In the lead up to Saturday’s clash with Fremantle, a large emphasis was placed on the gulf in class between the two midfields. The visitors engine room looked liked something out of Hollywood Boulevard with Rolls Royce’s and Bentley’s parked at the feet of Aaron Sandilands, whilst the Gold Coast SUNS’ midfield had it’s shiniest toys stuck in the pits.
 
Despite the undeniable talent differential, an even spread of contribution across the board, and particularly in the midfield, helped steer Gold Coast to within reaching distance of a David v Goliath type scalp. Effort and intent has the capability to trump class and that was the exact case on Saturday afternoon on a sodden Metricon Stadium deck that generated a hard-fought encounter.
 
One player that elevated his game against an A-Grade onball brigade - perhaps the best midfield in the game - was Luke Russell. The wingman did the majority of his damage in transition, gaining the second most metres for the game with 465m; a crucial statistic in a wet weather game where yardage gained is worth its weight in gold.
 
With an abundance of first-choice midfielders in the stands, Russell revealed that the focus for the undermanned midfield was to limit the impact of the Dockers' game-breakers. Something that was only attainable by matching them with effort and desire.
 
“It was a huge focus, we’re a bit undermanned in there. A lot of boys are stepping up, filling the roles of the boys that are injured,” Russell told SUNS RAW following Gold Coast’s seven-point loss to Fremantle on Saturday.
 
“They’ve got Nat Fyfe’s who’s in career best form so we had a real focus for him. Lachie Neale, Rainesy played on him and played really well on him. It was good to learn off their midfield, now we know we can match them.
 
“Rocket was pretty positive with the effort. We fought all game – the last three weeks we’ve been pretty good, we’ve played the top sides. I think our effort’s been great.
 
“We can’t fault the boys efforts tonight. We nearly had it won in the end. We’ve got to be pretty dirty that we lost, but take a lot of positives as well.”
 
After enduring a frustrating start to the season with untimely injury and illness putting the clamps on an impressive pre-season campaign, Russell has fought back to play five of the last six matches.
 
The Tasmanian gathered a season-high 21 possessions in wet and adverse conditions against Fremantle, as well as pumping the ball inside the arc on four occasions to be one of Rodney Eade’s key contributors.
 
“I have been a bit injured at the start of the year, obviously trying to crack into the team, I got an opportunity. I’ve just been trying to keep that continuity going and keep working at training on the things I need to keep getting better at,” Russell said.
 
“Rocket’s been good with me, he’s been really hard on me, but I think that’s what I need and hopefully I can keep building and putting in good performances.”