The new surroundings in the sun has not turned in favour of Jed Anderson this year.
The former North Melbourne midfielder, who started his career at Hawthorn, is yet to play a match since the delisted free agent joined Gold Coast back in December during the AFL's supplemental selection period.
Anderson had been quite confident in the offseason of adding a new dimension to the club's talented playing list and mentoring his emerging Suns teammates.
"Absolutely, I'll force my way into that best 22," Anderson told SEN Top End.
"When I get the call up from (coach) Stuey (Dew), I'll be ready to go.
"Just at the moment, I just want to get the body right and play a role with the younger midfielders coming through."
But a setback of not appearing in the first 13 rounds of the season has coincided with the Warramungu man's request for indefinite leave from his third club having been granted while still stuck on 99 AFL games.
The move though has put the 29-year-old's playing future somewhat under a cloud.
Neither the club nor Anderson has released a statement over the unforeseen break in the midst of the Suns' tough campaign to make their first AFL finals series.
But the Gold Coast's administration is believed to have understood and have accepted the personal circumstances behind it, refusing to put a timeline on his hopeful return.
Anderson's career was at the crossroads while in his final season at Arden Street.
But that conjecture had less to do with form on the back of averaging 22 possessions a game, four marks and four tackles, earning significant interest from the experienced-starved Suns for 2023.
The Northern Territorian had returned home briefly in the offseason to play for NTFL side, Darwin Buffaloes, in preparation towards joining the Suns.
"The confidence was there that I was going to get another opportunity, but I guess as the AFL world goes, anything can happen," Anderson previously said.
But a reluctance to comply with the AFL's vaccine policy to resume training with the Roos was later validated after Anderson complications with his first Covid-19 jab.
Anderson did not return to the Gold Coast with the rest of his Suns teammates after the club's trip to his Darwin in late May.
"As many of you are unaware of why I was away from footy," Anderson said last year on Instagram, "I was diagnosed which is inflammation around the heart. I was away recovering on medication. It was a very stressful time for myself and my family."
