If you were looking for key statistics to best measure the impact of Ben Long on SUNS games you’d go with goals, score involvements, tackles inside forward 50 and pressure acts. And overall playing ratings.

So the stats from the Gold Coast SUNS’ disappointing Gather Round loss to Sydney at Norwood on Saturday would tell you that Long was one of the SUNS’ most impactful players.

He was team-high with three goals, seven score involvements and seven tackles inside 50, and despite playing primarily in one half of the ground was ranked fourth for pressure acts with 17, behind only Matt Rowell (24), Noah Anderson (24) and Will Graham (19).

His overall player rating of 14.0 was second only to Rowell (15.0).

The 28-year-old utility’s strong showing was a surprise to nobody who knows well the ever-combative and always self-effacing 2025 All-Australian squad member.

In a forward set-up built heavily around the tall trio of Ben King, Ethan Read and more recently Jed Walter, the mid-size and ground level ‘grunt’ of Long is a critical component – as it will be in a must-win game against Essendon at People First Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Bombers will head to the coast after a 45-point Gather Round win over Melbourne at Adelaide Oval which ended an equal club-record 17-game losing streak.

They’ll not only bring a new-found confidence north – they’ll bring pretty much a new side.

Assuming coach Brad Scott goes ‘unchanged’, there will be only 10 ‘survivors’ from the Bombers line-up that was on the wrong end of the SUNS’ club record 95-point win at People First Stadium in the last game of the 2025 home-and-away season.

The ‘survivors’ will be Lachie Blakiston, Sam Durham, Xavier Duursma, Isaac Kako, Kyle Langford, new captain Andrew McGrath, former captain Zach Merrett, Jaxon Prior, Archie Roberts and ex-SUNS Peter Wright.