David King has put the pressure on Gold Coast forwards Ben King and Jack Lukosius ahead of their Opening Round clash against Richmond.
The duo make up a forward line that also includes veteran Levi Casboult as the Suns hope to dominate the air inside 50 at their home ground.
While both King and Lukosius are no doubt super talents, King doesn’t think they compete hard enough in the air and as a result the Suns have to continually pick Casboult as he is strong in that aspect of the game.
Although former Carlton forward Casboult has been a solid option for the Suns since moving north prior to the 2022 season, King thinks that they should have already moved past the 33-year-old and the only reason they can’t is due to King and Lukosius’ lack of consistent competitiveness.
“I'll tell you who's in the gun and it's a pair of players in the gun this week for me,” King said on SEN Breakfast.
“I think the Gold Coast Suns have to pick Levi Casboult because Ben King and Jack Lukosius do not unconditionally compete in marking contests.
“The Suns should have gone past Levi. They're a better team on paper without Levi.
“But you have to play him because he sends a bit of a shudder through the opposition with his pack-crashing capability.
“But let's be honest, if King did that and the other tall Jack Lukosius just did that … they wouldn't need to play Levi.
“I think it's on those two guys to step up their competitiveness to allow this team to select their best 23.”
Kane Cornes agreed with King’s take and called on other Gold Coast players to also play in an unconditional and uncompromising fashion.
He also thinks that Casboult will eventually lose his spot to No.3 draft pick Jed Walter who is currently sidelined with a collarbone injury.
“I don't think that's unfair,” Cornes said.
“I don't think there's many people listening that would think that is not unfair either.
“They've played some good football at times, but consistently and unconditionally do they give the effort? That's probably been the problem with a number of Gold Coast players.
“They've been happy to coach play the odd, good game of football, but now it's time to go.
“Jed Walter is recovering from that collarbone injury, I’m looking forward to him coming back and seeing what the three of them can look like and then he probably takes the Casboult spot in time.”
The bounce for Saturday’s game against Richmond at Heritage Bank Stadium is set for 4:20pm (AEDT).
It will be Suns coach Damien Hardwick’s first meeting against the club he led to three premierships.
