Dixon return strengthens SUNS attacking options

Charlie Dixon’s return to senior football has come at an important time for the Gold Coast SUNS, with Rodney Eade’s side requiring another tall target deep inside 50. Ankle surgery put the clamps on Dixon’s pre-season in early February, but the key forward has strung together a strong block of training and comfortably got through close to three quarters in the NEAFL last weekend, booting three goals and providing a commanding focal point inside the arc. Tom Lynch reminded the football world of his prodigious talent against Geelong at a wet and windy Simonds Stadium last weekend, and the return of Dixon will no doubt assist the SUNS' attacking arsenal. With Dixon playing deep inside 50, Lynch will be allowed to spend a greater amount of time roaming across half forward and providing a leading target in transition. Dixon has endured an injury riddled past; let’s hope his time in the medical room is now behind him and the pair can establish a lethal partnership inside 50.

In-form Rischitelli, Prestia and Swallow vital to midfield battle

The midfield battle between the competition’s two expansion sides will go a long way to determining who departs Canberra with the precious four points. Whilst the SUNS start to 2015 has been less than desirable, some of their midfielders have stood up and led the charge. Michael Rischitelli and Dion Prestia have been the club’s two best performers thus far, with Rischitelli assuming the captaincy role in Gary Ablett’s absence and performing with aplomb. After three games, he is averaging 27.7 possessions per game, seven clearances and five inside 50s. With Gold Coast desperately needing leaders to stand up and lead the young crop of players at Metricon Stadium, Rischitelli has been nothing short of brilliant. As for Prestia, the ball magnet has continued to perform at a high level on a consistent basis. After finishing on the podium in the last two best and fairest’s, Prestia has picked up where he left off, averaging 28.3 disposals (16 contested), 9.3 clearances and five clearances. The pair’s work, along with extractor David Swallow, has seen the SUNS dominate around the stoppages, with the club ranked 2nd in the competition in clearances with an average differential of +12 per outing.

Mumford poses a massive challenge

Quelling Greater Western Sydney ruckmen Shane Mumford is one of the toughest tasks in football given his menacing application to his role and his desire to hunt opposition ball carriers like they are pieces of meat. The former Geelong and Sydney Swans big man proved his value during his first year at the Giants in 2014 by winning the Kevin Sheedy medal despite missing five games. Whilst North Melbourne’s Todd Goldstein and Fremantle’s Aaron Sandilands are widely regarded as the top two ruckmen in the game, Mumford is not far behind the pair – and his key stats don’t lie either. Mumford is the fourth most influential ruckmen in the game in the first three rounds in terms of total hitouts (34 per game), hitout win percentage (45.7%) and the most important statistic hitouts to advantage (13 per game). Zac Smith will no doubt have his work cut out for him on Saturday night and could expect to receive a chop out from Charlie Dixon at times whose combative style is well suited to tackling Mumford.

Lynch set the tone in Geelong, now to back it up

Rodney Eade demanded his young leaders step up in the lead up to last Sunday’s game against Geelong. And that’s exactly what Tom Lynch did down at Simonds Stadium. Through effort and urgency, Lynch forced his teammates to follow suit in a performance that spoke volumes of his leadership abilities. Lynch will be a beneficiary of Charlie Dixon’s return to senior football and will be allowed to spend more time playing further up the ground between the arcs. At times against Geelong, with Lynch playing higher up the ground, the SUNS lacked a key target deep inside 50. Dixon’s selection will not only alleviate this issue, but will also provide strong support to Lynch against Giants key defenders Phil Davis, Joel Patfull and Nick Haynes. After booting three goals against St Kilda in his first outing of 2015, Lynch matched that goal tally against the Cats, however his influence was far greater at the Cattery. Not only was his leadership exceptional, he had a real presence when the SUNS transitioned out of the back half of the ground. Lynch’s performances can’t be purely measured in terms of marks and goals. That is clear from last weekend’s performance. With such a young group at Metricon Stadium, the spearhead has the capacity to raise the performances of others around him.