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A half dozen games into the Damien Hardwick era, where are the Suns at?
They are 11th on the ladder, and a win today would take them to the edge of the top eight.
But their wins have come against Richmond, Adelaide and Hawthorn, all clubs in the bottom half of the ladder.
Against the Bulldogs and the Swans, the Suns have been soundly beaten.
One reason for this is their inability to convert. They are sixth in the league for inside 50s (55.5 per game), but only 10th in goals scored (11.5 per game).
The trademark Hardwick gamestyle is built around intensity and pressure, and there are signs of improvement on that front.
There is no shortage of young talent, with the likes of Academy and other draft picks Jed Walter, Ethan Read, Sam Clohesy, Will Graham and Jake Rogers all joining the nucleus of players such as Bailey Humphrey, Mac Andrew and Sam Flanders and the “old reliables” of Noah Anderson, Matt Rowell, Jack Lukosius and Ben King (all still 23 or under).
But gelling properly in attack is still a work in progress. We’re going to need more evidence of how they go against the better teams before making a call on whether the holy grail of a finals spot is possible in 2024.
