First-gamer Sean Lemmens set the standard early with a classic hip and shoulder on Bachar Houli while fellow rookie Clay Cameron produced several crucial spoils throughout the match as the home side’s defence consistently repelled the Tigers as they pushed forward with regularity in the second half.
Lemmens finished with 12 touches in his first AFL appearance and showed a hardness at the footy which belied his slender frame.
“It is the best feeling; I’m on top of the world at the moment, pretty sore now but well worth it,” Lemmens said.
“I am over the moon and rapt with everything.
“I think at half-time the boys got together and decided this is where we want to be this year and how hard we worked and I think we did pretty well pretty in the end.“
The Tigers had 58 inside 50s but could only manage 19 scoring shots. In contrast, the home side made the most of its opportunities kicking 12.15 from ten less forward forays.
Richmond star Jack Riewoldt and his partner-in-crime Ty Vickery were held to three goals between them and were both singled out by Tigers coach Damien Hardwick for their lack of impact on the match, but little can be taken away from the makeshift SUNS defence.
With a red line put through Jack Martin (AC joint) and Charlie Dixon (concussion) early in the match, midfielders Jaeger O’Meara and David Swallow spent periods in the backline, with the latter particularly effective off half-back at the business end of the contest.
The victory was Gold Coast’s third in four clashes with Richmond and another defender, Steven May, said a rivalry is now building between two of the most promising sides in the competition.
“After such a long and tough pre-season, probably our hardest yet, what is better than getting a win against the Tigers who we have established a lingering rivalry with now?” May said.
“I was getting a little bit worried when they started getting it out of the middle because that is our strength. But I knew we could do it because we got the boys together and we said we’re not going to give it up now after we’d been working so hard after three quarters, so Bluey let us know at three-quarter time this is a game and we didn’t want to let the opportunity go to waste.”
