There was a buzz around the Gold Coast Suns heading into the 2026 AFL season.
After winning their first final last year, the club came into the year with something that has been a little foreign to them – expectations.
They’d recruited Christian Petracca, who was mooted as the missing piece to the puzzle, and against the perennial contender Geelong, there was a fair bit of pressure on the club.
And they ate it up.
In a powerful first quarter, the Suns stunned the Cats with a seven-goal blast to set their win up. It was hard to gauge what was more impressive for Gold Coast; the ability to push forward and score, or the manic pressure that made their experienced opponents look fumbly and hesitant.
To their credit, the Cats rallied in the last quarter, as it was looking like the Suns were going to run away to a triple-figure win, but a 57-point win to the Suns sends a strong warning in Round Zero.
This team is now for real.
Let’s jump into The Mongrel’s Good, Bad, and Ugly.
The remainder of this article is for our members. They support me, and I provide for them. It’s a good deal.
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.
