GOLD Coast ensured there would be no repeat of its earlier season upset loss to Richmond, romping to an 84 -point win over the Tigers at People First Stadium on Saturday.
The Suns held their opponents goalless in the first half and stormed home with 10 second-half goals to win 16.11 (107) to 2.11 (23).
It moves them into fifth position, with Fremantle a chance to jump them on Sunday, with a 13-6 win-loss record.
For much of the contest it was a scrappy affair, but after half-time, the Suns clicked into gear, punishing the young Tigers as they ran out of legs.
Like so often in 2025, Noah Anderson (38 disposals, eight clearances) and Matt Rowell (27, 12 clearances and nine tackles) led the way with a magnificent midfield display.
They dominated the one part of the ground Richmond had experience, giving the Suns a 37-24 clearance advantage and leading to 56 inside 50s to 34.
Touk Miller made a successful return after missing the past two matches with a hamstring injury, power running his way to 25 disposals that included eight score involvements, before being tactically subbed off early in the final quarter.
Most pleasing for Damien Hardwick in the win would be the performance of some of his fringe players, led by Ethan Read and Jy Farrar.
Although Ben King led the goalkickers with four, Read looked threatening every time the ball went near him, kicking 2.2 from 13 touches and showing more glimpses of his huge potential.
Farrar, who was brought in as a mobile third tall option to replace Jed Walter last week, not only kicked two goals, but laid some bone-crunching tackles – one leading to a Bailey Humphrey goal.
After being handed their first loss of the season by the Tigers in round six, the Suns jumped from the blocks to lead by 24 points at the first change.
Richmond did not kick its first goal until the third minute of the second half, courtesy of Harry Armstrong, but that seemed to spark the Suns to their best football of the day.
With Carlton, Greater Western Sydney, Port Adelaide and Essendon to come, the Suns are on the brink of qualifying for their first Finals game in history.
Umpire contact – but who’s at fault?
Match Review Officer Michael Christian has a difficult umpire contact incident to assess following a heavy third quarter collision. After bouncing the ball in the middle of the ground, the adjudicating umpire was cleaned up by Richmond skipper Toby Nankervis and was lucky Jarrod Witts didn’t land directly on him as he lay on the ground. Replays showed the bounce went almost back over the umpire’s head, making it difficult for him to reverse out of the traffic.
Lightning strikes twice in a month
Well, maybe not lightning, but for the second time in four matches Gold Coast has kept an opponent goalless in the first half. In the Friday night win over Collingwood in round 18, the Suns kept the Magpies to 0.8, as the visitors missed a number of gilt-edged chances to get on the board. Similar happened for Richmond, going to the break with 0.5 after butchering a host of gettable shots. In between times, Adelaide kept Gold Coast without a goal in the opening half of round 19. Odd time, indeed.
Vlastuin continues push for maiden All-Australian
His team might have been thumped, but it wasn’t because of Nick Vlastuin. The man with more intercept possessions than anyone in the AFL racked up another 11 against the Suns. From the opening minutes he was magnificent, cutting off Gold Coast forward entries and sweeping up anything within his vicinity. Vlastuin’s only mistake came during the second quarter when he sprayed a set shot in a rare jaunt forward. Could this be the year the 31-year-old gets his first All-Australian blazer? He has to be right in the frame.
GOLD COAST 4.1 6.5 11.9 16.11 (107)
RICHMOND 0.1 0.5 1.8 2.11 (23)
GOALS
Gold Coast: King 4, Humphrey 3, Read 2, Long 2, Farrar 2, Fiorini, Andrew, Ainsworth
Richmond: Armstrong, Mansell
BEST
Gold Coast: Anderson, Rowell, Miller, Collins, Fiorini
Richmond: Vlastuin, Banks, Ross, Short
INJURIES
Gold Coast: Nil
Richmond: Jonty Faull (knee)
SUBSTITUTES
Gold Coast: Nick Holman (replaced Touk Miller in the fourth quarter)
Richmond: Kamdyn McIntosh (replaced Faull in the first quarter)
Crowd: 14,841 at People First Stadium
