David King has identified a pair of Gold Coast players who he believes will eventually become stars of the competition.
The Suns have a quality list of young players including top draft picks and recognisable names Matt Rowell, Noah Anderson, Ben King and Jack Lukosius.
But there are two other players under the age of 24 who are flying under the radar.
The first is 21-year-old Sam Flanders, the 11th pick from the 2019 draft, who has played 30 games across the last three seasons.
On King’s recent trip to the Gold Coast to spend time with the Suns, he noticed some traits from Flanders that suggest he’ll be a “total star” of the AFL in the coming years.
“In terms of seeing the footy club, this is why I get excited. They have got an enormous amount of talent coming through,” King said on SEN Breakfast.
“There’s two guys up there that I want to put on the radar really early.
“Sam Flanders will be a total star in this competition in the next three to four years. It’s a slow burn because he’s not going to get the prime roles for a little while when you’ve got Anderson, Rowell and (Touk) Miller in the middle as often as they are.
“But this guy playing as a half-forward rolling up, you’ll see him do powerful things. The fend, the burst, the step out of traffic and can hopefully be a goal scorer for them this year.”
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King is also a massive fan of 23-year-old key defender Charlie Ballard who has become a central figure in Stuart Dew’s side over the last few years.
He compares Ballard to two-times Brisbane All-Australian defender and Lions new co-captain Harris Andrews.
“The other one is Charlie Ballard,” he said
“Now, Charlie is a known product but he’s a Harris Andrews type defender. Sometimes it looks like he’s going half-paced, sometimes looks disinterested, but then just finds a way to intercept mark the ball.
“I think they’ve got a couple of absolute beauties coming through with what is already a pretty good list.”
Ballard, pick 42 in 2017, has played 87 games for the Suns.
The promising pair and the rest of the Gold Coast side kicks off its 2023 campaign against Sydney at Heritage Bank Stadium on Saturday, March 18.
