It may not have been pretty, but in a season that has not produced many wins, a win is a win regardless of how ugly it is. And that was exactly the case on Saturday night, with Gold Coast grinding out a hard fought victory over Essendon at Metricon Stadium.
Rodney Eade’s side made life more difficult than it should have been due to wasteful kicking in front of goal and inefficient forward entries. But by the final siren, the SUNS walked away with four premiership points - for just the fourth time this season.
Aaron Hall continued his remarkable transformation into a midfielder with another stunning performance. He collected career-high numbers for disposals (31), contested possessions (16), and inside 50s (13), as well as accumulating the most territory in a single game of any player this season with an enormous reading of 968 metres gained. A phenomenal statistic.
With no Charlie Dixon, Tom Lynch was Gold Coast’s focal point inside 50, playing closer to goal than in previous weeks. Wayward kicking in front of goal detracted from his game, with the spearhead kicking 3.3, and missing a couple of opportunities to walk away with another bag. Lynch plucked eight marks – six of which were taken inside 50 – highlighting the chances he had to impact the scoreboard.
In a relatively new role, Brandon Matera flourished on a wing to produce one of the strongest showings of his year. He collected 23 possessions and six marks, making the best use of space to help set up a number of scoring chains for the SUNS.
Rebounding defender Kade Kolodjashnij produced another dependable four-quarter effort against the Bombers to be one of Rodney Eade’s prominent contributors. The polished Tasmanian gathered 22 disposals and six rebound 50s, regularly steering the ship from deep in defence to be a launching pad from the back half.
Like Lynch, had Jack Martin made the most of his scoring chances he would have had a big night. The prodigious talent was dangerous from the opening bounce, but missed a couple of very gettable chances that would have elevated his game. Martin finished with 3.3 from 16 possessions and nine marks, to provide a target heading forward, continuing to surprise defenders with his ability to mark overhead.
Who was your best player in round 21?
After 20 rounds, Michael Rischitelli still leads the Fans Player of the Year on 247 votes, ahead of Adam Saad on 190 votes and Tom Lynch on 180 votes.
