WHERE & WHEN: Blacktown International Sportspark, Saturday March 9, 7pm (AEDT)
FORM: Sydney showed some improvement last week against St Kilda but still fell short as they remain winless so far in the pre-season. After their dreadful opening week against Carlton and GWS, the Swans led at every change against the Saints - only to be overrun in the last term and lose by 23 points.
Gold Coast lost by 13 points against North Melbourne last week, but the final margin was very misleading with the Suns kicking the final five goals when the result was never really in doubt. In the first week, Gold Coast beat Hawthorn after the siren before falling to a heavy defeat against Brisbane.
WALKING WOUNDED: Nathan Bock, Trent McKenzie and Tom Lynch will all miss for the Suns, but other than that they should have a relatively strong team.
Sydney will continue to rotate with some more experienced players such as Adam Goodes, Ryan O'Keefe and Nick Malceski expected to feature. Lewis Roberts-Thompson picked up a minor injury against St Kilda and looks likely to miss, while ruckman Shane Mumford continues to battle bone bruising in his foot and probably won't be risked.
WHO'S HOT: David Swallow had another encouraging performance last week and looks on track to take his game to the next level this season. The 2010 number one draft pick had 20 disposals against the Roos and also drifted forward for two goals.
Veteran Jude Bolton, who was so close to retiring after last year's premiership, was outstanding against the Saints last week. The soon-to-be 33-year-old picked up 27 disposals and had seven tackles in another impressive display.
WE THINK: Sydney traditionally don't take the pre-season competition too seriously, but coach John Longmire won't want to head into the season proper without a win under his belt.
Longmire conceded his side are still only playing in 'patches' and will desperately want to see a more consistent display against the Suns.
Heading into their third season since joining the AFL, Gold Coast will be hoping to show more than they have in their previous two years and a successful NAB Cup could be just what they need to springboard into the upcoming season.
But based on their improvement last week and with the expected return of some of their more experienced players , Sydney should have too much quality in this one. Swans by 22 points.