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Suns to open contract talks with prized draft trio

2019-02-22T18:47+11:00

Gold Coast CEO Mark Evans says discussions will take place in the next month about extending the contracts of Jack Lukosius, Izak Rankine and Ben King.

The trio were all selected in the top 10 in last year’s AFL Draft and will be an integral part of the Suns rebuild after a tumultuous 2018 season.

Lukosius, Rankine and King all signed mandatory two-year contracts when they arrived at Metricon Stadium and Evans is keen to tie them down to long-term deals.

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“We’ll have discussions about that in the next month or two,” he told SEN’s Time On.

“There have been some preliminary discussions, but not tracked far enough yet to say that we’re close.”

The Suns chief says the chances of the three featuring in Round 1 will be assessed after their performances in the JLT Community Series matches.

“A bit will be determined by how they go across the JLT and practice games," Evans added.

"I think we’ll see them get some sort of run and if Stuart Dew thinks they’re right to play, then they might be a chance for Round 1.

“Izak (Rankine) is a pretty special player and does some unbelievable things on the ground, Ben King looks like he’s very intelligent and structured in the way that he plays, and Jack Lukosius is one of the best kicks we have seen.

“Hopefully we all get excited by what we see in those glimpses this year.”

Lukosius and Rankine were both drafted from South Australia with picks two and three respectively, while King was taken with pick six.

Gold Coast face the Western Bulldogs in their first JLT match on March 3.

Gold Coast Mark Evans Time On

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