{"id":400558,"date":"2026-01-08T21:34:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T21:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/400558\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T21:34:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T21:34:09","slug":"selecting-every-afl-teams-best-23-for-2026-gold-coast-suns-afl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/400558\/","title":{"rendered":"Selecting every AFL team\u2019s best 23 for 2026: Gold Coast Suns – AFL News"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

Many pundits are bullish on the Suns’ chances in 2026. And rightly so.<\/p>\n

After accumulating a plethora of first-round draft talent since their inception in 2011, the Suns have finally found the right mix between young talent and maturity.<\/p>\n

An aggressive trade strategy in recent seasons, which has brought in players such as Christian Petracca<\/a>, John Noble<\/a>\u00a0and Daniel Rioli<\/a>, has further accelerated their rise.<\/p>\n

With a dynamic midfield, speed out of the back half and established key position players, there is no glaring weakness, and you would think the Suns are poised to contend for their first ever flag in 2026.<\/p>\n

Defenders<\/p>\n

Gold Coast’s defensive stocks remain solid, led by the experienced Sam Collins<\/a>, who has proven that he can match up with the competition’s best key forwards. Charlie Ballard<\/a> returns from an ACL injury in 2025 to add further experience and depth to their key defensive stocks.<\/p>\n

The Suns also boast a handful of exciting, developing key defenders. Mac Andrew<\/a> continues to show significant upside with his athleticism and intercepting ability, while Oscar Adams<\/a> provides a tough, no-nonsense lockdown option.<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/p>\n

The addition of Daniel Rioli<\/a> and John Noble<\/a> in the 2024 Trade Period has injected pace, creativity and nice ball use coming out of their back half. Will Powell and draftee Dylan Patterson<\/a> offer similar line-breaking profiles.<\/p>\n

Bodhi Uwland<\/a> continues to rise as a tough and versatile defensive option after finishing second in the Suns’ best and fairest in 2024, while Joel Jeffrey<\/a> adds speed, aerial ability and composure with ball in hand.<\/p>\n

Midfielders<\/p>\n

Gold Coast’s midfield is clearly the strongest area of the ground. Their centre-bounce quartet of Noah Anderson<\/a>, Christian Petracca<\/a>, Matt Rowell<\/a> and Jarrod Witts<\/a> shapes as one of the most damaging in the competition.<\/p>\n

Brownlow medallist Rowell is a contested ball-winning beast, while 2025 Coaches Association MVP Anderson hurts the opposition on the inside and out. Petracca’s arrival adds another explosive dimension at stoppage, while Witts will continue to provide elite service to his star-studded midfield.<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/p>\n

Veteran Touk Miller<\/a> has been a superb midfielder for the Suns since being drafted in 2014, though he may spend more time forward with Petracca now in the mix.<\/p>\n

Alex Davies<\/a> emerged late in the 2025 season as a genuine midfielder, highlighted by a 30-disposal, 10-tackle performance in Round 20. Interesting as to whether he fits in the best 23.<\/p>\n

On the outside, Lachie Weller<\/a> offers class and drive when fit after an injury-interrupted past few seasons. Weller will likely spend time on the wing alongside draftee Zeke Uwland<\/a>, who is highly skilled and has strong running capacity. Sam Clohesy<\/a> adds further depth on the wing.<\/p>\n

Young ruck Ned Moyle<\/a> continues to impress as one of the competition’s brightest developing big men. Has stepped up admirably in the absence of Witts when required.<\/p>\n

Forwards<\/p>\n

Gold Coast’s forward line has undergone significant change over the off-season. The departures of Ben Ainsworth<\/a> and Malcolm Rosas<\/a> has vacated roles at ground level, while the arrival of some elite talent promises significant improvement to their already dangerous front half.<\/p>\n

The headline addition is Jamarra Ugle-Hagan<\/a>, who, if his off-field issues can be resolved, has already shown he could be a generational key forward. His potential partnership with Ben King<\/a> looms as one of the most dangerous key-forward combinations in the competition in 2026 and beyond.<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/p>\n

Christian Petracca<\/a> is likely to spend most of his time through the midfield, but his ability to impact forward of centre adds another dynamic to Damien Hardwick’s forward line.<\/p>\n

At ground level, Bailey Humphrey<\/a> is now a proven small forward who offers power and aggression while hitting the scoreboard.<\/p>\n

Former Suns Academy products Jed Walter<\/a> and Ethan Read<\/a> add further intrigue to selection, with Gold Coast potentially able to deploy three or four key targets ahead of the ball and stretch opposition defences.<\/p>\n

Supporting options such as Leo Lombard<\/a>, Jake Rogers<\/a> and Nick Holman<\/a> provide pressure, speed and flexibility, rounding out a forward group with nice depth and significant upside.<\/p>\n

Best 23<\/p>\n

FB: Mac Andrew<\/a>, Sam Collins<\/a>, Wil Powell<\/a>
HB: John Noble<\/a>, Charlie Ballard<\/a>, Daniel Rioli<\/a>
C: Lachie Weller<\/a>, Touk Miller<\/a>, Zeke Uwland<\/a>
HF: Christian Petracca<\/a>, Jamarra Ugle-Hagan<\/a>, Bailey Humphrey<\/a>
FF: Ben Long<\/a>, Ben King<\/a>, Jed Walter<\/a>
FO: Jarrod Witts<\/a>, Noah Anderson<\/a>, Matt Rowell<\/a>
I\/C: Joel Jeffrey<\/a>, Bodhi Uwland<\/a>, Dylan Patterson<\/a>, Leo Lombard<\/a>, Ethan Read<\/a><\/p>\n

Stiff to miss:\u00a0Alex Davies<\/a>, Jake Rogers<\/a>, Nick Holman<\/a>, Ned Moyle<\/a>, Sam Clohesy<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Many pundits are bullish on the Suns’ chances in 2026. And rightly so. After accumulating a plethora of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":400559,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-400558","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"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400558","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=400558"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400558\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/400559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=400558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=400558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=400558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}