\n The Gold Coast SUNS 2025 draftees have ditched end of schooling celebrations to kick off their first pre-season as AFL listed players.\n <\/p>\n
The Gold Coast SUNS 2025 draftees have ditched end of schooling celebrations to kick off their first pre-season as AFL listed players.<\/p>\n
Zeke Uwland, Beau Addinsall, Jai Murray, Koby Coulson, Dylan Patterson and Avery Thomas joined their new teammates on the track before heading to the Austworld Oval on Monday morning.<\/p>\n
After being selected with Pick 5 in last Wednesday\u2019s Telstra AFL Draft, StreetSmarts SUNS Academy graduate Patterson flew home to attend his school formal before quickly shifting his attention to his dream venture at the SUNS.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day it’s a sacrifice you have to make but it’s not really a sacrifice – you dream about it since you’re a little kid,\u201d the 18-year-old said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think formal was important to end off my schooling with all my mates\u2026 but I’m doing what I want to do and they can enjoy that (Schoolies).<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m sure they’re all going to understand, they\u2019re rooting for me anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n
The former Rugby League junior shared how his cross-code experience as a full-back has shaped the athlete he is today.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Rugby League definitely helps with vision in the game and being able to see the game front on,\u201d Patterson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that’s why I’ve excelled as a half-back recently – the physicality has helped me build areas in my game.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone should have a crack at doing multiple sports – there’s no loss from it – you only gain attributes from each sport.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI just wanted to be able to enjoy both and spend time with my mates in both codes,\u201d the Palm Beach Currumbin Reds (Rugby) and Lions (AFL) junior added.<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t really commit to anything at that stage I just wanted to have fun.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously it gets to a point where it gets a bit too much to be able to play both and I finally had to make a decision, and I think I made a pretty good choice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Having trained on with the SUNS AFL squad during his time at the StreetSmarts SUNS Academy, the young SUN shared the step up has been an enjoyable experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe boys are still getting around and helping us but obviously now you\u2019re a bit more responsible,\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou’re paid to do your job but it’s still enjoyable and everyone’s here because they love doing it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s still a long pre-season to go, so I’m just trying to take those small steps first. Just keeping fit, keeping the body right and getting the job done.\u201d<\/p>\n
Off the back of a historic 2025 campaign, the SUNS are taking further steps forward in 2026 with plenty of fresh talent on board.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere’s excitement flowing through the club and definitely through the Academy boys,\u201d Patterson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can feel the push and the drive. The new recruits, everything – I think it’s only beneficial.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re all looking forward to what next season brings.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Gold Coast SUNS 2025 draftees have ditched end of schooling celebrations to kick off their first pre-season…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":308119,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85,83],"class_list":{"0":"post-308118","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-afl","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australian-football-league","12":"tag-australianfootballleague","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-text"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=308118"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308118\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/308119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=308118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=308118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=308118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}