Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew knew why Fremantle got on top and pushed on to a 28-point win on Saturday at Optus Stadium – its big guns fired when they had to.
"We were in it in the second and third quarters but … Freo’s class through the middle went harder for longer and was just able to overpower us. They stepped up as the guns do," Dew said.
Dew also conceded Fremantle superstar Nat Fyfe and veteran ruckman Aaron Sandilands had a massive influence on the contest.
"I think Sandi got the better of Jarrod Witts but Wittsy never stops trying," he said.
"It’s hard to get on top of Sandi, particularly early in the season when he’s fresh.
"I can’t ever question
"But Sandi was really good today. Fyfe was unstoppable and Sandi helped him along the way.
"I still think when we were staring down the barrel at quarter-time, (conceding) 21 inside
"We would have liked for it to have lasted a little bit longer but it didn’t."
Gold Coast will be without Pearce Hanley for some time, with Dew saying the club would reassess whether to send the Irishman for surgery after he dislocated his shoulder again at Optus Stadium.
It was Hanley’s first game of the season after dislocating the same shoulder in pre-season.
"It doesn’t look good, obviously in the first game back," Dew said.
"We knew going into the game that it’s a chance, once they start coming out generally you do need to get them fixed (surgically) at some point.
"He could have made 10 games or got through the season. Given where his strength was pre-game, we were confident.
"We would never have put him out there thinking this is going to happen ... at training he got through all the parameters we put him through."
One positive for the SUNS was the three-goal effort from Sam Day on his way back from a serious hip injury.
"We have been so rapt with Sam’s journey since I got the job," Dew said.
"If we were sitting here five months ago saying he’s played three AFL games … we would be ecstatic but now he’s just one of the team and that’s fantastic.
"It’s a good sign of the type of character he is to push back from that injury."
But one player who had a day to forget was Aaron Hall, kept to just five disposals by third-game Docker Bailey Banfield.
"He had a down game Hally so he’s got to bounce back," Dew said.
"Full credit to the young lad in his third game, he got a big scalp. Hally’s got to learn how to get through. Yes, we can help him but also Hally’s got to push through that."
"In the
