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Thursday night's alright for rising Suns

3 minute read

Gold Coast getting the chance to take centre stage in the AFL with a Thursday night game against Western Bulldogs is an exciting opportunity for the Suns.

First it was Matt Rowell, then Izak Rankine and now it's a Thursday night standalone fixture on their home ground.

2020 is a year of breakthroughs in the AFL for Gold Coast.

The Suns will participate in their first fixture away from a weekend in their history when they host Western Bulldogs at Metricon Stadium in a mouth-watering match-up between two young and exciting teams.

It's arguably the biggest game in the club's history, although COVID restrictions mean there'll only be a fraction of the 27,914 spectators from their biggest home attendance against Carlton in 2011.

"There's no doubt that the opportunity to have a standalone game at home is great for the code in Queensland and it's a great thing for football club," Suns football manager Jon Haines said.

"Historically, the Thursday/Friday night fixtures ... have been a reward for effort and reward for performance.

"We also acknowledge that this is an unusual year. They're looking to compress the fixture and looking to try to create a fixture that fits all the games in differently than what has happened in the past.

"We're respectful of the opportunity, we're grateful for it and we can't wait for it."

COVID-affected year or not, the match-up between the Suns and Bulldogs has the potential to live up to its Thursday timeslot.

Stuart Dew's Suns claimed their fourth win of the season against Sydney last Saturday with second-gamer Rankine again turning heads with a two-goal, 16-disposal performance to ease the pain of boom midfielder Rowell's shoulder injury a fortnight ago.

The Bulldogs meanwhile bounced back from a disappointing loss against Carlton to end Essendon's recent good run with an emphatic 42-point victory at Metricon Stadium last Friday.

With two teams built on youth, hard running and pressure at the ball, Haines acknowledged the clash was a mouth-watering prospect.

"We certainly feel like we've got some exciting players and we play a brand of football that our fans will be excited about," he said.

"We're really respectful of the Western Bulldogs and how they play. They've got a really high class midfield. Our guys, again, really embrace that challenge and you know they're really looking forward to it."