For the second week in a row Tom Lynch led an assault on the record books that saw the Gold Coast SUNS jump to an unprecedented fifth spot on the AFL ladder on a club record three-game winning streak, having shed their Etihad Stadium hoodoo.

Having played six times previously at Etihad for six losses by an average margin of 71 points, the GC SUNS on Sunday posted their first Etihad win over North Melbourne by 43 points.  It was their third victory in 32 matches against top eight opponents, and their biggest ‘kill’ overall.

Lynch, coming off a career-best five goals against the GWS Giants in Round 6, had a career-best 21 possessions against North to go with his highest return of three goal assists.  He also hauled in an equal career-high five marks inside 50 and 13 contested possessions in a stellar performance.

The 21-year-old power forward took five of the SUNS’ seven contested marks against North. He now has 19 of his team’s 51 contested marks this year, and 13 of their 30 in the last three weeks, and averages a club- high 1.9 contested marks per game. 

With Charlie Dixon returning from injury, it was just the eighth time in 73 SUNS games that the big forward trio of Lynch, Charlie Dixon and Sam Day have played together.

In a pointer to good times ahead, they kicked six goals between them against North to go with 26 contested possessions and seven marks inside 50.

The Suns have a 4-4 win/loss record when the Day-Dixon-Lynch trio is united at selection, and, significantly, the last three times they’ve played together the SUNS have had three of their best wins – against North by 15 points at Metricon in Round 11 last year, Richmond by 32 points at Metricon in Round 1 this year, and now North in Melbourne.

The win, rated the SUNS’ best all-time by coach Guy McKenna, followed victories over Melbourne at the MCG and the GWS Giants at Metricon Stadium.  It’s the first time they’ve won three in a row, and after winning just one of their first 14 games in Victoria the SUNS have now won two-in-a-row in Melbourne for the first time.

It was also Gold Coast’s second-biggest away win, behind only the 60-point triumph over Melbourne at the MCG in Round 7 last year.

With North sitting fifth on the ladder heading into round 7, it surpassed the round 17 win last year over Collingwood when the Magpies were 7th, and the round 1 win this year over Richmond, who had finished the 2013 season 7^th on the ladder.

Not surprisingly, the win on Sunday was built on a magnificent start, when the SUNS kicked the first seven goals of the game for the first time and posted their best first-quarter score of 7-4 (46).  Their 36-point first quarter ‘win’ was equal- third best among 292 quarters they have now played.  It was equal to their 36-point third-quarter ‘win’ against the Western Bulldogs at Metricon in round 8 last year, and has been bettered only by the 39-point second quarter ‘win’ over Richmond in Cairns in 2011, and the 37-point first-quarter ‘win’ over GWS last week.

That two of their most dominant single quarter performances have been first quarters in the past fortnight will please coach McKenna no end.  He’d be similarly pleased that when the game was on the line on Sunday, Gold Coast produced a superb defensive effort.  North’s fourth quarter score of 1-1 (7) was the equal third-lowest all-time against Gold Coast, and higher only than Richmond’s 1-0 fourth quarter in Cairns and Port Adelaide’s 1-0 fourth quarter at Metricon last year.

The SUNS outscored North in three of four quarters on Sunday, taking the total number of quarters won to 102. They’ve had most success against GWS (14), Brisbane (11), Melbourne (11), St.Kilda (8), North (7) and Richmond (7).

Interestingly, in seven matches this year they have led four times at quarter-time and five times at halftime and three-quarter time. And they’ve won every time.

The SUNS’ total possession count of 390 against North was their fifth highest all-time and second-highest away from home. At the top of both lists is their 410 possessions against Melbourne at the MCG last year. 

Significantly, with Gary Ablett and Dion Prestia topping the possession count with 28 apiece, the SUNS had an equal club record 10 players with more than 20 possessions.

In other statistical highs on Sunday:

• Kade Kolodjashnij continued his bright start to AFL football with a personal-best 25 possessions. Only David Swallow has had more possessions in a game for the SUNS as an 18-year-old. Swallow bagged 28 touches against Fremantle in Perth in 2011
• Gary Ablett kicked four goals in SUNS colours for the fifth time – a club record at Etihad – and three goals in a quarter for the second time when he bagged a hat-trick to open the final quarter. Others to have kicked three goals in a quarter for the SUNS have been Danny Stanley (2011), Steven May (2012), Andrew Boston (2013) and Sam Day in round 3 against Brisbane this year
• Jarrod Harbrow had an equal career-best 14 contested possessions, and Dion Prestia 12 to become the third SUNS player to 500 contested possessions overall behind Ablett (1029) and Swallow (549)
• Joel Tippett became the third ex-Gold Coast player after Tom Hickey (St Kilda) and Taylor Hine (North) to play against the Gold Coast.  Remarkably, the tall defender’s first outing against the SUNS was 974 days after his second and last outing for Gold Coast in round 24, 2011