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Two Gold Coast SUNS defenders will be a test for Round 23 after the match against Essendon on Sunday. 

Sean Lemmens sustained a cork to his thigh and was subbed out late in the match against Essendon.

Meanwhile Jack Bowes also finished the game on the bench with a corked thigh also.

SUNS Head Physiotherapist Lindsay Bull told the Qscan Injury Update both players would be assessed through the week.

“Both Sean and Jack had heavy knocks on the weekend,” Bull said.

“They were both quite sore post match, but are improving daily which is really encouraging.

“We’ll continue to work closely with Jack and Sean throughout the week before making a call on their availability for the weekend.”

In positive news, SUNS defender Oleg Markov returned from his hamstring injury with a half-game in the VFL scratch match on the weekend.

Click here for the full injury list.

After 261 games over 15 seasons, beloved SUN Jarrod Harbrow has announced his decision to retire from AFL football.

The 33-year-old has been with the SUNS since the club’s debut season and was the first player to be inducted as a life member of the Gold Coast Football Club.

He retires having played 191 games for the SUNS and 70 for the Western Bulldogs.

Harbrow informed players and staff of his decision on Tuesday morning and thanked everyone at the club who had helped him fulfill an outstanding career.

“I’ve been really lucky that the game of AFL football has given me this opportunity to live out a dream and helped me set up my family with a great start to life,” Harbrow said.

“I’m appreciative of everyone that has played a big part in my career.

“I’d like to thank my family, mum and dad, my brothers and all my family up in Cairns and down in Mooroopna in country Victoria.

“All my junior coaches, representative coaches, the Western Bulldogs club and players and the Gold Coast SUNS club and players and anyone that has been a part of my journey.

“The main thing I wanted to do was run out in the SUNS colours and represent my family, the football club and the supporters on the Gold Coast with pride.

“I’ll be forever thankful to the Gold Coast SUNS for allowing me to play football up here and I certainly will be a supporter for the club for a very long time and will have their back forever.”

Harbrow’s impact on the Gold Coast SUNS has been profound.

At his best Harbrow has proven to be one of the most consistent small defenders in the league and has been a mainstay for the club, proven by his selection in the Gold Coast SUNS Team of the First Decade earlier this year.

As a proud Yirrganydji/Kuku-Yalanji Aboriginal Australian from Far North Queensland, he has also had a colossal influence on the club’s Indigenous and cultural education programs.

He is an AFL Players’ Association Indigenous Advisory Board member and has been a respected mentor to fellow Indigenous teammates Sean Lemmens, Izak Rankine, Malcolm Rosas Jnr, Jy Farrar and Joel Jeffrey, as well as many former teammates.

Gold Coast SUNS General Manager of Football Operations Jon Haines said Harbrow’s legacy would leave a generational impact on the club.

“Jarrod is quite simply an inspiration to the Gold Coast SUNS and furthermore the Gold Coast community,” Haines said.

“He has had a tremendous influence on the playing group throughout the last eleven years. He is an amazing role model within our club and our community and we will be forever grateful for the legacy he has created at the Gold Coast SUNS.

“Pleasingly, Jarrod will be continuing at the club in an off-field role, mentoring our Indigenous players and leading our Indigenous and cultural programs. As such, Jarrod, Emma, Riley and Reef will continue to be a critical part of the SUNS family and we are thrilled that our relationship will grow even stronger.”

Drafted with pick 27 in the 2007 Rookie Draft to the Western Bulldogs, Harbrow was quick to make an impression and was named for his AFL debut in Round 4 of that season.

He played four seasons with the Bulldogs which included nine finals appearances before having his desire to return to his native Queensland fulfilled when he was announced as the fifth uncontracted player to sign for the Gold Coast SUNS. 

Throughout his time at the SUNS he has played AFL football in each of his 11 seasons with the club, with his best individual year coming in 2018.

The 2018 Club Champion awards night saw Harbrow become the first player to be inducted as a life member of the Gold Coast SUNS, take home the SUNS Players’ Player and Community Awards, and cap it off by claiming the top gong as Gold Coast’s Club Champion. 

Harbrow has been equally as impactful off the field, harbouring a passion for mentoring Indigenous youth.

Jarrod has already launched his own mentoring program with brother Marc, aiming to further support and educate Indigenous youth throughout Queensland in sport, school and general day to day life. 

His endeavours over the past five years have seen him twice nominated as a finalist in the AFL’s Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award.

