The Gold Coast SUNS moved to 1-0 for the 2026 season with no fresh injury concerns following Friday night’s thumping win over Geelong.

The SUNS also have a clean bill of health to report from Friday afternoon’s VFL practice match win over Southport. Charlie Ballard returned to the field for the first time since rupturing his ACL early in 2025, as did Jake Rogers who returned following a hamstring injury that hampered the latter stages of his pre-season.

“It’s fantastic to see Charlie return to the field. He got through Friday’s match without concern and will continue building match fitness in the weeks ahead,” GC SUNS Head Physiotherapist Andrew Weller said.

Matt Rowell will be unavailable before the SUNS' bye in Round 3.

“Matt had follow-up appointments with a specialist last week after having surgery on his hand. Those appointments went well, Matt will now continue his rehabilitation plan and we’ll see where Matt is in his recovery following the bye,” Weller said.

Injury List

Qscan_Secondary Partner

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Player	Injury	Estimated Return
15. Noah Anderson	Appendix	Test Anderson has been ruled out of Saturday’s match against Essendon after undergoing an operation to have his appendix removed.
41. Avery Thomas	Shoulder	Short-term
12. Elliott Himmelberg	Knee	Medium-term Elliott Himmelberg has sustained an ACL injury.
50. Jy Farrar	Ankle	Long-term Jy Farrar will consult specialists after suffering an ankle injury in the VFL.

15. Noah Anderson

Anderson has been ruled out of Saturday’s match against Essendon after undergoing an operation to have his appendix removed.

Injury: Appendix

Est. Return: Test

41. Avery Thomas

Injury: Shoulder

Est. Return: Short-term

12. Elliott Himmelberg

Elliott Himmelberg has sustained an ACL injury.

Injury: Knee

Est. Return: Medium-term

50. Jy Farrar

Jy Farrar will consult specialists after suffering an ankle injury in the VFL.

Injury: Ankle

Est. Return: Long-term

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