NINETEEN games into coaching him, Damien Hardwick is learning Matt Rowell might be too combative for his own long-term good.
Following last Saturday night's loss to Brisbane, the Gold Coast coach hinted he might have to tinker with Rowell's role to get the most out of him.
At his weekly press conference on Wednesday, Hardwick doubled down.
"We want Matthew Rowell playing until he's 33, 34," Hardwick said.
"The way he's going at the moment, the battering he cops week in and week out – and most of it is self-inflicted, he is a beast – we don't want to see hm past his best at 28.
"That's our job to figure out … and work with him."
Hardwick is right. Having just turned 23 and towards the end of his fifth season, Rowell is one of the most aggressive players in the AFL, and in 2024, it's taken its toll.
The No.1 pick from the 2019 Telstra AFL Draft, Rowell is one of the best ball-winning midfielders in the competition, but it comes at a cost.
He has won the fifth most clearances, sixth most contested possessions, affected the most tackles and has applied a staggering 101 more pressure acts than the player with the second most in the competition.
When Rowell is on the field, it's full steam ahead, both ways, all the time.
"He gets smashed every week," Hardwick said.
"He's such a competitive beast. I don't think I've seen anything quite like his combativeness."
After shoulder and knee injuries badly hampered his first two seasons, Rowell has strung together 75 consecutive games since mid-2021.
In recent weeks, his form has ever so slightly tailed away from a wonderful first half of the season.
With Noah Anderson, Touk Miller and Sam Flanders to flank him, Rowell has been used almost exclusively as a midfielder.
Champion Data says he has spent 96 per cent of his time on the ground in that role, with just four per cent – or maybe one short spell each match – as a forward.
It's a ratio that will have to change.
His contested possession rate is the highest in the League. With 58.7 per cent of his disposals being won in a contest, Rowell has a higher ratio than Elliot Yeo, Tom Liberatore, James Rowbottom and Sam Berry.
Before Miller broke his wrist against North Melbourne recently, the Suns' vice-captain was spending more time at half-forward as Hardwick looked to change his midfield mix.
Not only can Rowell benefit, by saving his body from the constant bash and crash, by spending some extra minutes ahead of the ball, the Suns can also by thickening their midfield rotation.
Alex Davies, who is suspended, and second-year utility Bailey Humphrey have a little extra height and size to add variety.
And although Rowell isn't necessarily known as a dynamic, pack-busting midfielder, his ability to jump away from congestion has improved and his contested ball-winning should translate to one-on-one wins inside 50.
He doesn't get many chances around goal, but when he does, he converts, with a career tally of 25.9 alongside his name.
As Hardwick pointed out, any change in the final month of the season is unlikely to be dramatic, but if Rowell is not doing some training with the forward line next pre-season, it would be a surprise.