Jarrod Harbrow will play his final AFL match against Sydney at Marvel Stadium this weekend in what will be a chance for SUNS members and fans to see the club legend in action, one final time.

A small but very significant piece of Gold Coast SUNS history will leave the club next week with the retirement of veteran ruckman Zac Smith.

Eight minutes and five seconds into the SUNS first AFL game against Carlton at the Gabba on Saturday 2 April 2011 Smith grabbed the ball from a boundary throw-in and snapped at goal on his left foot.

The 206cm 21-year-old, one of 12 AFL debutants in the SUNS first side, sliced it left. He insists it “just missed”. But it registered a behind. The SUNS’ first score in the AFL.

For more than 10 years it has been a subject of much light-hearted banter between Smith and ex-teammate Charlie Dixon, now at Port Adelaide, after Dixon kicked the SUNS’ first goal seven minutes later. Which was more historic, they’ve argued.

Now it will be part of the legacy of one of the founding pillars of the AFL’s 17^th club.

Smith, 31, told teammates of his retirement, deciding it’s time to devote more time to wife Aimee, daughter Eden, who turned three last week, and son Oscar, who will be one in October.

While uncertain on exactly what the future holds after a career that will reach 123 games against Essendon on Sunday, he is hoping to maintain an involvement with the club.

Smith, set for his 73^rd game overall for the SUNS split either side of a 50-game stint at Geelong, will go into the history books as player #18 on the SUNS all-time playing list of 130. Why 18? Because his surname starts with ‘S’. Gary Ablett is #1 and Josh Toy, alphabetically the last player in the first side, is #22.

The Round 23 clash with Sydney represents the last chapter of a trailblazing career that began 13 years ago on August 6, 2008.

Smith was the fourth young Queenslander signed by ‘GC17’, the bid team that later became the second AFL team in Queensland and the 17^th in the AFL.

He signed seven days after the inaugural trio of Dixon, a basketball convert from Cairns, and highly-rated Gold Coast football pair Jesse Haberfield and Jack Stanlake, brother of Australian cricketer Billy Stanlake.

Smith has been a pin-up boy for AFL Queensland’s Rookie Search program. Born in Biloela, he moved with his family to Rockhampton as a 10-year-old and was a Queensland junior soccer player. And not a goalkeeper as might be expected – he was a field player.

Not until October 2006 did he even contemplate AFL. And only then at the suggestion of some friends at North Rockhampton High School.

In 2007 he joined the Glenmore Bulls Under 17s and in his first season was runner-up in the team B&F and was recruited by the Rookie Search Program.

In 2008 he moved to Brisbane to play with the Zillmere Eagles in the QAFL, hoping to further his football, and midway through his first season in the city he was invited to join the SUNS.

He had a choice to commit to the SUNS’ journey, which would include the TAC Cup U18 competition in 2009 and the VFL in 2010 before the club joined the AFL. Or put himself into the 2008 AFL draft, as fellow Gold Coaster Dayne Beams did.

Despite playing less than 20 games of football at any level, Smith received letters of interest from Collingwood, Hawthorn, Geelong, North Melbourne and Port Adelaide, and had a visit from then Richmond recruiting boss Craig Cameron, now the SUNS General Manager of List & Strategy.

It was a big decision to put his football dream on hold for two years but given his lack of experience and fundamental football knowledge limitations he chose the conservative route. The SUNS.

So began an apprenticeship which saw him named as first ruck in the TAC Cup Team of the Year in 2009 and play against men for the first time in the VFL in 2010, when he was the only non-AFL player chosen in the 2009 Queensland Team of the Year.

By the time the club’s official AFL debut came around he was an automatic pick, sharing the ruck duties with former #1 draft pick Josh Fraser from Collingwood.

Smith was a strong contributor throughout the club’s first season and finished 6^th in the 2011 SUNS Club Champion with 93 votes. Ahead of him were Ablett (196), Nathan Bock (138), Michael Rischitelli (100), David Swallow (98) and Danny Stanley (95). Completing the top 10 were Jared Brennan (83), Jarrod Harbrow (72), Sam Iles (49), Harley Bennell and Trent McKenzie (45).

He also finished 3^rd overall in voting for the AFL Rising Star Award, won by Dyson Heppell, now the Essendon captain. It was Heppell (44) from Luke Shuey (37), now West Coast captain (37), Smith (21), teammate Swallow (18), West Coast’s Jack Darling (6), Sydney’s Sam Reid (5), teammate McKenzie (1), West Coast’s Andrew Gaff (1), Geelong’s Daniel Menzel (1) and St.Kilda’s Jack Steven (1).

