Gold Coast Suns v Western Bulldogs
Beyond Thunderdome
Disco Monagle
Thunderdome – Two Teams Enter, One Team Leaves
In the cauldron of TIO Stadium the Gold Coast Suns and the Western Bulldogs face off in a game where the winner is in a strong position for the rest of the season, while the loser falls back to the pack a bit.
This is the most important game for the Suns in their short history, as a win means they are taken seriously for the first time, while a loss will have pundits saying, “same old Suns, all glitter and no mongrel”.
This is also an important match for the Bulldogs as for all their success since 2016 they are still yet to finish in the top four at the end of any season since, and this is the kind of game they need to win to bolster their chances of a true shot at the big one in late September.
Technically, this is the game of the round, but it is hidden by the spectre of the blockbuster Showdown happening in Adelaide at the same time. Most viewers will watch the Showdown and occasionally some curious folks might channel surf between the two games.
It is about time the AFL scheduled the Showdown as a stand-alone fixture on the Thursday or Friday time slot. Further, if the AFL is serious about games in the top-end then the Suns games up north also deserve to be stand-alone fixtures.
For the record, the Showdown is on Fox’s main channel 504 while the Suns game is relegated to channel 503, even though it starts before the Adelaide game.
In a weekend of some ordinary games already, the AFL dropped the ball with both the Showdown and the Thunderdome being pitted against each other.
End of rant.
It is now time for the Thunderdome at a sultry TIO Stadium with the temperature hoovering around 29 degrees at the first bounce with the humidity around super slippery.
Two teams enter, one team leaves!
The Suns leave winners, but the heart and soul shown by the Dogs to almost snatch victory at the death means they lose no admirers in defeat. When the final siren sounded the Suns led by three points with Ben King kicking a goal after the siren.
We Don’t Need Another Hero
There were heroes aplenty in this titanic battle, but I am isolating one passage of play with 30 seconds left on the clock.
Son of Scob, James O’Donnell kicked the ball in from a point to the Suns, and he spotted Bailey Dale on the wing, who for all intent sand purposes had his name written all over the mark, with an open forward line ahead of him. The underrated Bodhi Uwland willed himself to the contest, lunged and spoiled the mark, and then he tackled Dale who released the ball, with John Noble kicking the ball forward to Ben King who took a mark, and goaled after the siren.
Bailey Dale was off to the races if he took the mark, but Bodhi Uwlands’ heroics at the end of the game were the difference between the two teams.
There is something special and romantic when a blue-collar defender performs and act of heroism to win a match.
The Thunderdome battle at TIO is the best game I have seen this year. From start to finish this game had a bit of everything.
The Game
On paper both teams seemed to be well matched, and that is the way the match played out.
The Suns’ Start
With the humidity making the ball like a cake of soap, the team that adapted to the conditions fastest and put pressure on the scoreboard was always going to have an advantage.
The Suns got the early jump on the Dogs in the first, with Will Graham having a good start to the match kicking two early goals to set the Suns up, with Sam Flanders kicking another, but the highlight of the first quarter was Dan Rioli running through the centre and kicking a 55-metre goal.
While the Suns got the better of the first, the Dogs only trailed by eight-points, with Matthew Kennedy kicking a couple and a Rhylee West goal keeping it close.
What was ominous in the first quarter a Suns perspective was the dominance of Marcus Bontempelli (12 disposals), Tom Liberatore (9 disposals) and Bailey Dale (8 possessions) in and around the ball.
Libba towelled up Matty Rowell at the stoppages in the first quarter, while the class of the Bont and Dale was providing his team with many opportunities.
In the second quarter, the Suns were always just a bit in front, but the Dogs were never out of it, nor did they never seem overwhelmed. The midfield battle was hotting up and both teams kicked goals from centre breaks as Noah Anderson and Touk Millar countered the brilliance of the Bont and Dale, while Libba continued to teach Rowell a lesson in down and dirty footy.
Inaccurate kicking hurt both teams with West kicking three points for the quarter, while Ben King and Will Graham had a case of the yips at the other end.
Surprisingly, the leading goal kicker at halftime was Matthew Kennedy with three gaols.
Off to the Cool Room for an extended halftime break due to the heat and humidity.
The Third Quarter
The Suns needed a lift from Matty Rowell in the second half and boy did he respond in the third quarter (more later) ripping the ball forward from the centre bounces as he gathered ten possessions for the quarter. As good as Rowell, Anderson, Long, Miller were, Libba, Ed Richards, the Bont and Dale were not lying down.
The centre square bounces battles were pivotal with the team winning the ball from the centre making hay up forward with goals.
In a very topsy turvy struggle, the Suns got the early break with a Nick Holman goal, but goals to Laitham Vandermeer and Ed Richards levelled the score and when the out of form Aaron Naughton (more later) ran into an open goal it looked like the Dogs were on a run, but alas, Naughton missed, and momentum swung back to the Suns.
The Suns finished the quarter strongly lead by Rowell, Anderson and Long, with goals to Long, Rowell and Sam Flanders. The Suns started to win the arm wrestle. Buku Khamis and Vandermeer kicked a couple against the grain, but the Suns third quarter dominance was franked with late goals to King and Sam Clohesy.
The Dogs looked spent at three-quarter time, and it looked how far the Suns who turned at the last with a hard fought 22-point lead.
When Nick Holman kicked the first of the last the Suns went out to a comfortable 28-point lead, and the Dogs looked spent.
I noted at the time this a test now for the Suns and to see if they had the maturity to hold on. I was more explicit, but this is a ‘pg’ article.
Rhylee West kicked a crucial goal to give the Dogs a sniff, but when John Noble again blew the lead out to nearly five goals, the game looked done.
