The Gold Coast SUNS have written two significant lines into the club record books - their most dominant final quarter and their fourth 10-win season – as Matt Rowell became the ‘winningest’ 100-gamer in SUNS history.

In a perfect scene-setter for this Friday night’s blockbuster against ladder-leaders Collingwood at People First Stadium, these were the key takeaways from a 41-point win over Essendon at Marvel Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

It was a win which jumped the SUNS one spot to 7^th on the official AFL ladder at Round 17 – and 6^th on the more important match ratio ladder – as a rival finals contender suffered a crucial loss.

Importantly, too, the SUNS’ percentage, which will inevitably play a role in determining places within the top eight if not the eight itself, improved by 2.2% to 122.5%.

But the most important numbers of the weekend came in the 30-minute period from about 2.45pm on Saturday, after the Gold Coast had taken a precarious three-point lead against Essendon to three-quarter time.

The lead had changed hands 10 times and only once was the margin either way more than 10 points – when back-to-back goals from Ned Moyle and Noah Anderson pushed the SUNS out by 15 points for about three minutes early in the third term.

Long-time SUNS fans, having seen this sort of scenario go both ways in the past, could have been excused for being a little anxious.

But, in a demonstration of the new hard edge the SUNS have claimed this year, they were having none of it. They piled on 6.3 (39) to a single behind in the final term.

Significantly, the 38-point ‘win’ in the final quarter was the biggest in 220 games all-time, surpassing a 35-point final quarter ‘win’ over Hawthorn at People First Stadium in Round 15 2023, when the SUNS were already 32 points up at three-quarter time.

In five of the other nine final quarter dominations the result was pretty much decided too.

So, if only because of the high stakes, this was right up there with three of the club’s great final quarter assaults.

The first was against Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium in Adelaide in Round 6, 2011 in what was the SUNS’ fifth game, and their very first win.

They trailed by 28 points at the last change but kicked 6.5 to 1.4 in the final stanza, with goals from Charlie Dixon (2), Brandon Matera (2), Harley Bennell (1) and Luke Russell (1), to win by three points when the Power’s Justin Westhoff missed an angled shot on the siren.

The Brownlow Medal votes, the first in SUNS’ history, went to Gary Ablett (3), Michael Rischitelli (2) and Brandon Matera (1).

Almost 11 years later, in Round 1. 2022 against West Coast at Optus Stadium, the SUNS were six points down at the final change but piled on 8.0 to 2.3 in the last quarter to win by 27 points. SUNS’ first-gamer Mabior Chol, Jarrod Witts, Ben Ainsworth, Nick Holman, Alex Davies and ex-SUNS Izak Rankine (2) and Jack Lukosius were the goal-kickers as Matt Rowell (3) and Touk Miller (2) headed the Brownlow Medal votes.

And in Round 17, 2022 at People First Stadium, the SUNS were 28 points down at the last change against a Richmond side coached by Damien Hardwick. After David Swallow and Noah Anderson kicked the first two majors of the last term and Jack Riewoldt got a steadier for the Tigers the home side kicked the last four through Sam Day, Rowell, Chol and Anderson, who iced it with an ice-cool set shot after the siren from about 45m on a 45-degree angle.

Saturday’s powerhouse final quarter might not read quite as well, but in the overall scheme of things, with the club’s first finals appearance potentially on the line, it was just as important. If not more so.

With six games still to play, including a rematch with Essendon in the club’s Round 24 double-header, the SUNS’ already have equalled their 10-win seasons of 2014, 2022 and 2024.

The win, a memorable one in Rowell’s 100^th game, was the club’s second-biggest in 17 meetings with the Bombers, behind only the 61-point triumph on the Gold Coast in 2016, and their biggest over the Bombers away.

It gave Rowell, the club’s 27^th 100-gamer, a 46-54 win/loss record and a 46.0% win ratio at 100 games, and sees him better the equivalent mark of Sam Collins (40.4%), Wil Powell (38.4%), Anderson (37.4%) and Ben King(36.4%).

He celebrated in typical bullocking fashion with 17 tackles to equal the single-game club record he shares with Gary Ablett. Hugh Greenwood, now a SUNS assistant-coach, is next on this list with a 16-tackle game in 2021, while Rowell has two games of 15 tackles.

Rowell had 15 possessions on Saturday for a 100-game total of 2056 to trail only Ablett (3025), Anderson (2449), David Swallow (2082), Brayden Fiorini (2069) and Touk Miller (2063) at the same milestone.

Anderson’s 30 possessions, which came with seven clearances and eight score involvements, saw him become the fifth player to top 3000 possessions for the club. He reached this mark in his 119^th game – quicker than Miller (136), Swallow (142) and Jarrod Harbrow (151) and slower only than Ablett (99).

Powell became the seventh player to post 50 wins for the club – and the second-quickest. Playing his 120^th game, he was slower than only Collins (119 games), but quicker than Jarrod Witts (145 games), Ainsworth (152), Alex Sexton (176), Miller (180) and Swallow (186).

Brayden Fiorini’s nine tackles took his career tackle count to 397 and saw him displace Sean Lemmens (389) from the club’s all-time top 10. He slots in behind Miller (1095), Swallow (990), Rowell (742), Ablett (606), Nick Holman (600), Michael Rischitelli (554), Witts (488), Harbrow (485) and Dion Prestia (421).

Joel Jeffrey, in his 43^rd game, had a career-high 32 possessions – his first 30-possession game.

And the 41-point win in Oscar Adams’ AFL debut left him behind only 10 players in their first game for the club. This is a list headed by 2025 recruits Daniel Rioli and John Noble, who enjoyed an 87-point win in Round 1 this year, Charlie Constable (67 points), Josh Glenn and Henry Schade (64 points), Matt Rosa, Callum Ah Chee and Ryan Davis (61 points), Louis Herbert (54 points), and Jy Farrar (51 points). Rosa was in the opposition camp on Saturday – he’s now the Essendon General Manager – List Management and Recruiting – and Herbert, like Adams, is from Mt Gambier