Ned Moyle is nothing if not patient. He’s been a Gold Coast SUNS player for 474 days for 13 AFL games.

The emerging 24-year-old ruckman has been the exception to the modern norm whereby young players want things now.

Instead, having expressed his strong preference for the tourist strip lifestyle and weather, and acknowledged the value of an extended apprenticeship in the right environment, he has been prepared to bide his time. To work hard on improving his craft while learning from one of the best in the business.

Ex-SUNS captain Jarrod Witts, a 33-year-old 212-game veteran, has been the perfect mentor for Moyle, who was drafted by the SUNS with pick #5 in the 2021 AFL Mid-Season Rookie Draft.

Through 70 VFL games on top of his 13 AFL outings Moyle has more than justified the faith shown in him by the Suns hierarchy when, with little exposed form, he signed a two-year contract extension through to the end of this year.

Moyle came out of a Mid-Season Rookie Draft which delivered wildly contrasting results.

Jack Edwards, who went #1 to North Melbourne, never played in the AFL, but Jai Newcome, pick #2 to Hawthorn, is now a 100-game club champion and co-captain.

James Peating, pick #8 to GWS, played 45 games with the Giants and now has 30 games for Adelaide, and Sam Durham, pick #9 to Essendon, is a rising star set to play his 100^th game next week.

Other mid-season rookies of value from 2021 have been Carlton’s Jordan Boyd, StKilda’s Cooper Sharman, and Melbourne’s Daniel Turner, and two ruckmen who are making a name for themselves at their second clubs – Melbourne’s Max Heath (ex-St Kilda) and Adelaide’s Lachlan McAndrew (ex-Sydney).

SUNS insiders have high hopes that Moyle will join the quality graduates of that draft.

He will have a chance to push his claims for further AFL opportunities when he plays his first game of the season against the GWS Giants at People First Stadium Sunday night while Witts is rested.

He’ll face GWS 75-game Giants ruckman Kieren Briggs, who was dropped last month but returns to replace injured six-gamer Nick Madden.

It’s the start of a crunch time for Moyle, who played two games in 2023, eight in 2024, and three last year, and was chosen in the 2025 VFL Team of the Year.

At worst he will want to press his case for the SUNS to play two ruckmen, and at the very least he will want to maintain selection pressure on Witts.

He will return to the AFL with a giant advantage - the new AFL ruck rules which have transformed completely the centre bounce. Or at least the centre ball-up.

He’s very tall and very athletic, and can really jump – three characteristics which would be 1-2-3 on the priority list if you were picking a new-age ruckman.

Moyle is among a host of quality recent graduates from the Eastern Chargers in the VFL Under 18 competition. Nick Daicos and Sam Darcy were teammates in 2021, while Noah Anderson and Matt Rowell were Chargers stars two years earlier. And Jamarra Ugle-Hagan was pick #1 out of the Chargers nursery in 2020.

Moyle has a 2-2 record at PFS, where SUNS coach Damien Hardwick will challenge his players this week to conquer what has been a hoodoo opposition for the club.

Having joined the AFL in 2011, 12 months ahead of GWS, the SUNS lost the first instalment of the unofficial ‘Expansion Cup’ before winning the next four.

But since the start of 2014 they are 1-14 against the Giants. And their only win in that time was by one point in Ballarat during Covid.

There’s no hiding the facts – it’s the SUNS’ worst head-to-head record in the League.

They are 3-5 against the Giants at PFS and 1-0 in Ballarat, but elsewhere it’s 1-11 – 0-7 at Sydney Showgrounds, 1-3 in Canberra and 0-1 in Mt.Barker.

Only four members of the SUNS team for Sunday night have posted a win over the Giants in SUNS colours – Sam Collins, Touk Miller, Ben King and Wil Powell. It was five until Matt Rowell was forced out through injury.

And from the same group, only Noah Anderson has polled in the Brownlow Medal against the Giants playing for the Giants. He picked up three votes in the Ballarat win.

A tempting justification for hopes that Ugle-Hagan will play well is his 5-1 record against GWS.

Statistically, the comparison between the SUNS and the Giants is interesting.

The SUNS have played 337 games for a 109-2-226 record (32.5%), with one finals appearance, two finals, and one finals win. The Giants have played 332 games for a 157-4-171 record (47.9%), with eight finals appearances, 19 finals, nine finals wins, and a 2019 grand final loss to Richmond.

The SUNS have a positive win/loss record against West Coast, Hawthorn, North Melbourne, Richmond and the Western Bulldogs, and an even split against Geelong and Essendon. The Giants are ahead of the ledger against Gold Coast, Carlton, Essendon, North, Brisbane and Melbourne, and split with St Kilda and Hawthorn. North is the only double-up.

The SUNS have used 158 players and have two 200-gamers and 25 100-gamers, while the Giants have used 135 players for seven 200-gamers and 19 100-gamers.

The SUNS have kicked 3709 goals while the Giants have kicked 3979 goals,

The SUNS have topped 100 points 59 times and conceded 100 points 144 times, while the Giants are 91-99 in the equivalent statistic.

The Giants head to the coast sitting 14^th on the AFL ladder – or equal 11^th – with a 3-4 record that doesn’t really give an accurate picture of how well they are going. Or not.

They surprised in opening round with a 27-point win over Hawthorn, then lost to the Bulldogs (81 points), St Kilda (4 points) and Collingwood (33 points), beat Richmond (56 points), lost to Sydney (41 points) and last weekend beat North (7 points).

They have three players in the top 10 possessions winners in the competition. Clayton Oliver, new to the club this year from Melbourne, is #6 at 30.9 possessions per game, with Lachie Ash #8 at 30.3ppg and Lachie Whitfield #10 at 30.1.

Veteran journeyman Jake Stringer is their leading goal-kicker with 12 goals, from Jake Riccardi, who has kicked 10 ahead of his return to the side this week, and the injured Jesse Hogan (9).

Impressive newcomer Phoenix Gothard has kicked eight goals and former #1 draft pick Aaron Cadman, who shapes as a big dangerman, has kicked seven goals in two games after a late start to the season.

Skipper Toby Greene, who last weekend played his 268^th game to break the Giants all-time record, has averaged 24.6ppg and kicked five goals splitting his time between the midfield and the forward 50m arc.