This match deserved a better finish than one team just lasting longer in the battle of attrition with the heat and humidity. Enter stage left Ed Richards, Tom Liberatore and the youngster Joel Freijah, who willed their team back into the contest.
Ed Richards played one the great last quarters and even after the Suns pushed out after the Noble goal, Richards never gave up and never stopped running. In a very draining game, Richards looked fresh, and he alone was winning the battle of attrition.
Richards, in combination with Libba, gave the game the spark it needed, with a little help from a couple of young pups, Sam Davidson (2 goals) and Lachlan McNeil (1 goal) they put the game within reach.
With three minutes left, the class of the Bont brought the margin back to a gettable three-points with a soccer style goal under pressure.
The Dogs had the momentum.
The last three minutes was a mad scramble as the Suns tried to hold on while the Dogs tried to find a way to get their noses in front, and when Will Graham missed a shot the Dogs had one last play which was thwarted by Bodhi Uwland’s heroics.
Before I forget, Will Graham displayed real heroics in the last three minutes when he landed awkwardly, and it looked like he done some major damage to this shoulder. He put his body immediately on the line to make tackle on Dale. He was hurt, but he played on despite the pain – Dimma would have loved that.
This game had many heroes, and the effort of Will Graham late in the last should not be forgotten.
Nobody really cares about Ben King’s after the siren was icing on the cake.
Suns by nine points.
Now For the One-on-One Contests
Libba v Rowell
It is worth watching a replay of this match just to admire the never give an inch battle between Libba and Rowell – it was EPIC.
At one stage in the third quarter if Libba got the centre break the Dogs would kick a goal, and if Rowell got the break, then goodnight, Gracie.
Libba won quarters one, two and four, but the third quarter by Rowell was a match winner. Having said that, with Libba having nine possessions in the last quarter he nearly dragged the Dogs over the line with a little help from Ed Richards.
At game’s end, Libba won the battle, but Rowell was instrumental in the Suns winning the war. I truly look forward to future battles between the AFL’s two bulls.
James O’Donnell v Jed Walter
James O’Donnell had a breakout game at TIO with six intercept marks up back and in the process, he took the points against Jed Walter.
O’Donnell’s stats for this game are enormous, with 14 kicks, four handpasses, 11 marks including six intercept marks, as well as teaching Jed Walter a lesson. The 22-year-old has an extremely bright future in the game, and I can say with some certainty he will be the best from the O’Donnell lineage to play VFL/AFL, with his grand father Kevin playing 49 games for the Saints, and his father Simon also playing 24 games for the Saints.
James will have some bragging rights when the family gets together.
While Jed got beaten on the day, when it was his time to go, he went. He is a brute of man, and when he grows into his own body, he will be something special.
Note to Alastair Lynch: Jed has all the hallmarks of being a good forward, and while I understand you saying he needs to play two games or two years at centre half back, it is unwarranted and a kneejerk reaction to him having a quiet day. There is more upside to Jed as a forward with minimal downside.
Rory Lobb v Ben King
The Rory Lobb (with starfish in his hair) and Ben King matchup was a great battle for three quarters until Lobb was thrown forward in the last. It was not quite a throwback to Vander Haar v Knights, but it was entertaining.
While King finished the game with three goals and three behinds, which should have really been at least five goals, Lobb was an integral link player from defence when the Dogs pressed forward. I must give Rory his due, when does deliver the ball, it generally hits its target.
King won the battle, but Lobb wasn’t disgraced.
Jurassic Park – Witts v English
Midway through the third quarter, Tim English ran Jarrod Witts down who just got his foot to the ball in time. It seemed like time was standing still, and Dermie gave one of the best descriptions I have heard from a commentator, “I have seen statutes run faster than that”.
While the big men often give the game a comical relief or three, a skilled Dinosaur is a must.
Witts and English gave a masterclass in ruck craft, with exquisite taps to their midfielders setting up many forward thrusts. The statistics for the pair are similar, and both would be among their respective teams best.
Mac Andrew v Aaron Naughton
This is really about Naughton more than Andrew. Take it as read that Andrew had a good afternoon on Naughton.
Aaron Naughton in his current form is a liability to the Dogs, and he needs either a week off or a run in the Magoos for a time. Naughton is totally bereft of confidence, and he is a shadow of the player from previous years.
Any player can have a bad game, but when a player like Naughton has a run of bad games and can’t see the forest for the grass it might be time to spell him for a bit.
Quickies
Sam Collins looks like the type of bloke you wouldn’t want to run into on a dark night, especially with his short haircut and Grizzly Adams’ beard. Further, the man can walk the walk, and he is on his way to an All-Australian blazer later in the year.
The manner in which Daniel Rioli, John Noble and James Harmes attack the ball it is obvious they have come to their current team from clubs which have a culture based on success. The Suns of 2024 would have lost the 2025 Thunderdome, but they now have some class to add to their raw talent and it made a difference in this tight finish.
Sam Davidson, Joel Freijah and Joel Jeffrey are real goers, and they all have bright futures in the big time.
I love players who just survive in the system as journeymen, but I can understand why they are in and out of their teams so often. Brayden Fiorini fits that description down to a tee. He did some good things in his first game for the season, but he just lacks a bit of finishing class. I hope like my favourite journeyman, Mitch Morton, that Fiorini get his chance to leave his mark on the game.
Bailey Humphrey is fast becoming my favourite player in the AFL. Humphrey is making a name for himself this year and he is fast becoming one of the marquee players in the game. The Suns are building really something special with players like Humphrey, Nick Holman and others stepping up this year as leaders of the club.
Next week the Suns host the Hawks at TIO on Thursday night, while the much-travelled Bulldogs finally head home for a must match against the inform Bombers.
