Two of the Gold Coast SUNS brightest performers from the round one win over Essendon have been ruled out of this weekend’s clash against Fremantle in Perth.

Matt Rosa (calf) and Touk Miller (ankle) won’t fly across the Nullarbor, with Rodney Eade erring on the side of caution after suffering through last year’s injury toll.

The pair could have pushed to play, but the coach is against taking any unnecessary risks so early in the home and away season and wants 22 fully fit players at his disposal.

“Matt got a really bad corkie and played the game out so it bled reasonably heavily,” Eade told United Coaches Chat.

“So we just didn’t want to take any risks, especially with the flight. Five-to-six hour flight over with the pressure so he’ll be right next week.”

Miller had been in a race against the clock after suffering a minor ankle sprain in the opening quarter of the game against the Bombers.

The young midfielder will miss his first senior game since arriving at Metricon Stadium after playing all 22 matches in his debut season.

“Touk Miller hurt his ankle early in the game and showed a lot of courage for him to play on. A couple of great tackles where he was hobbling a bit I think showed the character that he’s got,” Eade said.

“He’s probably 80 per cent but we just don’t think it’s worth the risk at this stage of the year so we won’t take anyone in that’s in any doubt so we’ll have 22 fit players.”