The Gold Coast Suns found themselves as one of the premiership fancies after their first three games of the season, but after a loss to the Dees, they have well and truly fallen back to earth.
In Gather Round, they had the opportunity to claw back, but it was the Sydney Swans making them look ordinary in just about every facet of the contest.
Sydney were on from the outset. They were attacking the bodies of their opponents and forcing them wide on close to every possession. There was no overlap handball permitted, with the walls closing in on the Suns whenever they tried to string a series of handpasses together.
And when that happens, the Suns had only one option – bomb the ball long and hope.
It’s no way to beat the Swans.
The Sydney midfield were elite, and we’ll go through the standouts as part of the review, but it was the big defender, Tom McCartin, that was the more unexpected standout, to me.
James Jordon did what he does best, and applied “The Clamps” to Gold Coast captain, Noah Anderson, leaving the bulk of the work to Matt Rowell who, despite trying his guts out, still appears to be a run or two off his best.
The Swans sit atop the AFL ladder, for the time being, and this was a warning shot to the AFL in general. They’re back, and they weren’t really away for too long, were they?
Let’s jump into The Mongrel’s Good, Bad, and Ugly.
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Oh… a Mongrel paywall… the worst of all paywalls. We’re all in on the 2026 AFL season. Player articles, stats, awards, game coverage. Dump the mainstream lip service and dive into articles like this – you will never look back. If you don’t want to, that’s fine. I consider it your loss as we get into the grind of the season, and you’re stuck with the stuff that’s frustrated you for years.
