Leaders take it to new levels

SUNS coach Stuart Dew has praised new leaders David Swallow and Jarrod Witts, saying they had inspired their teammates to greater effort over the opening two rounds.

The Suns have surprised many with their opening two games which saw a nailbiting one-point loss to the Saints followed by a three-point win over Fremantle.

Dew said Witts and Swallow had proved they were the right choice to take over as captains following the departures of ex-skippers Steven May (Melbourne) and Tom Lynch (Richmond) by the response they were able to draw from their teammates.

“The players are following, you can have leaders but if no one follows they can stand out by themselves,’’ he said.

“But we have had good weight of numbers.

“Guys have jumped on the back of both Wittsy and Dave.’’

Swallow in particular is in career-best form since taking over the captaincy.

He played a heroic game against St Kilda where he battled through a knee injury to spark the fightback that brought the Suns agonisingly close to a win.

He was among the votes in the win over Fremantle also.

Swallow has always set an example on the field but his reserved nature makes him a reluctant public figure which is a part of being an AFL captain.

But Dew says he has accepted the entirety of the role and was doing a superb job.

“I think he feels really comfortable with it, from the moment we spoke to him about it, he knows where his strengths lie and we have seen that the first two weeks,” he said.

“He is growing in confidence in other areas but number one from your captain is you want him playing like he has the first two weeks.’’

Gold Coast will stick with that winning formula for Sunday’s meeting with the Western Bulldogs and have named the same 22 who got the job done against Fremantle.

Will Brodie, Sam Day, Brad Scheer and Aaron Young come on to an extended bench that will be trimmed tomorrow.

The unbeaten Bulldogs have been the surprise packets of the season but Dew said his side were learning that anything was possible if they were able to bring the same level of effort each time they played.