Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew is adamant he still has plenty of options despite the devastating loss of co-captain Jarrod Witts to an AFL season-ending knee injury.
Witts ruptured an ACL in last Friday’s loss to Adelaide, leaving the Suns without their key ruckman for the remainder of the 2021 season.
Adding to Dew’s woes, back-up ruck Zac Smith, swingman Sam Day and untried youngster Matt Conroy are all sidelined with their own knee issues.
It means Dew will name one of Chris Burgess and Caleb Graham as ruckman for Saturday’s home game against Carlton, with Graham the likely frontrunner after spending time there during Wednesday’s training.
Burgess stepped in to the role against the Crows after Witts’ injury and Dew said both players will get their opportunities over coming weeks.
“As much as we hate to see our captain in Wittsy go down, the exciting part is, there’s a couple of guys that might get some opportunity,” Dew said.
“Also Hugh Greenwood’s done a little bit in the past and he’s quite hard to handle there because of his follow up.
“A little bit of flexibility in the side and maybe unpredictability towards the opposition.”
Vice-captain Touk Miller said Brisbane’s performance against Collingwood last weekend, in which Magpies ruck Brodie Grundy smashed his Lions opponents in the hitouts but ended up on a losing team, showed the Suns can still compete without Witts.
Where the team will miss Witts the most in Miller’s opinion is his leadership and influence – a void that he himself must fill along with fellow leaders David Swallow and Sam Collins.
“You take a skipper away from any team, it’s going to leave a bit of a void, but in saying that it probably gives opportunities to Dave, myself, Sammy Collins, some of the younger boys who are key influencers in our team, to step up,” Miller said.
“He’s definitely a bit of a motivational leader out in the field and quite a calm head.
“We will lose that … as a collective, we’re probably going to have to do that together.”