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Alex Sexton's hamstring injury has put a dampener on Gold Coast's continued strong form in their pre-season win over Adelaide.
Gold Coast will monitor Alex Sexton's progress ahead of AFL round one after their leading goal kicker suffered a hamstring injury in Friday's pre-season win over Adelaide.
Sexton, who booted 39 majors last year, kicked two in windy conditions at Noarlunga before limping off during the third quarter.
The Suns led for most of the match, but it took two late goals to Jordan Murdoch to get them over the line in a 9.17 (71) to 9.10 (64) victory.
Darcy MacPherson (31 disposals), Lachie Weller (27) and David Swallow (33) were outstanding and young star Jack Lukosius (17) looked good across half-back.
But it was the Suns' continued aggression and high-pressure approach that was most impressive.
Their attack on the ball, particularly during the first half and again late in the match, led to a 165-131 advantage in contested possessions.
They also had eight more tackles than the Crows.
Gold Coast's hard-fought win followed their thumping of Geelong, completing an unbeaten pre-season series for last year's bottom side.
"It's a good start and it's really good for a young group to get a couple of wins," Weller told Fox Footy.
"We know it's just (pre-season) but it's good to get a bit of momentum going into the season."
Matt Rowell (14 disposals) produced a strong first-half performance and before he and fellow top draft pick Noah Anderson (six touches) were rested after the main break.
Both should be picked to make their AFL debuts in the round one meeting with Port Adelaide on March 21.
Adelaide youngster Fischer McAsey also boosted his claims for an early debut with a calm and assured display in defence.
McAsey finished with 12 disposals and three marks, and even managed to kick his first goal with a set shot from distance after an intercept mark on the wing and 50m penalty.
McAsey turns 19 on Sunday and looks capable of stepping straight into the Crows' back six.
Adelaide showed a desire to move the ball quickly through the corridor and took plenty of risks to varying degrees of success.
Brodie Smith (34 disposals), Paul Seedsman (29) and Brad Crouch (28) were among the Crows' best as they had 10 individual goal kickers.
