Fremantle ruckman Aaron Sandilands sung the praises of the Gold Coast Suns following Freo’s 26-point loss on Saturday.
 
Sandilands was impressed with the Suns and was confident they’d provide a challenge for many teams in 2016.
 
“They’re very athletic, use the ball extremely well and have some great forwards,” Sandilands said.
 
“They’re going to be one of the big improvers of the competition and are going to test a lot of sides this year.”

Suns shine over Freo
 
The Gold Coast were able to play the game on their terms in the second quarter, which allowed them to hold Freo at arms length the rest of the game.
 
Despite the disappointing second term, Sandilands was pleased with how Freo responded following half time.
 
“We let them control the game and we knew we had to respond in the second half,” he said.
 
“I thought our fight was a lot better after half time.”
 
Sandilands also praised the effort of versatile tall Alex Pearce, who made his first appearance of 2016.
 
Pearce played the role of second ruck against the Gold Coast and Sandilands said he acquitted himself well.
 
“He’s 200cm and an extremely good athlete,” he said.
 
“I thought he competed really well whenever he went into the middle.”