Backlines can often do the heavy lifting in footy, especially if they're part of a side looking to turn their list around at the foot of the ladder.
With A-grade defenders a commodity in the AFL, and half-backs often going unnoticed whilst offering their best efforts, those that ply their trade down back hold an accountable role that can go unrewarded.
As made evident in last year's premiership run, a well-gelled rearguard can be the cornerstone in conjuring the right list worthy of planting their flag at the summit come the end of the season.
With the season nearing and each side looking to improve on the results of yesteryear, we profile each side's list of defenders and rank them against their league counterparts.
In part one of three, we look at the six clubs ranked 18 down to 13.
2. 17th - Gold Coast
The Suns were required to rebuild their backline in recent years and have recently begun to show a more competitive structure in defence.
Key defender Sam Collins has emerged as a star of the game, and has found support in Charlie Ballard and Wil Powell across the past two years.
Stuart Dew is set to be without defender Jack Bowes for the early rounds of the year, while swingman Jack Lukoisus is sure to spend a majority of his time as a forward in 2022 in what will be a blow for their defensive contingent.
They will welcome back youngster Connor Budarick from an ACL injury, while Oleg Markov and Jeremy Sharp add much-needed depth to their rotations.
As far as their 2021 form, the Suns struggled to compete with the best-attacking systems in the AFL, failing to mount pressure on the opposition despite being off the ball more often than on it.
