His first game of 2026 will be game number 50, but young SUNS defender Bodhi Uwland is already establishing himself as a role model inside the Austworld Centre.

Uwland is in the midst of preparing for his fourth season on the SUNS list following consecutive seasons in which he’s become a mainstay in Damien Hardwick’s defensive set-up.

With the 21-year-old’s ability to go toe-to-toe with both tall and small forwards, Uwland has been referred as one to lean on by Assistant Coach Josh Drummond for a number of the club’s new recruits, including Tasmanian recruit Avery Thomas.

Speaking in his first week as a new SUN, Thomas said he was soaking in all he could learn from the Burleigh Bombers junior.

“It's nice getting a bit of that feedback from one of your assistant coaches that you can pass on something to the new boys coming in,” Uwland said.

“I guess I see a lot of similar traits in terms of his [Thomas’] competitiveness and hardness at the ball.

“If he can learn a few things off me as I can learn off him, I think that'll be beneficial for both of us moving forward.”

It’s a fitting passing of the baton on the SUNS list, with Uwland now stepping into a similar position in which senior squad member Wil Powell was for him during his formative years.

“Coming in, I definitely looked up to Wil Powell – he played a similar role to me. He'd played over 100 games and I was just coming in, so he was definitely someone I looked up to and admired how he played,” Uwland added.

After playing all 25 matches of the history-making 2025 campaign, Uwland says no ceilings are being set on what the SUNS can achieve in 2026.

“I guess there's expectations externally that we'll make finals or whatever it may be, but we know that there's no real limit for what we can achieve in 2026,” Uwland continued.

“We'll do the work now and put ourselves in in the best position for the season in 2026.”