It wasn’t prettiest of wins, but an injury-ravaged Gold Coast did enough to shake Melbourne and score a 13-point victory in round 20 at Metricon Stadium last season.
The Demons started well and made an early charge take a slight lead at the first break in play.
The visitors maintained their momentum heading into the second term, but the GC SUNS found life mid-way through the quarter as they slowly crept back in to the contest.
Breaking the game open in the third quarter, the SUNS established a two-goal lead at the last break, before hanging on to claim the premiership points up for grabs.
Unfortunately a heavy injury toll soured the SUNS’ win; Nathan Bock (leg), Alex Sexton (dislocated shoulder) and Sam Day (hamstring) all coming off worse for wear from the encounter. In his second match back, Bock was subbed off at half-time after having problems with the leg he broke against Fremantle last year.
Coach Guy McKenna said despite the patchy performance, the SUNS would take any win they could get at the time.
"We spoke about putting pressure on Melbourne early," McKenna said.
"The defensive mechanisms held out better than they did last week. I know they let us off the chain a bit with their inaccurate kicking.
"I thought our ability to work, and guys like David Swallow, Jaeger O'Meara and Dion Prestia again, their ability to work through the lines, was impressive again."
It was Gold Coast’s seventh win for the 2013 season, and while it was far from their most impressive, it helped captain Gary Ablett celebrate his 250th career match in style.
Ablett was unusually quiet, with taggers Jordie McKenzie and Colin Garland restricting him to 19 disposals and one goal. The Brownlow medallist appeared unimpressed with the close attention, continually having words with the umpires in the search for free kicks. His midfield mates came to the fore, though, with Harley Bennell (28 disposals), 50-gamer David Swallow (28) and Dion Prestia (23) leading the way.
Aaron Hall kicked one goal from six shots as the SUNS frittered away their forward entries. Tim Sumner helped to spark his side with his second half appearance, with his first career goal at the start of the half sparking a huge celebration.
Despite having more disposals (374-336), inside 50s (53-45) and contested possessions (143-117), coach Neil Craig said Melbourne found a way to lose.
"We got ourselves in a position but clearly the last quarter (had) too many missed opportunities," Craig said.
"The more opportunity you get in that (winning) position … we're going to need to get better at it. Either lack of discipline or really poor execution, that's what we've got."
Nathan Jones (29) and Jack Viney (24) were prolific in the midfield, while Jack Watts (21 disposals and two goals) and rookie Dean Kent (two goals) also impressed.
GOLD COAST 2.4 5.9 10.11 13.12 (90)
MELBOURNE 3.2 5.6 8.11 10.17 (77)
GOALS
Gold Coast: Brown 3, Sumner 2, Ablett, Hall, Dixon, Swallow, Thompson, Bennell, Day, Stanley
Melbourne: Watts 2, Kent 2, Sylvia, Byrnes, Fitzpatrick, Tapscott, Davey, McKenzie
BEST
Gold Coast: Swallow, Prestia, Brown, Jaeger, Thompson
Melbourne: Viney, Sylvia, Nathan Jones, McKenzie, Garland
INJURIES
Gold Coast: Bock (leg), Sexton (shoulder), Day (hamstring)
Melbourne: None
SUBSTITUTES
Gold Coast: Timmy Sumner on for Nathan Bock (half-time)
Melbourne: Aaron Davey on for Daniel Nicholson (three-quarter time)
Reports: None
Umpires: McBurney, Fila and Foot
Crowd: 13,840
