Gold Coast Football Club has made six changes to its squad for this Saturday’s game against Geelong at Fankhauser Reserve, Southport at 2.00pm.
This week first gamer Lewis Moss comes into the forward line. Backmen Stanis Susuve, Mitch Harley and Piers Flanagan will also debut. In form centre half back Michael Coad will move forward in Charlie Dixon’s absence through injury.
The full team is:
B: Stanis SUSUVE (debut) Jack HUTCHINS Mitch HARLEY (debut)
HB: Roland AH CHEE Michael GUGLIOTTA Piers FLANAGAN (debut)
C: Joey DAYE David SWALLOW Trent McKENZIE
HF: Liam PATRICK Michael COAD Rex LIDDY
F: Luke SHREEVE Lewis MOSS (debut) Alik MAGIN
R: Zac SMITH Sam ILES Dan HARRIS
INT: Rory THOMPSON Maverick WELLER Luke RUSSELL Matthew SHAW Brad REES
Taylor HINE Jesse HABERFIELD Marc LOCK
IN: Rory THOMPSON Stanis SUSUVE Mitch HARLEY Piers FLANAGAN Lewis MOSS Jesse HABERFIELD Luke SHREEVE
OUT: Charlie DIXON (injured) Tim PLUMMER
Brandon MATERA Todd GRAYSON Mathew FOWLER
GCFC Senior Coach Guy McKenna says regular rotation of players in and out of the side is an important part of the squad’s physical management. Even so, he says form still plays a part at the selection table.
“Guys who do the right thing, the ones who do the work, they will get rewarded.”
Strong bodied Papua New Guinean defender Stanis Susuve is a case in point.
“Stanis did a great job for Labrador on [former Brisbane Lions international rookie] Donald Barry last week and he deserves his shot.”
GCFC’s defensive half will take on a new look this week with three first gamers named among the back six. Susuve will occupy one back pocket, Mount Gravatt hard nut Mitch Harley will take the other, and eighteen year-old school student Piers Flanagan will line up across half back.
“There’s only two stalwarts, as it were, remaining in our back half, especially with Coady moving forward. Piers is obviously pretty young, but we’re really happy with how he’s going.”
McKenna says he’s looking forward to seeing his young defence implement a few of the lessons of past weeks.
“We’ve spoken about this a bit after recent games, how you can’t assume too much on field. Good sides are predictable. Verbally we’ve got to be confident enough to tell each other where to go and what to do so we can become predictable in that sense.”
With Nathan Ablett injured and Mathew Fowler not selected, Lewis Moss - at 195cm - will provide a tall marking target up front.
“Lewis is a bottom-ager out of the AIS program who could still play for Queensland Scorpions in the under 18’s this year, and we’re keen to have a look at him.”
This week McKenna hopes to see the team continue to strive for a genuine four quarter effort.
“We’ve just got to work towards squeezing games out. I think we’re getting closer. We keep improving every week. We’ve played a number of the really good sides, and we’ve still been around the mark.”
• Stanis Susuve was an outstanding junior in his native Papua New Guinea. His talent earned him a place at the AIS/AFL Academy in 2007.
• Former Geelong Falcon Piers Flanagan will debut while still at school – he’s in year twelve at All Saints College. Fellow first gamer Lewis Moss graduated from All Saints just last year.
• Mitch Harley hails from Mount Gravatt and represented Queensland at under 15, under 16 and under 18 levels.
• Geelong’s VFL side has won just one game this season and sits half a game clear of GCFC in tenth place on the VFL ladder. Unlike its talent-heavy AFL counterpart, Geelong’s VFL side is a relatively young and inexperienced one. Should they play, Matthew Stokes (74 games) and Ryan Gamble (23 games) are the only players with noteworthy AFL credentials.
For more information please contact Greg Price on 0400 200 827.
