Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew has hailed the return of Ben King, claiming the star ahead is “ready to go” for Saturday’s opening spherical conflict in opposition to the Sydney Swans after lacking the Suns’ complete 2022 marketing campaign.
It has been greater than 13 months since King ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his proper knee throughout a pre-season coaching recreation.
“It’s exciting for all of us … he’s done a mountain a work,” Dew mentioned in confirming King would play on Saturday night time on the Suns’ newly named residence floor, Heritage Bank Stadium.
“He’s grown in his preparation and his style of play, so we expect him to perform; he’s the number one driver of that.
“He’s going to play, he’s ready to go – we’re pumped to have No.34 back out there.”
Dew wasn’t involved by 22-year-old King’s restricted participation within the Suns’ pre-season matches.
“He’ll be fine. We made a couple of choices around the trials, given the amount of work he’d done,” the Suns mentor mentioned.
“We mapped this out a long way back with a view for round one, so we’re fairly confident.”
Dew tipped King to relish the totally different type of ahead play the Suns adopted in his absence.
“One part that Ben will enjoy is, with a year out, we’ve learned to play a different way and he’ll certainly slot into that,” Dew mentioned.
“We’ve got multiple options to go to goal. We’re confident that whichever way we go, we’ve got a forward line with good variety.”
While King will play, the Suns received’t danger midfielder Brandon Ellis, who has an injured hamstring.
“You want to go into round one with guys that have got a fair bit under their belt,” Dew mentioned.
“We’ll stretch that out to make sure (Ellis) is absolutely ready. We don’t want to take any risks coming into round one.”
Dew mentioned he’s assured within the skill of a “reasonably healthy list” to match the Swans, final season’s crushed grand finalists.
“We’ll pick our most competitive team regardless of age and experience. That’s a good model that I’ve seen over time,” he mentioned.
“Whatever year they were born won’t come into it. It’s how physical they can play. I think that’s a sound philosophy.”
Dew mentioned nothing lower than Gold Coast’s finest could be enough if the Suns have been to trigger a first-round upset.
“Our players respect the Sydney footy club and they understand the way they go about it,” he mentioned.
“If you don’t bring your game against Sydney, you’re in for a long day. When you look at their experience, it’s top-end.
“There are seven or eight A-graders there. There’s a reason they made the grand final (last year).”
Originally printed as Gold Coast ahead to make AFL comeback after greater than 13 months on sidelines
Source: www.dailytelegraph.com.au
