GOLD Coast has interest in Geelong premiership player Sam De Koning, who is set to start the season playing in the ruck for the Cats this year.

The Suns have flagged their keenness in the 2022 premiership defender, who is out of contract at the end of this season.

However, the expectation is De Koning remains at Geelong, where he is settled, with the club keen to extend him and talks open. He is two years away from reaching free agency, which his older brother, Carlton's Tom, is currently experiencing with a wave of lucrative offers coming his way.

The Suns have three first-round picks for 2025, and although the club again has a batch of Academy talents to prepare for, the suite of early selections means they will again dangle them for rival players having lured Daniel Rioli and John Noble north last off-season. 

Gold Coast holds its own first-round pick as well as first-rounders tied to Collingwood and Port Adelaide, as part of last year's massive Dan Houston-Jack Lukosius-Noble deal. 

The Suns are well stocked for young rucks with the long-term commitments of Ned Moyle and Ethan Read, as well as veteran Jarrod Witts, with De Koning's appeal looking as a key-position defender, a position in which he played 23 games in 2022 as a member of Geelong's premiership side.

De Koning, who turns 24 next week, shut down any trade speculation last year, having missed the Cats' finals series while managing a knee issue. 

The Cats are one of the clubs keen on luring Suns midfielder Matt Rowell back to Victoria, along with Collingwood, Essendon and the Western Bulldogs. Both De Koning and Rowell are members of the 2019 draft class. 

AFL.com.au revealed this week Carlton had tabled a massive seven-year offer to retain free agent Tom De Koning, worth between $7-8million. De Koning's decision looks set to be between staying at the Blues on one of the richest deals the club has offered or heading to St Kilda, which has a more lucrative option in front of him.