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Find your frequency hereThe Collingwood forward Russell would take over Ben King
Jaiden Sciberras • July 24th, 2025 4:56 pm
Do the Gold Coast Suns need to reshuffle their forward setup?
Despite currently playing out their best ever season, the Suns have faced difficulty with their forward half mix, often opting to field three tall forwards in Ben King, Jed Walter and Ethan Read.
Averaging the sixth most goals per game this season, the Suns evidently pack out their lineup with scoring power, however the balance has raised concerns, with only two players totalling more than 20 goals across the year thus far – the only top nine side suffering such a feat.
Despite their evident selection concerns, Gold Coast’s key man Ben King has continued to deliver, booting 45 goals on the season and failing to go goalless in any contest.
In spite of his impressive tally thus far, SEN’s Dwayne Russell believes that the 202cm target simply isn’t good enough to anchor a forward line, urging the Suns to look to bolster their attack in the off-season.
“Gold Coast’s forward line isn’t working right now,” Russell told SEN’s Dwayne’s World.
“I think I’d go and get Charlie Curnow if I could, he’s been thrown up this week as an option for them. They’ve got to go and get someone.
“Ben King, he goes missing every fourth week. You can’t have a forward line based around a guy who goes missing every fourth week.
“I’d rather have Brody Mihocek playing for me than Ben King. At least you know what you’re going to get.
“He competes every time he goes near the ball, he knows his positioning - where he needs to be. If he’s not going to mark it, he brings it to ground so the crumbers can get there.
“It’s a readable set-up, that Collingwood has got, the way Brody Mihocek plays in the forward line. He might not kick you seven like Ben King does once a year.
“I’m a bit worried about the Gold Coast. I could see them out of the eight at the end of this week.”
Doubling down on his take, Russell continued by stating that King simply hasn’t been reliable over the course of the year.
At the time of writing, King is averaging an equal career-low 7.1 disposals per game, and a four-year-low for marks, tallying just three per game. That being said, the key forward is averaging his highest career goal per game ratio at 2.6.
“He kicks a bag every now and then but then goes missing once a month,” he continued.
“The good players have two or three games off a year. That’s happened over eternity. Every player has a bad game, or two or three a year, but you need the reliability factor for a forward line to work.
“You need the reliability of what a guy is going to give you nine weeks out of ten, so you know where the ball is going to fall if he doesn’t mark it, etcetera etcetera.
“That’s where I think the Gold Coast forward line needs some refinement.”
Sitting in eighth place with a game in hand, the Suns must push for a positive result as they take on the Brisbane Lions at People First Stadium this Saturday.
