Young SUN Lachie Gulbin is ready to fire in the 2026 season, with his sights set on knocking down the door for AFL selection.
The 19-year-old was drafted to the Gold Coast SUNS in the 2024 Rookie Draft after being a part of the StreetSmarts SUNS Academy program and playing junior footy for the Burleigh Bombers.
The StreetSmarts SUNS Academy talent debuted in his first season, playing one game against Port Adelaide; however, he spent the majority of his time developing his skills with the Gold Coast’s VFL side, where he finished with an average 10.5 disposals, 3.9 tackles, while kicking 13 goals.
With 26 games of VFL experience under his belt and having been recently named as an emergency in two of the SUNS recent AFL outings, the young Gold Coaster is working at putting his best foot forward in the early stages of this season to earn further opportunities at the highest level.
“My aim for this year is to play the strongest footy I can to keep knocking down the door, pushing for selection,” Gulbin said.
“I’m going to focus on bringing my weapons to each game I play, so my running power, strength, fitness, tackle pressure and ability to find and finish a goal, and the rest will take care of itself.”
With strong performances throughout 2025, like that of turning 23 possessions into four goals against the Northern Bullants, Gulbin set to work in the off and pre-season to ensure his momentum stayed intact.
“I made sure I had time to reset so that I could then be really intentional with training. I got away for a bit and went over to Japan,” Gulbin said.
“When I got back, I was trying to train with as many of the boys as possible. A group of us would go and do our running session together, ticking them off day by day.
“It was good training with some of the boys as we held each other accountable, making sure we were consistently showing up because from that results will come.”
In the Smithy’s VFL Round 1 game against Werribee, the small forward's involvement in the game's action was notable, he amassed 22 disposals, 10 contested possessions to go with two goals.
While the Gold Coast went down in the season opener, 8.10 (58) to 9.19 (73), the team took the game as an opportunity to execute the systems they have been training this year.
“We wanted to have fun in our first hitout, come away with a lot of positives and have executed our system, but we have also came out of the match with a few work-ons that we’ll take into our next game and do better,” Gulbin commented.
“The draftees too are starting to get their heads around the system, which is great, and I thought they were strong for their first game.
“It was good just to be back out there and now we can build on that momentum for the rest of the year.”
Former SUNS stars Alex Sexton and David Swallow also took the field with the VFL squad and will continue to do so for the remainder of the season as they carry out their involvement at the club with new roles in development.
“Sexton and Swallow have been nothing but good value and it’s like having two extra coaches out on the field with us,” Gulbin said.
“For us young boys they have been great and honestly they are just really good people to have around.”
Having completed the bye round over the weekend, the Gold Coast SUNS now turn to prepare for the AFL and VFL squads to take on the Melbourne Demons and Southport Sharks respectively.
“Everyone has done their reviews and as a team we know how we want to play our next game,” the 19-year-old said.
“I’m just making sure that I am fit and firing for the week to come.”
Support the VFL SUNS in the Doc Mackenzie Cup clash against the Southport Sharks from 12:05 pm AEST this Saturday, 4 April at Fankhauser Reserve. The SUNS take on the Demons at the MCG from 3:15 pm AEST on Sunday, 5 April - secure your Digital Membership to catch all the AFL action live across Fox Footy and Kayo at a discounted rate.
