It may have been the club’s first loss since the AFL competition resumed, but there was still plenty to like about Gold Coast’s effort against Geelong in Round 5.

Playing with just 21 men for almost all of the match, the SUNS took the fight to the Cats and pushed them for all four quarters.

SUNS Media have broken down a couple of key takeaways from the match. 

A positive response:

When popular teammate Matt Rowell went down in the opening minutes of the match, it could have gone one of two ways for the SUNS. As Stuart Dew said post-match: “in that period in the second and third quarter we showed a bit of resilience to fight back against a really strong and experienced footy club.” 

The SUNS came out with roaring intent in the second and third quarters, a noticeable shift from what was being delivered in the first quarter. The rise in pressure and intent also saw a rise in mistakes and turnovers from Geelong which saw the SUNS claw back into the match, even stealing the lead midway through the third term. It was one of the biggest positives the SUNS can take from the weekend’s game.  

Forward line connection:

Every match Ben King and Sam Day play together they seem to be forging a stronger synergy. In last week’s match against Fremantle we saw a five-minute patch where the two in tandem combined for three rapid-fire goals. Then again versus Geelong, the pair went off for five goals between them.

Dew touched on it post-game, when the forwards are getting enough supply of a high quality, they can cash in with goals at a rapid rate. With King currently second in the Coleman Medal race, the results are already starting to show, but with some more consistent precision delivery into the forward line we could see some big games ahead for the Gold Coast key forwards.