First draw of 2015 season
The Age
Andrew Stafford

On paper, it shaped as a massacre. The Gold Coast SUNS, again, went into this game without their entire first-choice midfield, against a side in West Coast with a serious taste for crushing paltry opposition. Extraordinarily, at the end of the match, the scores were as deadlocked as they were at its beginning.

Tom Lynch was the hero for the SUNS, plucking a brilliant pack mark to kick his fourth goal with four seconds to play. It tied the scores at 83 apiece, the Eagles kicking themselves out of the game at its beginning and end. But that doesn't take away from the league's most under-strength side just to make a contest of the match.

A corner may have been turned for the SUNS in this last horrible month, and possibly even before that: in the way they've been prepared to work; to knuckle down even when everything is against it. Rodney Eade is injecting some steel into this side. It's learning that even without Gary Ablett – and the rest – they are still a team.

Lynch’s last-second goal earns SUNS draw
Courier Mail
Andrew Hamilton

Tom Lynch is the future of the Gold Coast SUNS.

If the rest of the competition had not already worked out the SUNS power forward is a genuine star they surely have now after his starring performance to drag the SUNS to an unlikely draw with premiership fancies West Coast at Metricon Stadium last night.

With 40 seconds left on the clock and the Eagles leading by six points the stand-in skipper took a towering pack mark and calmly slotted his fourth goal of the game from 35m out on a 45 degree angle.

While the hunt for the next Jonathan Brown continues in earnest at Brisbane, their neighbours have already found their next captain and one of the most intimidating power forwards in the competition.

Lynch plays like a leader. He kicks the big goals and provides the acts of courage and aggression that make his team mates walk tall.

Eagles loosen grip on second position
The West Australian
Shayne Hope

West Coast captain Shannon Hurn says his side will re-evaluate its preparation and reaffirm its commitment in the wake of Saturday night’s shock draw with second-bottom Gold Coast.

Hurn was confident the Eagles did not get ahead of themselves during the build-up to the clash with the SUNS as blockbuster matches against Hawthorn and Fremantle loomed on the horizon as potential distractions.

The draw meant West Coast wasted the chance to surge eight points clear of the third-placed Hawks in the race for a top-two spot.