Townsville Bulletin

Suns young gun returns fitter, stronger and ready to lead Bowes breaks out

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THE rise of Jack Bowes has caught the eye of Gold Coast assistant coach Dean Solomon, as the Suns attempt to build their own batch of versatile AFL midfield stars.

The 20- year- old has bulked up and made himself heard ahead of his second AFL season, impressing on Friday afternoon in a soaking wet intra- club trial.

Solomon said the top- 10 draft pick was among a number of fringe players battling for a spot in the midfield for the Suns’ season opener in Bowes’ native Cairns.

“He was really good today,” Solomon said of Bowes, adding his onfield communicat­ion had gone up a notch since this time last year.

“He’s got a really good handle on the game plan, he’s got a really good handle on himself now and what it takes to be an AFL footballer.”

Bowes played 11 games in his debut season, while fellow rookie Ben Ainsworth finished as the best of the new faces.

But Bowes has returned for his second season, noticeably stronger to complement his silky skills, in a sign he is ready to go to another level.

“He’s just starting to really believe in himself and he’s made some really good improvemen­ts over preseason but, as we all know, he’s got to transfer that to game day,” Solomon said.

Emerging trio Jack Martin, Will Brodie and Brayden Fiorini were also good in the wet and, like Bowes, have the ability to rotate this season between halfback, midfield and half- forward.

The Suns are carrying only two players with serious injuries, Callum Ah Chee ( hamstring) and Harrison Wigg ( ankle).

Ainsworth ( concussion) and Jesse Lonergan ( calf) were the only others not to play on Friday but were both likely to feature in the Suns’ first pre- season trial next Sunday against Geelong in Townsville at Tony Ireland Stadium.

Sam Day continued his strong return from the hip dislocatio­n that erased his entire 2017 campaign, with Solomon indicating he was in the frame for first- round selection.

The Suns played three periods over 80 minutes on the park on Friday in their most- intense game simulation session yet.

“The boys were hungry when they walked into the footy club today,” Solomon said.

“We said to them to be smart about it because there’s guys going for spots, the competitio­n’s on and it’s really healthy. We saw some guys put their hand up.”

 ?? STEPPING UP: Gold Coast talent Jack Bowes does the hard yards at Suns training. ??
STEPPING UP: Gold Coast talent Jack Bowes does the hard yards at Suns training.
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