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Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew wants Matt Rowell to play a long part of Monday's AFL preseason match against Brisbane, with the young gun on track for round one.
Much-vaunted young gun Matt Rowell is expected to play a significant portion of Gold Coast's AFL preseason match against Brisbane on Monday as the teenager remains on track to play in round one.
Rowell played a half in a scratch match against the Lions last Saturday, as he continues to progress from the shoulder injury which halted his promising debut season in 2020 after just five games.
Having come through that hitout without any drama, Suns coach Stuart Dew says there'll be more minutes for the No.1 draft pick when Gold Coast face the Lions at Metricon Stadium.
"We'll just again start to step it up so somewhere around three quarters, give or take, depending on how he's going," Dew said.
"He's match ready. We just had a firm view on the season proper so we'll just assess him, probably at three-quarter time as to how he's looking."
While Rowell looks like he'll get a solid run, fellow young gun Izak Rankine is a doubt after tweaking an ankle in training on Friday.
Dew says the knock isn't serious but he's not willing to take risks with the mercurial 20-year-old heading into the season-opener against West Coast in Perth on March 21.
"Certainly doesn't look like it'd put anything in doubt going forward in the season so it'll just be whether he plays Monday," Dew said.
"We'll wait until it cools down and have a look."
The Suns went down 15.12 (102) to 8.7 (55) in their practice match against the Lions, with star recruit Joe Daniher kicking four goals for the visitors.
With limited match practice before the season-opener against the Eagles, Dew is realistic about any outcomes from Monday's game.
"The last few weeks we're still getting work into them during the week and a lot more work than what we would do in a normal year," Dew said.
"In previous years we've won that first (preseason) game by 60-70 points because we've been up for it and fresh for it.
"We are going into these games a little bit fatigued by design and I think that's an important part of when your list starts to mature and and get to where you want to get to in the season."
