Depleted Gold Coast Suns no match for Redland Bombers

With the Suns fielding only five-AFL listed players, they were no match for the Bombers in the second half as they ran away with a 21.13 (139) to 9.4 (58) win.

The injury crisis at Gold Coast fed into their NEAFL side, with only Tom Nicholls, Mackenzie Willis, Cameron Leorsch, Jarrod Garlett and Clay Cameron the senior players available for selection.

With the Suns' top academy players contesting the National Under-18 Championships, the side was made up of players from Broadbeach, Southport and Palm Beach under-19s.

Four North Queensland players - Port Douglas Crocs’ Kye Chapple, 24, and Jesse Mawson, 27, and South Cairns Cutters Jermaine Wardle, 21, and Ryan Etherington, 21, travelled from Cairns to fill spots.

Leorsch kicked the opening goal of the match as Redland struggled to fire early, booting the first four consecutive behinds.

But a pair of majors from Luke Rogerson kick-started their momentum as the Bombers went into quarter-time 16 points clear.

Redland began to break away in the second with a further seven goals to four.

While the Suns kept it competitive in the third, Redland opened the floodgates in the last with seven goals to one sealing an important victory.

Coming off a disappointing 60-point loss to Aspley last week, Redland had no problems finding the football this week with plenty of players racking up big numbers.

Blake Grewar led the way with 42 disposals, including eight clearances and a goal, while Brad Rees starred with 40, also collecting eight clearances.

Rogerson and Brad Howard each kicked three goals while captain Tom Salter, young gun Hayden Bertoli-Simmonds and Sam Godfrey were among their better players.

The only sour note for the Bombers was a concussion to key utility Adrian Williams, who was knocked out when Suns’ livewire Jarrod Garlertt flew for a mark during the first quarter.

The win has opened up a two-game gap between the sixth-placed Bombers and seventh-placed Southport, who lost to Sydney University by 14 points.

Redland now faces a tough trip to the Alice Springs to take on NT Thunder at Traeger Park next week during the AFL’s Indigenous Round.

The match will be played as a curtain closer to the AFL clash between Melbourne and Port Adelaide.

REDLAND 4.4 11.6 14.10 21.13 (139)

GOLD COAST 2.0 6.0 8.3 9.4 (58)

GOALS – Redland: B Howard 3 L Rogerson 3 M Thomson 2 J Rayner 2 H Bertoli-Simmonds 2 B Grewar S Godfrey A Christensen T Jones J O’Donnell A Williams J Goodall S Miller D Steven. Gold Coast: S Watson 2 C Leorsch 2 D Trask T Nicholls D Burke J Pecotich J Garlett.

BEST – Redland: B Rees T Jones B Grewar T Salter H Bertoli-Simmonds S Godfrey. Gold Coast: T Nicholls C Cameron J Garlett C Leorsch M Willis.