A WEEK after being humiliated by the Western Bulldogs, Gold Coast have responded brilliantly to stun Sydney with a 40-point AFL win at Metricon Stadium.
The Suns, who conceded 11 goals to one last week in the first half, were a different proposition on Saturday, out-pressuring the Swans throughout to post a 15.10 (100) to 9.6 (60) win.
Ben King kicked a personal-best five goals for the hosts in one of the strongest games of the 20-year-old key forward’s short career.
Ben Ainsworth (three), Izak Rankine and Josh Corbett (two each) were the other multiple goalkickers for the Suns.
Midfielder Touk Miller was everywhere for the Suns, particularly early as he claimed 16 touches in the first quarter on his way to 36 disposals for the game.
Noah Anderson finished with 34 touches while Nick Holman’s 13 tackles were an indication of the pressure brought throughout by the Suns.
The Swans omitted young forward Logan McDonald and were missing Lance Franklin (knee) and it showed as they managed just one goal in each of the second and third quarters.
The Suns set the tone for the day in a first quarter where their high-pressure game forced the Swans into several errors, with Holman’s goal on the siren giving the hosts’ a seven-point advantage.
Gold Coast really turned their heat into scores in the second term as they kicked four goals to one to open their advantage to 22 points at the main break.
Sydney’s woes were compounded with George Hewett subbed out after a head clash in the first quarter, replaced by Braeden Campbell, while Nick Blakey was left sore after copping a knee from Charlie Ballard to his thigh.
Blakey returned in the second term to the Swans’ forward line.
Gold Coast continued the rout in the third quarter, King having a day out as the Suns added a further five goals to one with Hugh Greenwood’s goal after the siren putting the Suns 49 points clear at final turn.
Josh Kennedy had a game-high 41 disposals as he ran himself into the ground despite the Swans’ being second-best while Hayden McLean was the visitors’ only multiple goalkicker with two majors.
The big win is just Gold Coast’s second of the year while Sydney have now slumped to back-to-back defeats after winning their first four matches of the season.
The Suns face Collingwood in Melbourne next weekend, with Sydney returning home to host Geelong.
(C) AAP 2021
GOLD COAST 4.2 8.2 13.6 15.10 (100)
SYDNEY 3.1 4.4 5.5 9.6 (60)
Goals: Gold Coast: B King 5 B Ainsworth 3 I Rankine 2 J Corbett 2 H Greenwood L Weller N Holman. Sydney: H McLean 2 C Warner I Heeney J Rowbottom O Florent S Wicks T Papley W Hayward.
Umpires: Ray Chamberlain, David Harris, Leigh Fisher.
Official Crowd: 9,819 at Metricon Stadium.
