Third sell-out of 2024

Before a ball was even bounced, it was set to be a memorable night at People First Stadium. For the third time in 2024, the sold out signs went up as the third-largest crowd at the venue for an AFL game poured through the gates. The official crowd of 23,029 was the largest for a SUNS home match on the Gold Coast since 2014.

King on song

The SUNS leading goalkicker returned to the fray after a week out with injury and didn’t waste any time resuming his battle with Charlie Curnow at the top of the Coleman Medal race. King had two majors in the blink of an eye and made the most of his opportunities to finish with four-straight to take his season tally beyond 40 goals for the third time in his career.

Midfield charge

They were challenged after a disappointing outing against the Dockers last week and the SUNS midfield cohort brought the fight to the Magpies. Noah Anderson led all comers with an eye-watering 39 disposals, while Sam Flanders, Touk Miller, Will Graham and Matt Rowell all won their fair share of the ball going through the engine room, contributing two goals to boot.

Record breakers

Two of the favourite sons wrote their names into SUNS history on Saturday night. Having played in the very first outing at the venue in 2011, David Swallow became the first player to run out for 100 games at People First Stadium. He copped a knee from Darcy Moore for the occasion, but Jarrod Witts left the field with four points and the mantle of most games captained for the club, surpassing Gary Ablett Jnr in his 97th game as skipper.

Staring down the Boogeyman

As written by AFL.com.au’s Michael Whiting - Gold Coast has stared down the Boogeyman and won. Few sides stand tall and push against the tide when the Pies come charging late, but that’s exactly what the SUNS did when the visitors took the lead with five minutes remaining. A charging run from Bodhi Uwland and classy finish from Ben Long regained the advantage for the SUNS before Long was pivotal in setting up the game-sealing goal to a classy Ben Ainsworth.

VFL climb into top eight

It happened 2000km away in a torrid conditions, but the SUNS returned to the VFL’s top eight with a gritty win over Frankston. Ned Moyle had a day to remember with an incredible 71 hitouts and 13 clearances while plenty of the SUNS younger brigade played big roles in a late charge for the SUNS, who kicked the game’s final six goals to win by 34 points.