Champion Data expert analyst Daniel Hoyne thinks that Richmond defender Daniel Rioli could be the missing link for the Gold Coast Suns.
Reports last week emerged from 10 News Queensland that Rioli caught up with his former coach Damien Hardwick during Richmond’s bye week while in the Sunshine State.
While no trade rumours have really emerged from there, that meeting caused Hoyne to ponder what Rioli would look like playing for his former coach again but in Suns colours.
Given that the Suns are poor offensively in 2024, Hoyne thinks that Rioli could be a perfect addition for the improving club.
“I was interested to hear about discussions around Daniel Rioli and whatever's going on up there,” Hoyne said on SEN Sportsday.
“But it got me thinking that a player like him is absolutely ideal for where Gold Coast are heading and probably one of the final pieces of their team at the moment.
“In terms of what they're doing without the footy, they’re second best behind Geelong this year which is a huge tick for Hardwick. They have the fifth-worst offensive profile in the competition, mainly because there's no team that struggles to move the ball more than what Gold Coast are doing at the moment.
“So far this season, they have rotated eight half-back flankers through their team, across six weeks.”
With most of the other aspects of their game flying, Hoyne thinks that half-back kicking is one area where they fall short with Jack Lukosius even struggling using the ball out of defensive 50.
He went through some of the half-backs that Gold Coast have trialled in 2024, to no avail.
“I think it's absolutely fair enough to have a bit of a deep dive into (who they want as a halfback). It was, ‘Well, let's start with Alex Sexton, a bit of Rory Atkins, Conor Budarick’, whoever it might be and now it's Sam Flanders experiment at the moment,” Hoyne said.
“It's only a couple of games in (to that experiment) but he had 34 disposals on the weekend. But he had no impact he was the 10th lowest-rated player on the ground.
“Flanders as a midfielder is performing significantly above expectation. As a half-back flanker, he’s performing a little bit below expectation at the moment.
“(Lukosius) as a kicker is the eighth worst kicker coming out of defensive 50 at the moment. So everyone talks to me about how good his ball use is, but the outcome and the results that he has aren’t there.”
He described the three-time premiership Tiger as the missing piece of the puzzle for Hardwick’s side.
“In terms of where they're going over the next 18 months and sort of to two years. That's the missing piece of the puzzle,” Hoyne said.
“A player like Daniel Rioli makes a lot of sense in terms of what this team needs moving forward.”
The 27-year-old is averaging 19.3 disposals and 4.2 rebound 50s a game in 2024.
