But the long-time Suns small forward, who has battled to crack the AFL team in the last two years, didn't fit the description when new coach Damien Hardwick was assembling his front six.
Instead the 167-gamer, with 162 goals to his name, is part of Hardwick's backline, essentially playing ahead of tall defender Mac Andrew.
"He's got a skill set; great user of the ball, a great aerobic capacity and reads the play really well," Hardwick said of Sexton ahead of Saturday's clash with Adelaide.
"From a forward line perspective his type didn't quite fit what we were after, at that end of the ground.
"But he had a skill set that was quite unique and challenged us down back."
Tom Berry, Malcolm Rosas Jnr and Nick Holman are Hardwick's "three amigos" up front while Bodhi Uwland has been given his chance in the midfield.
"The three amigos; those guys are crucial to the way we wanted to play .... the speed factor up front is really, really important," the coach said.
"They don't have to sit there and kick a great deal of goals.
"If they put on high pressure, win and nullify contests and make us hard to play against, that's a great result.
"They have to understand how important they are to our system."
Those are the tweaks Hardwick's made to the side since taking over from Stuart Dew, who was axed midway through last season when another middling campaign looked likely.
And he has drilled into them that basic statistics don't matter, saying role players like them will be why the team finally plays finals after 13 seasons of falling short.
"I sent Tommy Berry a text (after the game)," Hardwick said.
"For a six possession game, it was one of the best I'd seen.
"We're not going to be a high-stats team.
"We'll develop a system of play and style that will take us a long way, where we need to go.
"Players are required to fill those roles and if they do we'll win lots of footy games.
"They're not going to get a lot of SuperCoach points but hopefully we walk away at the end of season winning more games than we lost."
The Suns kicked 11 straight goals to set up the 39-point win against Richmond last Saturday, Hardwick leaving his first game in charge with plenty of notes.
"This group is very coachable; they try to do everything right," Hardwick said.
"We have to move from the conscious to the subconscious.
"I don't want them thinking - this is a silly thing to say - but we don't want them thinking too much on the field, I want them playing off instinct.
"That's why we're not going to be perfect and will get better as the year progresses."
GOLD COAST'S LEADING GOALKICKERS
* Tom Lynch - 245 (131 games)
* Alex Sexton - 162 (167)
* Ben King - 134 (74)
* Gary Ablett Jnr - 124 (110)
* Brandon Matera 124 (101)
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