Tough midfielder David Swallow says Saturdays clash with West Coast will make or break

Gold Coasts season as they fight to keep their flagging finals hopes alive.

The Suns are poised to swing the selection axe on the back of last weeks horror second-half
fadeout against Melbourne, when they conceded 14 of the last 18 goals to lose by 35 points.

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Coach Rodney Eade forecast up to seven changes, with dual Brownlow medallist Gary Ablett
a confirmed starter at Metricon Stadium after overcoming a shoulder injury.

Former Eagles midfielder Matt Rosa is almost certain to return from a bout of concussion
against his old side and talented first-year midfielder Jack Bowes is available after being
managed.

Rory Thompson (hamstring) is expected to be declared fit, though Jesse Lonergan (shoulder)
and Jarrad Grant (knee) must get through todays main training session before putting their
hands up for selection.
The Eagles have now lost two games in a row and are out of the top 4

Senior midfielder Michael Rischitelli (knee), WA forward Callum Ah Chee (back), Ben
Ainsworth (corked thigh) and Mitch Hallahan (hamstring) are not far away, but wont play
senior football this week.

Gold Coasts wildly inconsistent form has left them precariously placed with a 3-6 win-loss
record ahead of the clash with West Coast, who they have not beaten in eight attempts.

The Eagles have won seven of those clashes, while the teams drew in their most recent
Metricon Stadium game almost two years ago.

Our season hasnt gone the way we wouldve hoped, so this games pretty make-or-break for
us, Swallow said.

The boys understand that.

Well be giving it a red-hot crack this weekend, thats for sure.

These examples of Jason Johannisen's line-breaking and long-range goals show he could add
another dimension to the Eagles if they manage to snare him.

Eade, who is out contract at the end of the season, concedes that some of his messages
havent been getting through to the players this year.

Gold Coast have won just one of their past five matches.

The impressive home win over Geelong in round seven was followed by a thumping from
Port Adelaide in Shanghai and the Melbourne debacle in Alice Springs.
Weve been struggling to produce consistency in effort and a bit of method around our ball
movement, Swallow said.

Melbourne got on top of us inside the contest and we werent able to arrest any momentum.
Weve had a look at the tape and looked at a few things that we can do to stop that
momentum.
WA born star had surgery for testicular cancer just a fortnight ago

In games, its about trying to identify the way that the games being played and ways that we
can get back on top.

A lot of its just that inconsistency in effort and intent.

Weve had lapses during games and teams have been able to get a roll on us.

Its something that doesnt require talent.

If we can bring a better four-quarter effort in that area then that will go a long way towards
giving us a better result.

TOPICS
SportAFL

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