When Lachie Weller was traded to Gold Coast in 2017, the move represented a gamble for both parties.
The Suns gave Fremantle pick two in the 2017 draft for Weller, a hefty price for a young player with less than 50 games to his name.
Weller was moving to a club which had just hired a rookie coach in Stuart Dew and was about to embark on a playing list rebuild which promised plenty of short-term pain.
The Gold Coast product was eager to return home however and says a chat with Dew and chief executive Mark Evans was all he needed to believe the Suns were set for a bright future.
“Obviously Stuey had just been appointed at the time and Mark was a pretty new CEO but chatting to them made me really confident in the future of the club,” Weller told AAP.
“We didn’t say that with performances early on but hopefully you’re starting to see a little bit of that now and show some of the work that we’ve been doing the background coming through now.”
The Suns’ have been one of the feelgood stories of the stop-start 2020 campaign whether its through the emergence of first-year players or a style of football based around running speed and intense on-ball pressure.
Earlier this week Noah Anderson joined Matt Rowell, Connor Budarick and Izak Rankine as a Rising Star nominee.
Weller has also been finding his own form, putting in a strong midfield display in last weekend’s win over Sydney.
Another big midfield battle awaits on Thursday when the Suns host the Western Bulldogs at Metricon Stadium in the Gold Coast’s first standalone AFL fixture appearance.
The Bulldogs will be without gun winger Lachie Hunter, who is unavailable for personal reasons, and forward Bailey Dale (ankle).
Callum Porter will make his AFL debut while Billy Gowers has been recalled against the Suns, who will go in unchanged.
“Dogs are red hot at the moment. Their midfield are flying so it’s definitely gonna be won and lost in there again, I think, like the weekend,” Weller said.
“It’s going to be a tight contest and we’re going to have to be all over it.”
