The 2015 campaign was finally brought to an end on Saturday night at the SCG, with a slow start coming back to hurt the Gold Coast SUNS who eventually ran out of legs in the final quarter.
In the middle two quarters, Rodney Eade’s men went toe-to-toe with a Sydney outfit that have their eyes set on another deep date in the finals. Gold Coast wasted a handful of opportunities in the third quarter to challenge the Swans, before the home side put their foot down in the last to win by ten goals.
As he has done all season long, Kade Kolodjashnij finished his year with another well-rounded, four-quarter performance. He collected 23 possessions (12 contested) and four rebound 50s to be one of the most influential SUNS on the ground. The Tasmanian was damaging with ball in hand, combining with Nick Malceski to help provide drive from defensive 50.
Steven May added another name to his list of scalps on the weekend, this time in the form of triple Coleman medallist Lance Franklin. Despite an enormous inside 50 differential (+26), May held the Swans superstar to just 1.1 and next to no influence on the outcome. The SUNS key defender completed a stunning finish to his season after overcoming a slow start to his year.
Seven weeks is now a sufficient amount of time to label Aaron Hall as a definite midfielder moving forward. The Tasmanian has been a revelation since moving into the guts against Adelaide in round 17, finishing the year averaging over 27 touches in his last seven games, including an equal career-high 31 against Sydney on the weekend, to go with six inside 50s.
After enduring the most frustrating season of his time at the SUNS, Danny Stanley finished the year on the right note with a quality performance against a star-studded red and white engine room. The big-bodied utility collected an equal season-high 22 disposals and five inside 50s to be one of the SUNS key contributors against the Swans.
Michael Rischitelli drew his 2015 campaign to a close with another all grunt at the SCG. The revered leader has been asked to carry the brunt of the workload throughout the year, and once again he performed the duty, collecting 21 disposals, five inside 50s and four tackles.
Who was your best player in round 23?
Veteran Gold Coast midfielder Rischitelli capped off an outstanding season with another four-quarter performance, which will see him crowned as the 2015 Fans Player of the Year, ahead of Tom Lynch, Kolodjashnij and Adam Saad.
