THE CAVALRY KIDS ARRIVE
Meet the new faces vowing to transform the Suns in 2020
THE class of 2020 is officially in session.
Yesterday at Metricon Stadium all 10 of the Suns draftees and recruits gathered to usher in a new era at the AFL club.
They have come from South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia, the Northern Territory and even Ireland with the shared goal of transforming the club into one Gold Coasters can be proud of.
And they’re all determined to repay the faith shown in them.
Jeremy Sharp unintentionally became one of the big talking points of the 2019 draft when the Suns traded their 2020 Round 1 compensation pick, currently pick 11, to Geelong so they could swoop on the 18-year-old.
“It’s pretty cool knowing how much faith they had in me already,” the Western Australian said.
“A few minutes earlier I thought I was going to Geelong but with that last little pick swap I said to my family ‘this might be me’ because the Gold Coast had shown a lot of interest.
“Since they showed a lot of faith in me, I’m going to repay it now and show even though I was a really big trade that I am worth it.”
Becoming a Sun gives Sharp the chance to make even more memories at Metricon Stadium.
In 2017 he was part of the WA Black Swans’ memorable after-thesiren win at Carrara while playing for the under-16s state side. “We were lucky enough to beat Victoria Country there,” Sharp said.
“Big Rhai-arn Cox took a mark and kicked a goal on the siren so that was super surreal and hopefully a few more of those (memories) will come.”
For No.2 draft pick and former Richmond supporter Noah Anderson, the chance to play alongside a premiership hero has him pinching himself.
“We’ve got such a young and exciting list. I was a Richmond fan growing up so Brandon Ellis coming across is pretty exciting,” he said.
Matthew Rowell wrote his name into the history books when he became the Suns’ second No.1 draft pick and the 18-year-old hopes to make an impact in his first year.
“My next goal is having a really strong pre-season and getting a solid body of work under my belt so I can really attack the season,” the Victorian said.