Unsung hero Charlie Ballard felt he had "not much chance" of getting to runaway Tiger Jason Castagna late in Gold Coast's remarkable come-from-behind win on Saturday night.

With Richmond leading by 17 points and less than six minutes remaining, Castagna appeared set to seal victory when he broke the 50m arc with no-one ahead and an open goal beckoning.

That was until Ballard made himself a hero, sprinting from nowhere to smother the small forward's kick as he approached the goalsquare.

"I was probably just head down and going as hard as I could," Ballard grinned in the Gold Coast sun on Monday.

"I was doing what anyone would do in that situation.

"Even if I didn't get there it was more the effort, but luckily I got there and it ended up being a great result for us.

"I guess it was a bit of luck."

The touched behind would be Richmond's last score of the game, as Matt Rowell, Mabior Chol and ice-cool Noah Anderson sealed victory with the final three goals.

Anderson said he had almost given up on hope when his housemate Ballard pulled off the miraculous save.

"I pretty much turned my back on it because I thought they were about to kick a goal and I was pretty flat with it," he said.

"I didn't see where he was coming from.

"It was amazing, and just gave us a little extra beat in the heart to keep running and keep going and put the head down a little more.

"It was pretty inspiring for the group."

While Ballard's moment gave the SUNS hope, it was Anderson's 45m laser after-the-siren that kept their finals hopes alive.

"It was pretty special to see it go through and it's all a bit of a blur after that," he said.

"I did want it.

"I didn't really think through it in the moment.

"There wasn't a part of me that was nervous or afraid of the kick."