Gold Coast surged comfortably past the Western Bulldogs in round eight last season, marking the first time the club had won successive matches in their, then, three-year history.
An emphatic seven-goal third term paved the way for the SUNS’ 31-point win over the Dogs in 2013, with Guy McKenna’s on-field marshals bursting clear in the deciding fourth quarter, putting the game beyond reach.
But the round eight win would hold nothing but haunted memories for promising ruckman Zac Smith, after the Gold Coast big man hyper-extended his knee early and substituted out of the match. Scans later confirmed the worst possible diagnosis – a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament.
Unlike their 60-point trouncing of the Demons a week earlier, the SUNS were made to work for the premiership points in this match-up, with the Bulldogs competing strongly for almost three quarters before the home team turned up the heat on the scoreboard.
Campbell Brown turned in a match-winning performance in front of goals, kicking two of his three majors in the opening period.
Gary Ablett was up to his usual standards, picking up an equal game-high 31 touches and five tackles.
To their credit, the Bulldogs refused to throw in the towel, booting consecutive six-pointers in the first three minutes of the last term to ignite a fourth-quarter comeback.
Their resurgence was short lived, however, with the SUNS extinguishing any hopes of a revival.
While it wasn’t the prettiest of wins, McKenna said his team showed great maturity in finding a way to claim the four premiership points.
"We spoke about our composure," he said.
"We had to keep matching the Dogs in contested footy, which I thought we did. Once we got it out of that contested situation we had to be patient, show some more composure, which we did in that third quarter.
"The thing that kept us in the game all night was the pressure. Our ability to hunt them when they had the ball … was super."
While the SUNS’ on-field growth was clear, Bulldogs senior coach Brendan McCartney was equally impressed with the collective voice of Metricon Stadium.
"The tale of the game clearly to us in the third quarter was we weren’t getting a lot of possessions and opportunities," Bulldogs coach Brendan McCartney said.
"We opened the game up to them, the crowd got involved. The crowd senses a team improving quicker than the rest of the league is ready for. They got their dander up around the ball and got the lead up to 30 points.
"We didn't do the basics well enough for long enough, especially in the third quarter."
GOLD COAST 1.3 4.7 11.11 13.15 (93)
WESTERN BULLDOGS 3.4 5.6 6.10 8.13 (61)
GOALS
Gold Coast: Brown 3, Matera, Shaw, Hall, Stanley, O’Meara, Hall, Harbrow, Day, May, Bennell
Western Bulldogs: Stringer 3, Markovic 2, Giansiracusa, Jones, Murphy
BEST
Gold Coast: Ablett, Brown, O’Meara, Thompson, Lonergan
Western Bulldogs: Cooney, Murphy, Griffen, Boyd, Macrae
INJURIES
Gold Coast: Zac Smith (knee)
Western Bulldogs: None
SUBSTITUTES
Gold Coast: Luke Russell on for Zac Smith at half-time
Western Bulldogs: Clay Smith on for Liam Jones in the third quarter
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Hay, Armstrong and Jeffery
Crowd: 13,520
