‘Win the contested football and you’ll win the game.’

While it’s a simple statement, it’s one that often holds true in modern day football. It’s no coincidence that the final four teams in the 2016 AFL Finals series finished in the top five across the league for contested possessions.

Meanwhile, the Gold Coast SUNS finished 14th in the AFL and identified a key deficiency in the midfield with contested ball leader and skipper Gary Ablett missing large chunks of football through injury.

READ: SUNS return to Cairns for seventh season

The recruiting of Jarryd Lyons from the Adelaide Crows will help balance the ledger in the SUNS favour with the Sandringham Dragons product averaging 10.4 contested possessions per game in 2016, ranked in the top 50 in the league.

Lyons sees himself playing an important grunt role in Gold Coast’s engine room and is excited to get started at Metricon Stadium.

“I think it’s pretty exciting, the midfield and the spine of the whole group, almost elite I guess you could say,” Lyons told SUNS TV on Tuesday.

“So really looking forward to working with those types of guys in the pre-season and can’t wait to get stuck in next year.

“Probably similar (role) to what I played last year, just an inside-mid. Can go forward a little bit but mainly inside-mid and just feeding out to all those quicks on the outside.”

The Victorian is looking to further build on a successful 2016 campaign with another big pre-season with the SUNS.

READ: Sunsets claim back-to-back victories

Lyons’ ability to impact the scoreboard will also provide his new team with a major boost after the tough midfielder booted 15 goals from 20 games for the Crows, both career-highs.

“I grew up playing a lot as a forward before I started going in the midfield so I guess that’s something I learnt from a young age and something that comes naturally as well,” he said.

“It’s always nice to rest forward as a midfielder instead of sitting on the bench the whole time, so that’s something I’ve always enjoyed doing.”

“It was nice to play 20 games this year, compared to, I think, my most was 11 or 12 in previous years. I think it was just a big pre-season, I got myself fit, I got myself strong and really that sort of started me off on a good pre-season into a strong NAB Cup and I went from there.”