There were grey clouds hanging over People First Stadium heading into the Round 20 clash between the Suns and Lions, and I am not just talking about the weather.
In Round 19, the Suns were belted by the Adelaide Crows, in the type of contest that made several question where they were at, and where they were headed. Thoughts drifted to years gone by, where Gold Coast fell apart down the stretch in seasons. They’d promised much, and delivered little – was it going to happen again?
Although this was considered an “Off Broadway” clash by most (hence the time slot), the eyes of those who love footy were fixed on this game. Would the Suns be able to respond? Or would their big brother put them in their place and put them at risk of missing the finals again?
It didn’t take too long for us to get our answers, with the Suns slotting five goals in the first quarter, and doing the same in the second. Their pressure on the Lions was elite, with the only Lions goals seemingly coming from fumbles or errors from the Suns.
Ben Long crashed and bashed into anyone and everyone both on the ground and in the air, Noah Anderson was controlling the game, and Matt Rowell was collecting the footy like my daughter collects random Harry Potter paraphernalia.
Hopefully, Rowell keeps his bedroom tidier than she does.
The Suns were relentless, rounding out a wonderful game by kicking five majors in each quarter to demolish the reigning premiers by eleven goals.
Two rounds ago, the Suns beat Collingwood in what many said was the best win of their short history. That was a thriller, but this one saw Gold Coast put their foot on the throat of the Lions. And they refused to remove it.
The only thrill was how well the Suns played, and how well they handled anything the Lions dared throw at them.
Here’s The Mongrel’s Big Questions from this one.
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