4 hours Ago By Murray Wenzel
Gold Coast veteran Jarrod Witts senses the moment for his Suns to "cement" themselves as an AFL force. And rather than lean into the emotion ahead of Sunday's much-hyped clash with the Brisbane Lions, the ruckman just wants to play good football. The Suns, still hunting a maiden finals campaign after entering the competition in 2011, are enjoying their best start to a season yet.
At 5-1 and boasting a competition-best percentage of 150.1 they are on track to end that hoodoo later this year. But Witts knows a true test of their credentials will come against the defending champions, Queensland rivals and long-time dominators of the derby.
"We're starting to build an identity as a club and every week we are trying to cement that to ourselves and the footy community," he told AAP ahead of the Gabba clash. "They're playing great footy, to bounce back from winning the premiership really well, and we're both in great form. "There's a bit in it, of course, with the rivalry.
But we're just playing good footy and want to come back to that and stay the course." Their rousing comeback defeat of Sydney - the Suns kicked 12 straight goals at one stage - on Saturday offered proof they're able to adapt on the run. Witts was a prime example, dominated in the ruck before recovering to contribute around the ground and earn three coaches' votes and a tip of the cap from his coach post-game.
"We just dug in, fought and scrapped to get it on our terms and the whole team responded," he said. "You have some of those games. It wasn't going for us at the start, but we turned it around.
" The Lions lead the head-to-head 20-7 and have won 11 of their last 12 matches, dating back to 2018. First-year Suns captain Noah Anderson wants to leave his mark on this contest, acknowledging his lack of derby influence as a sore point in his six-year career. "Silly question .
.. I think it's always got a circle on it, means a lot to our boys," he said of the anticipation around the clash between the top-three sides.
"We want to make make sure our actions do the talking. "I've played in a lot of these games now and still kind of want to leave my mark on it a little bit more.".
