Touk blow no joke
Midfielder Miller joins Lemmens and Hanley on injured list for Power clash
THE Suns have suffered another blow ahead of their Round 9 fixture against Port Adelaide, losing reliable midfielder Touk Miller to injury.
Miller has been ruled out of the side that will play the Power on Sunday at Adelaide Oval after succumbing to a heel issue that flared up this week.
The 23-year-old has spent the bulk of the week in a moon boot and while coaching officials believed he could have made it through four quarters of football, he would have been hampered.
Miller is one of three to exit the side that lost to Melbourne by a point last weekend, with Sean Lemmens (ankle) and Pearce Hanley (cork) both unavailable.
Gold Coast have named incomers Brayden Fiorini, George Horlin-Smith, Will Brodie, Jesse Joyce, Ben King, Sam Day and Jez McLennan in an extended 26-man squad that will be finalised today.
Port Adelaide are coming off the back of two losses but Suns forward Darcy Macpherson was wary of a team the club hasn’t beaten since 2011.
“They are in pretty good form, we defintiely don’t take any team lightly,” Macpherson said.
“It’s always tough going to Adelaide and playing in front of their home crowd,
“We need to start well, get the buy-in from everyone and for everyone to give a seven out of 10 performance and play a good, consistent four-quarter brand of footy.”
Meanwhile, the Gold Coast Suns will have the option of signing two players at this month’s AFL mid-season draft after placing injured duo Rory Thompson and Harrison Wigg on the inactive list.
Both defenders have suffered season-ending knee injuries and now it’s up to the club to decide if it will bring in replacements through the new draft on May 27.
Gold Coast also have the option of upgrading category-B rookie Jacob Dawson on to the senior list.
The Suns are undecided on what their course of action will be just over a week out from the midseason draft. Gold Coast sit in 14th on the ladder, potentially leaving them with pick 5 and 14.
The Suns were linked with WAFL star Marlion Pickett leading into last year’s national draft and he has since met with Essendon.
WE NEED TO START WELL (AND) GET THE BUY-IN FROM EVERYONE DARCY MACPHERSON