As the Gold Coast SUNS ran out for the second half on Saturday night, the man who had the green vest adorned across his torso for the previous 60 minutes, no longer wore it.
 
Jarrod Garlett entered the fray at the start of the second half, with the SUNS 47-points down. Hardly an ideal setting to step into, especially with only a quarter of experience next to your name.
 
With Jarrod Harbrow forced out of the game with a shoulder injury in his 150th outing, Garlett made a low key entry to just his second appearance after debuting as the substitute in round one against Melbourne.
 
On a bleak night for Rodney Eade’s men, one of the few positives to come out of the 28-point loss to St Kilda was the buoyant performance of the quietly spoken West Australian in the second half.
 
One figure who has had a profound impact on Garlett since his arrival at Metricon Stadium is Gary Ablett. The SUNS captain told reporters in the aftermath of Saturday night’s disappointing loss that Garlett had contributed strongly in the second half and could push to play a full game against Geelong at Simonds Stadium next weekend.
 
“No doubt that he played his role last night, he was great for the quarter and a half. Hopefully he gets a chance to play a full game this week,” Ablett said at the SUNS recovery session at Kurrawa Surf Life Saving Club.
 
“Look he’s fantastic. He’s obviously played as the sub the last two weeks. Only got a quarter against Melbourne and two quarters this week.
 
“The more games we get into him, the better it’s going to be for him.”
 
Garlett’s second half performance may not generate much fanfare, but his poise under pressure stood out. If he had of converted infront of goal, instead of kicking 1.3, he could have even stolen the show for the SUNS.
 
After starting his first two games as the substitute, he might be ready to make an impact across a full 120 minutes.