IF THE growth of Gold Coast in 2021 is to come from its exciting youth, Friday's monster training session at Carrara was a good sign.
In a session that lasted three hours in near 30-degree temperatures, Noah Anderson, Ben King and Izak Rankine were the standouts in a series of match-simulation drills.
Anderson was a genuine eye-catcher.
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Playing on the ball for much of a 60-minute game intensity session, the former No.2 draft pick won a stack of clearances and looked composed and polished when he got the ball in space.
One passage - where he helped out in the defensive goalsquare and then pumped the ball inside 50 shortly after to a leading target - highlighted his terrific workrate.
King was equally impressive.
Although often matched against smaller opponents, the 20-year-old was regularly double-teamed and still outmarked them or brought his teammates into the game with big contests.
He is noticeably broader through the chest and shoulders and had a presence when the ball was in his vicinity.
Tearing up the track ?? #ChallengeAccepted pic.twitter.com/XcBc1jnjTe
— Gold Coast Suns (@GoldCoastSUNS) February 2, 2021
Not to be outdone, Rankine was his usual busy self, and as he showed in his debut season, was most dangerous at forward-50 stoppages.
No.7 draft pick Elijah Hollands did a power of running, including agility work and reps around the boundary line, as he continues to recover from an ACL injury.