WHAT was Matt Rowell smiling about?
As cameras panned across Gold Coast's warm-up ahead of the Suns' clash with Essendon on Wednesday night, they caught Rowell in a moment of fun.
With his polo tucked in and his pants high, the injured teenager had his notebook open in his hands and was spotted writing something down while grinning to himself.
Name a more iconic trio than Matt Rowell, a tucked in shirt & a notepad.
— Hayley Wildes (@wildes_hayley) August 12, 2020
I’ll wait...#AFLSunsDons pic.twitter.com/ZesBMp5SeG
It immediately caught the attention of the internet which, already enamoured with the No.1 pick, was sent into a meme frenzy with possibilities on what he could have been jotting onto his pad with such enjoyment.
“And that’s how Specky Magee won the Brownlow in his second year of AFL. The end.” pic.twitter.com/qNJc1jmjq1
— Sarah Black (@_sjblack) August 12, 2020
Notes:
— AFL (@AFL) August 12, 2020
Izak Rankine is very, very fun to watch.#AFLSunsDons pic.twitter.com/XNtToHZdY5
So what was he actually writing? And what brought on the smirk? We asked.
"I was with Noah [Anderson] and he was warming up and doing some groundballs and it was a bit of funny one, I was just counting how many fumbles he made during the warm-up," Rowell told AFL.com.au.
"It was actually just a bit of fun. He just had the two fumbles and there was a lot of groundballs, so he did pretty well.
"I like to push him so I always keep him accountable."
Anderson and Rowell throughout their junior career and since joining the Suns as the top-two picks at last year's drafts traditionally do their warm-ups together, bouncing a footy at each other's feet to ensure they have clean hands and are ready for the contest ahead.
But since Rowell's dislocated shoulder in round five against Geelong, he has had to palm off the warm-up responsibilities and watch on. Rowell said he had noticed the image go viral on Wednesday night.
"It did spread a bit. I had a look at it and had a good laugh. It was pretty funny," he said.
Since his injury Rowell has taken on a coaching role with the Suns, taking on some opposition analysis and staying involved with the midfield group.
He has stood next to coach Stuart Dew on the bench in recent weeks with his headphones on to maintain contact to the coaching box.
"I love working with him. His mind's really good and the way he talks about footy. I love learning off him and it's been really good to be on the bench and see what the other coaches talk about," he said.
