Gold Coast small forward Malcolm Rosas produced a starring performance in his team's commanding 39-point win over Richmond on Saturday.
Rosas was lively all afternoon and finished with three goals in the Suns' 14.15 (99) to 9.6 (60) win at Heritage Bank Stadium on the Gold Coast.
The 22-year-old missed Gold Coast's Community Series clash against Greater Western Sydney a fortnight ago but had recovered from a quad strain in time to take his place in the team for the Round 0 game against the Tigers.
Rosas' started the afternoon by converting a brilliant snap from 40m on an acute angle and he finished with three goals from 13 disposals as the Richmond defenders struggled to find an appropriate match up for him.
The Darwin Buffaloes junior has played 39 games and kicked 36 goals since joining the Suns via the club's Darwin Academy at the end of the 2019 season.
Last year, he had a career-best season featuring in 19 games and kicking 19 goals, including a four-goal effort against Melbourne in Round 8, and three-goal performances against Sydney and North Melbourne later in the season.
Rosas told the Gold Coast Bulletin during the pre-season that he was aiming to improve the consistency of his performances.
"Right now it's just a matter of consistency for me," Rosas said.
"I'm playing more midfield time now, so I can just play instead of being in the structure of a forward (line).
"He (Hardwick) wants me to just get to as many contests as I can and just play football – just play football.
"I've focused this pre-season on building my tank so I can get to more contests – it's a whole different way of playing as a mid because the running patterns are so different to a forward."
New coach Damien Hardwick also told the Gold Coast Bulletin that the flashy forward was a highly talented player 'still trying to find his way'.
"When the ball is in his hands special things happen, we just have to make sure we can get the ball in his hands more," Hardwick said.
"The challenge for Rosas is I don't want to fit a square peg in a round hole.
"He's an unstructured player. If I try to make him play structured, it doesn't allow him to play to his strengths."
