Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew says the Suns’ second of reality may very well be upon them after knocking off Hawthorn to once more sit on the cusp of the AFL’s high eight.
Fresh off a horror thumping from Carlton final week, issues appeared dire when the Hawks booted the primary three targets.
But it was one-way site visitors as soon as Ben Ainsworth ultimately received the Suns on the board in a 14.17 (101) to five.4 (34) win at Heritage Bank Stadium on Sunday.
It was a crash again to earth for the often plucky Hawks (4-10), who registered their lowest rating since 2020 – two weeks after upsetting Brisbane.
Victory improved the Suns to 7-7 and simply outdoors the eight on proportion forward of Saturday’s dwelling recreation in opposition to ladder leaders Collingwood (12-2).
They face Port Adelaide (12-2) every week later, in what looms as a large fortnight for a membership with no finals look since its AFL inception in 2011.
“We’ll get some information won’t we?,” Dew mentioned of the looming Magpies problem.
“Anytime you can play the best as a measuring stick and see where we stack up.
“They’re clearly potent however we need to make certain we play our model as effectively and check that.”
That ambition was looking shaky as the sun set in Carrara on Sunday until the Suns kicked four straight goals to lead by 10 points at halftime.
A quick-fire Ben King double cancelled out Luke Breust’s goal to begin the second half and broke the game open.
When Noah Anderson (28 disposals, two goals) and Matt Rowell showed composure with calm handballs to set up David Swallow it was a 30-point game and the Suns finally had the margin that reflected their territorial dominance.
That superiority came when the Suns, beaten to the punch early in the game, lifted their defensive intensity to lock the Hawks in and force regular turnovers to the relief of the 14,242-strong crowd.
The Suns skipped further ahead in a one-sided final quarter, a Malcolm Rosas clicking his heels to celebrate the second of three final-quarter majors.
“We do not chalk up something to an anomaly,” Hawks coach Sam Mitchell mentioned.
“We know there’s going to be steps ahead and a few will probably be very, very small.
“At the moment I can’t find too many positives out of today.
“We had received three out of 4, feeling like we had been shifting alongside fairly effectively after which at the moment was a actuality test.”
Hawthorn had seven free kicks to the Suns’ one late in the first quarter and Mitch Lewis was on-song with two early goals.
But the Suns didn’t panic, Lachie Weller (12 touches) getting involved in his return from injury before being tactically subbed out at three-quarter time.
Recalled veteran Brandon Ellis also booted a goal in his first game since round 10, while Brayden Fiorini (35 touches), Sam Flanders and Ainsworth ensured it wasn’t just the usual suspects carrying the load.
Blake Hardwick had a game-high 38 disposals for Hawthorn, whereas Jack Scrimshaw (31), Will Day (28) battled laborious for Mitchell.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
