Gold Coast’s NEAFL team have continued their preparation for the season proper with a victory against QAFL premiers Palm Beach Currumbin on Saturday.
It was the second practice match for the SUNS and with 16 AFL-listed players in the side, they recorded a comfortable 21.17 (143) to 2.1 (13) victory.
NEAFL Coach Nick Malceski was happy with his side’s performance but acknowledged that there is still plenty to work on before their round one clash against Aspley.
“They actually had really good contests throughout the whole game, for four quarters really, which gave our boys a good hit-out,” Malceski told SUNS TV.
“I think we started off a bit slow structurally. We didn’t really get our forward structure right, but we addressed that at quarter time and we were able to fix that up and did that for the last three quarters.”
“Our contest and team defence was a feature. Still a few areas we need to work on for our team defence, which we’ll show the boys this week, especially playing Brisbane.”
Similar to their first practice match, there was an even contribution across the ground from the SUNS.
WATCH: Wil Powell Interview
Malceski noted a handful of players who stood out more than most, in particular draftee Wil Powell, who spent a majority of his time in the forward line.
“His (Powell’s) forward pressure and drop of the ball stuff was really good and stood out.”
“I think he ended up having seven shots on goal, so he was really pleasing up forward and hopefully we can grow off that.
“Through the midfield, Tom Nicholls got his hands on a lot of it. He was good, he backed up last week and Jesse Lonergan did alright in the middle.
“Down back, Max Spencer played another solid game, so those four were probably the standouts in their areas, but everyone played different roles.”
The match also provided valuable game time to a number of SUNS Academy prospects.
For many of them, not only was it another chance to gain a greater understanding of the team’s structures and playing style, but to do so in the heat of a game.
“Our Academy boys have been doing a fair bit of training with us over the summer, so it’s good that they understand our structures and what we’re about and how we want to play.
“Obviously team defence and contest, first and foremost, so they’re getting up to speed with that sort of stuff.
“A couple of standouts for me on the weekend were Burkey (Damien Burke), he played well as a pressure forward, and Kwabe (Boakye) also played as a pressure forward.
“They’re all playing their roles and that’s all we ask of the Academy boys when they come and play with us.”
Gold Coast round out their preparation with their final practice match against the Brisbane Lions this Saturday.
The match will be played at South Pine Sports Complex at 1.30pm.