Geelong’s Mitch Duncan, Western Bulldogs’ Luke Dahlhaus (now at Geelong) and Hawthorn’s Luke Breust, all 200-game premiership players, were among other Rising Star nominees who did not poll in the overall vote.

Over five years at Metricon Stadium from 2011-15 Smith played 20, 16, 8, 10 and 11 games, surviving a knee reconstruction and an ankle reconstruction. But at the end of 2015, having spent half of the season in the NEAFL, he decided on a fresh start.

After approaches from several clubs he opted for Geelong, and in 2016-17 was a fixture in the top side. He played 44 games including five finals and two preliminary finals. He was 10^th in the Cats B&F in 2016 and 8^th in 2017.

Injury and later a lack of opportunity kept him to six games at Geelong in 2018-19 and when given a chance to return ‘home’ to the SUNS in 2020 it was an opportunity too good to refuse.

The 2020 Covid season was a wipe, and, after suffering a serious knee injury on the eve of the 2021 season it wasn’t until Round 10 this year that he played his 66^th SUNS game – 2086 days after his 65^th.

Between his last game at Geelong and his return game at the Gold Coast it was 657 days – long enough for two birthdays, a move interstate and a second child.

After an outstanding Round 21 showing against Carlton which earned lavish praise from coach Stuart Dew he is content to go out on his own terms.

Quietly-spoken and always measured in his thinking but highly regarded at both his clubs, Smith has enjoyed untold ‘firsts’ during a SUNS career in which he has worn #2 and #32.

In three especially significant moments, he was a member of the SUNS’ first winning team against Port Adelaide at Football Park in Round 5, 2011, a member of the SUNS’ first Q-Clash side against Brisbane at the Gabba in Round 7, 2011, and a member of the first SUNS side to play against Geelong at the ‘new’ Metricon Stadium in Round 10, 2011.

The unforgettable Q-Clash win was extra special – he had 22 disposals and 17 hit-outs to get the better of Brisbane ruck pair Matthew Leuenberger and Mitch Clark, both top 10 draft picks, and earn two Brownlow Medal votes and his Rising Star nomination.

Overall, Smith played in the SUNS’ first game against every opposition team except Hawthorn – he missed the 2011 visit to Launceston – and in their first game at the Gabba, Marvel Stadium, Football Park, Metricon Stadium, Subiaco, Cazaly’s Stadium in Cairns, Kardinia Park at Geelong, the MCG, Canberra, Darwin, the SCG and Adelaide Oval.

He is also the only SUNS player to have left the club and returned to play again at AFL level.

When Smith left the SUNS, the club’s all-time playing list numbered 77. While he was away it swelled by 51, including 21 who came and went during his absence.

Of the inaugural SUNS playing list in 2011 only five are on the 2021 list – Smith, Harbrow, Swallow, Sam Day and Rory Thompson.

Smith leaves behind a lasting legacy at the club he helped establish and will always remain a part of the SUNS family.

The Gold Coast SUNS are thrilled to announce vice-captain Sam Collins has extended his contract with the club until the end of 2025.

Collins has played 18 games this year in his third season with the club, and 44 for the SUNS overall since being recruited as a state-league assistance player in 2018.

The 27-year-old said his desire to be a key part of the club’s exciting future made it an easy decision to put pen to paper.

“I love the club and have enjoyed being a part of the leadership group to help drive this group forward,” Collins said.

“I really believe in what we’re building here and I couldn’t see myself being anywhere else to be honest.”

Collins has quickly established himself as one of the most important players on the list, winning the 2020 SUNS Club Champion after a stellar individual season.

“I’m really excited for the next four years and how much influence I can have on the group, to make sure we’re a really respected and competitive team throughout the competition.”

“I want to help build this club to be a finals team.”

He was appointed club vice-captain earlier this year after first joining the leadership group in 2020 also.

Gold Coast SUNS General Manager of Football Operations Jon Haines said Collins had been a role model for his younger teammates ever since joining the club.

“From the moment Sam walked through the doors of the club, he has put absolutely everything he has into improving every day. He is equally committed to helping others and has quickly become a true leader of the playing group and our club. Sam’s long term commitment is testimony to the esteem with which he is held and his personal belief in his team mates and club.”