman Zac

Smith straight back into the senior team after overcoming a PCL injury.

The Suns have mixed time with Chris Burgess and Caleb Graham, with a hint of Hugh Greenwood, in the ruck since skipper Jarrod Witts (ACL) joined Smith on the sidelines.

“Zac will play, we’ve just got to work through whether that’s the AFL or VFL,” Dew said. “There’s this week but there’s obviously another 15 or 16 games.

“We have to look at what sets him up to play really good AFL football, and if that’s this week we can manage his time, but bear in mind we know Wittsy’s out for the year and we’ll look for Zac to shoulder a big load.”

Of greater concern to Dew was his team’s 11-goal-to-one deficit against the Bulldogs last week.

Two of Gold Coast’s best players were second-gamer Jy Farrar and inexperienced forward Josh Corbett, who were both called up for that match.

With Sean Lemmens (concussion) and Charlie Ballard (ankle) both returning for the match against the Swans at

Metricon Stadium, Dew said the changes would come from elsewhere.

“The first half was really unacceptable and that was made really clear on the day, and we talked about how we want to be defined individually and as a club,” he said.

“We’ve got some decisions to make selection-wise this week, both with guys coming back, but even form. We showed some resilience, but we’d rather talk about what we need to get right rather than the responding.”

One face that has been onhand for the Suns this week is former Adelaide coach Neil Craig, who has had a coaching consultancy role for the past 18 months and has been at Carrara all week.