Matthew Rowell delivered one of the best individual performances in SUNS history on Sunday, and one of the very best in AFL history.
It was like Superman - 40 possessions, 17 clearances and 16 tackles as the SUNS ended a 10-game losing streak with a two-point win over the GWS Giants in Canberra.
He was the first player in recorded history to have better than 14 clearances and 14 tackles in the same game.
Plus, he had a game-high 30 defensive pressure acts - best by any player in Round 21 - a career-best 881m gained, which was second-best for Round 21, and 10 forward-50 entries, which was one short of his career-best and fourth-best for Round 21.
His 40 possessions was a career-best, 17 tackles was an equal career-best, and his 16 clearances was the third-highest tally in SUNS history behind his own 20 in 2024 and Gary Ablett Jnr's 18 in 2017.
Rowell's eight centre clearances were more than the rest of the SUNS combined, with Noah Anderson (4), Ned Moyle (2) and Bailey Humphrey (1) combining for seven.
Numerically, Rowell's match-winning performance on Sunday took the No.1 spot all-time on the SUNS individual performance honour roll, edging out Ablett's performance against GWS at People First Stadium in 2015, when he had 30 possessions, three goals, 17 tackles and nine clearances as the club's previous No.1 all-time performance.
Where does it rank among the best individual performances of all-time? It's impossible to say because many key statistics were not kept in the early days.
Like when Leigh Matthews had 41 possessions and kicked 11 goals for Hawthorn against Essendon at Waverley in 1973 in what is anecdotally considered the best individual performance ever.
Matthews had 38 kicks, nine marks and three handballs, kicked 11.3 and received six free kicks while conceding two. No other details are available.
Statistically, the closest thing to Rowell's Superman performance on Sunday was Josh Dunkley's 39 possessions, two goals, 15 tackles and nine clearances for the Western Bulldogs in 2019.
Rowell's 40 possessions against the Giants was the 24th 40-plus possession game in SUNS history, split between seven players. Ablett had 15 of them. The details are:
Gary Ablett Jnr (15) – 53, 49, 45, 45, 45, 43, 43, 42, 42, 42, 41, 41, 41, 40, 40
Noah Anderson (3) – 43, 42, 42
Sam Flanders (2) – 43, 42
Dion Prestia (1) – 42
Brayden Fiorini (1) – 41
Brandon Ellis (1) – 40
Matt Rowell (1) – 40
Rowell's 16 tackles on Sunday is one off the SUNS club record of 17, which he shares with Ablett. And his 16 clearances is four short of his own club record of 20, which sits above Ablett's 18 and the 15 of Rowell, Touk Miller, Ablett and Mitch Hallahan.
Leo Lombard's 23 possessions was a career-high and, with two tackles, two clearances and five score involvements, rounded out arguably the best game of his 25-game career, while Miller's team-high three goals was an equal career-best.
Sunday's win was the SUNS' second in five visits to Canberra and completed a 2-0 sweep against the Giants this year.
