There were many exciting passages of play Gold Coast could have used to sum up the Round 2 victory over West Coast in their review this week.

Whether it was the chain of possessions leading to Noah Anderson’s first goal, or Matt Rowell muscling his way through a tackle, or even the multiple examples of manic pressure which resulted in a goal on turnover.

But SUNS Assistant Coach Dean Solomon said the best defining moment from the match occurred in the final minute, with the SUNS desperate to stop West Coast from scoring despite the scoreboard showing the team were eight goals up.

“Part of our review was the effort and the leadership shown under fatigue in the last minute,” Solomon told the @realty Coaches Chat.

“The game was clearly won but the guys and their mentality, they didn’t want West Coast to score in that last 40 seconds when it was in our defensive 50.

“That’s what we stand for and that’s what we’re building going forwards so that was really encouraging and again now it’s about backing that up.”

It was a drought-breaking win for the SUNS and was much more important than the four points on the ladder. 

It was also an indication that all the hard work over the pre-season can show tangible results on the field, but Solomon said the challenge was to bring that consistently in each match.

“Credit to our boys, it’s really important that they do take that confidence and do understand that the gameplan that they’ve had a massive buy-in (for) does stand up against the good sides,” he said.

“It’s just about that ability to execute and it worked on Saturday night but now we face Adelaide who will be looking to bounce back from their performance.”

The Crows had a disappointing result in their Showdown against Port Adelaide, but Solomon said he expected Adelaide to come out swinging on Sunday afternoon.

“West Coast was a great win and you get 24 hours to acknowledge that and go back through that.

“But Adelaide, off a Showdown, will be coming up to the Gold Coast and you hear their language.

“They’re going to come up here and work on the gameplan, they’ll spend a lot of time together, they’ll galvanise.

“We know what’s coming so we’ve got to back up what we produced, if we don’t we’ll get caught wondering.” 

The match at Metricon Stadium kicks off at 1:05pm on Sunday and will be broadcast on Fox Footy, Kayo, AFL Live Pass and 7mate (check your local guide).