Despite the Gold Coast SUNS recording back-to-back victories, neither of the wins was the result of a complete four-quarter performance.
Against the Saints in round 15, the SUNS rushed to a 35-point lead in the opening term before a short lapse let the Saints kick four of the next five goals.
In Saturday’s QClash, the SUNS had a 51-point lead early in the third quarter and took the foot off the pedal, conceding six of the next seven goals to give the visitors a sniff with the margin down to just 18 points late in the third.
Although the SUNS would take home the chocolates in both instances, a similar lapse against top four side the Western Bulldogs this Saturday night in Cairns is likely to be punished more harshly, given the calibre of opposition.
“He (Rocket) was happy (after the game). He wanted a 50-point win, we sort of slacked off a little bit towards the end but he was overall pretty happy,” forward Brandon Matera told BLK RAW after the 26-point win over Brisbane.
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“He just said there’s still room for improvement, so we’ll take that into next week.”
Pleasingly, the SUNS have now strung together a month of consistent football, with a pair of tight losses to Richmond and Hawthorn followed up by wins over St Kilda and Brisbane.
“The boys played pretty well. We wanted to back up from last week and play some consistent footy,” Matera said.
“The boys dug in, they came back at us a little bit in the last but we held them off so it was good.”
After starting the year in the reserves, Matera is starting to find form.
The West Australian has also had plenty of the footy, with 20 touches, nine marks and two goals against the Saints followed up with 17 disposals and three goals against the Lions.
A goalsneak in every sense of the word, Matera loves impacting the scoreboard, crediting hard work and improved delivery from the team’s midfield.
“It’s always good to get on the scoreboard,” he said.
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“I’ve been working hard, it’s been helping the last couple of weeks with our skills. But with the boys up in the forward line, we’re working pretty well and the delivery’s been pretty good. It helps a lot if the delivery’s good.”
The SUNS forward line is becoming increasingly dangerous, led by talls Peter Wright and Tom Lynch who each kicked five goals on the weekend.
“They’re two superstars. In great form so just gotta stay at their feet and get a couple of touches like that so it’s good,” Matera said.
“I reckon the whole forward line have gelled over the last 3-4 weeks. We all know where we’re leading and what we need to do for the team so the boys are working together well and we’re all hitting the scoreboard which is good.”
