Joel set to lift Suns from AFL shadows

Gold Coast Suns defender Joel Wilkinson has set a new bench press record for the club, lifting 160kg. Picture: Luke Marsden Source: The Courier-Mail

WHAT do Jonathan Brown and Joel Wilkinson have in common?

Brown is a second generation Lion, three-time premiership player, All Australian and Coleman medallist and one of the greats of the modern age.

Wilkinson is of Nigerian descent, has played 16 games and is battling to make it as an AFL player.

But the pair are the strongest AFL footballers in Queensland, taking the mantle that former Lion great Alastair Lynch owned in his heyday.

"Alastair Lynch is a three-time premiership player and a legend - I'm not getting caught up in that," Wilkinson said. "For me, it is just about preparation for round 1 and trying to improve each session."

In Lynch's day, the Lions posted the records on a whiteboard in the gym for all to see, but these days such details are not publicised.

According to Brisbane, Brown's current record is mid-150kg for three repetitions. Suns weight coach Chris Gaviglio confirmed Wilkinson this week benched 160kg three times to beat the club record of 140kg held by strongman Karmichael Hunt.

While power forwards Brown and Lynch are both 195cm-plus and more than 100kg, Wilkinson is only 186cm and 86kg.

What no one can argue is that Wilkinson is a freak specimen and probably the code's best Queensland-based athlete after also claiming the Suns' 2km time trial record.

"I've worked in rugby with big front-rowers who would love to lift that and then he also wins the 2km time trial," Gaviglio said.

"He is a genetically blessed athlete."

Wilkinson has endured a rocky start to his career. He has already been racially vilified twice on AFL grounds and has found himself on the frontline of the code's war on racism.

The Suns are thrilled he is now also attracting headlines for his deeds as an athlete.

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