Gold Coast has used a scintillating third quarter to roar into the top four with a 45-point demolition of the Western Bulldogs at Metricon Stadium on Sunday.
But they may be in for a nervous 24 hours with captain Gary Ablett likely to come under the scrutiny of the Match Review Panel for an apparent elbow on tagger Liam Picken.
But it was mainly smiles for the Suns, who after a close first half, ran riot after the break, kicking eight goals to one in a decisive third quarter to win 18.11 (119) to 10.14 (74).
And they did it with a quieter game than usual from Ablett, who was frustrated for much of the day by Picken.
He had just eight disposals until half-time and lashed out at Picken with a right elbow that seemed to catch the Bulldog, although to what force is debatable.
Despite significantly lifting after the break to finish with 24 touches, Ablett got plenty of help from his young teammates.
Dion Prestia was prolific with 35 touches and Matt Shaw played arguably his best game for the club, running the wing and finishing with 23 disposals and a goal.
With better supply, vice-captain Tom Lynch was a powerhouse with four goals, along with his key forward partner Charlie Dixon (four), while small forwards Brandon Matera (three), Harley Bennell (two) and Luke Russell (two) were also clever around goals.
The win was Gold Coast's fifth straight and moves them to 7-2 and into third spot behind Port Adelaide and Geelong.
They play Adelaide at Adelaide Oval next Sunday.
"A win's a win, that's what you have to do," Suns coach Guy McKenna said.
"The most pleasing thing out of the game … was we thought our way through a game of football."
Despite fighting it out in the final quarter, it was a disappointing day for the Dogs who also had Adam Cooney reported for high contact on Ablett in the second quarter.
Bulldogs coach Brendan McCartney was left to lament a host of missed chances in the first half.
"We had some great chances at the end of the second quarter and the start of the third quarter to play footy and put pressure on them and we went into our shells, lost confidence and they lifted," McCartney said.
"All areas of the game they lifted and we didn’t. We just lost a smidgeon of belief for five minutes.
"We played a quality team in really good form and for 60 minutes we had the game on our terms."
While Gold Coast's two previous wins over North Melbourne and St Kilda were built on blistering first quarters, this one was hard fought after overcoming a lethargic first half.
The Bulldogs were ferocious in the first two quarters and probably should have had a lead, aside from some poor kicking.
But the Suns started winning clearances and the rest followed.
The usual suspects of Matthew Boyd (30), Ryan Griffen (28) and Tom Liberatore (27 and nine clearances) got plenty of ball for the Bulldogs, but Luke Dahlhaus (27, including 20 to half-time) and classy Jack Macrae (25) were super impressive.
GOLD COAST 4.0 7.2 15.9 18.11(119)
WESTERN BULLDOGS 3.3 5.8 6.10 10.14(74)
GOALS
Gold Coast: Dixon 4, Lynch 4, Matera 3, Bennell 2, Russell 2, Swallow, Lynch, Smith
Western Bulldogs: Tutt 2, Cooney 2, Giansiracusa 2, Murphy, Stevens, Griffen, Dahlhaus
BEST
Gold Coast: Lynch, Shaw, Harbrow, Prestia, Ablett,
Western Bulldogs: Griffen, Cooney, Picken, Dahlhaus, Macrae
INJURIES
Gold Coast: Nil
Western Bulldogs: Nil
SUBSTITUTES
Gold Coast: Sean Lemmons on for Sam Day in the fourth quarter.
Western Bulldogs: Daniel Giansiracusa on for Brett Goodes in the third quarter.
Reports: Cooney (high contact)
Umpires: Fisher, Nicholls and Ryan
Official crowd: 14,235 at Metricon Stadium
