GOLD Coast will potentially have to call upon retired duo David Swallow and Alex Sexton to play minutes in Thursday night’s unofficial scratch match against St Kilda as the club balances the playing time of its senior stars.
The Suns have been granted AFL approval to name Swallow and Sexton, who both retired at the end of last season, with the veteran pair a chance to suit up for the clash against the Saints at People First Stadium.
Swallow and Sexton have both been training with Gold Coast’s senior side across the summer, having each signed for the Suns’ VFL program ahead of the 2026 season, while they also hold coaching duties at Academy and development level.
They were included in Gold Coast’s 36-player squad named on Wednesday evening, which also featured Noah Anderson and Wil Powell just five days on from representing their states at AFL Origin.
Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick turned to Swallow and Sexton with Matt Rowell, Sam Collins and Ben King all sidelined following Origin duties and with the likes of Charlie Ballard, Jake Rogers and Max Knobel currently injured.
Anderson and Powell will be the first AFL Origin representatives to also play this week’s series of unofficial scratch matches, having completed 79 and 60 percent game time for Victoria and Western Australia respectively last Saturday night.
Swallow retired at the end of the 2025 season following 249 games across 15 years at Gold Coast, while Sexton was delisted after 186 appearances for the Suns over the previous 14 seasons.
