Suns hoping to restrain Cats

Gold Coast are banking on young gun Jack Martin's ferocious tackling to help them limit Geelong's opportunities in Saturday's AFL clash.

Bung shoulder or not, Jack Martin's ferocity in the tackle is exactly why Gold Coast coach Guy McKenna has recalled the Suns' youngster.

McKenna believes minimising turnovers and pinning the ball in the forward 50 will be the key to beating Geelong in Saturday's AFL clash at Metricon Stadium.

After falling by just three points to West Coast in last weekend's match in Perth, the Suns head home without a win in their past three matches and on the verge of losing their top eight spot.

McKenna firmly believes that slump can halt against the fourth-placed Cats, especially after rushing first-year player Martin straight into the team following his recovery from a shoulder injury.

"He's as hard as a cat's head. We had a handball game yesterday and he was tackling like I've never seen before," McKenna said of the 19-year-old.

The Cats come into the game on the back of a solid win against St Kilda and have Jared Rivers coming in for the injured Harry Taylor (knee).

McKenna says the Cats play a predictable but highly effective style of football and will punish the Suns for any errors.

"They're well drilled, they're well coached. Sixty-one per cent of their scores come from turnovers, they set up really well for turnovers," McKenna said.

"They almost give you a clearance to get it back off their half-back and counter-attack with the (Corey) Enrights and (Andrew) Mackies of the world.

"One of our strengths is our stoppage, so we have to bring that and maximise our efficiency from those stoppages and put some score on the board. If it becomes a stoppage versus turnover war they'll have more opportunity to score from a turnover then we will from a stoppage.

"Our young side like to rise to a challenge and this is one of the best going around I reckon."


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