Brandon Matera is the latest makeshift midfielder to thrive on added exposure in the middle of the ground, with the polished small forward producing one of his finest performances of the season against Essendon on Saturday night.
 
The West Australian has spent the majority of his time in the AFL playing at the feet of Tom Lynch and Charlie Dixon, but given the injury epidemic at Metricon Stadium, Matera has been forced to spend more time playing higher up the ground in the last month.
 
On Saturday night, in greasy conditions that made ball handling difficult, Matera stood out with his clean hands and clever decision making. He gathered 23 possessions, six marks and three inside 50s, enjoying the freedom of playing on a wing, away from an area of the ground where one is dependant on others.
 
“It’s been good to get up the ground. I get stuck in the forward line quite a bit, so the more time I get up there (the better). I enjoy myself and run around and get a bit of the ball, so it was good,” Matera told SUNS RAW after Gold Coast’s two-point win.
 
For the first-time in the 23-year-old’s career, Matera has remained on the park for the duration of the campaign. A feat he attributes to focusing on the little things each week to get his body up for the next game.
 
“It’s definitely been a long year. It’s the first time I’ve actually played a game every week since I’ve been here. So I’ve just got to do all the one percenters during the week and keep backing it up,” Matera said.
 
Never in the game’s history has a side had to face almost an entire season without their four best midfielders – and sometimes as many as their top six. It never happens.
 
But a silver lining from the injury crisis has been the development opportunities that otherwise would not have been made available. Matera reiterated the benefits of young, inexperienced players learning in the heat of the action.
 
“It’s been good though for the young boys like [Aaron] ‘Hally’ and Jesse Lonergan they’ve battled for the last couple of months. It’s a good learning curve going into next year. It just proves that we can still do it with the super stars out,” Matera said.