1. Pressure is the name of the game
For the second week in succession Gold Coast recorded 90+ tackles, which is a significant increase on their 2017 average.
Rookie Nick Holman had 11 tackles to once again leading the charge, with support coming from Darcy Macpherson (10), David Swallow (8) and Touk Miller (8).
Miller had the most pressure acts of all Gold Coast players with 27, while fellow midfielders Aaron Hall and Swallow had 26 each.
The whole team worked together to apply plenty of pressure and impact the scoreboard, with nearly half of the SUNS' scores (7.6) coming via Blues turnovers.
2. Battle of the key forwards
The last time Tom Lynch took on Carlton at Etihad Stadium he bagged seven goals. On Saturday afternoon he went one further, recording a career-high and club-record eight goals.
Add to that
The key forward had to contend with a number of opponents during the game but was a strong presence going forward for the SUNS.
Lynch did more than just kick goals, racking up 21 disposals (10 contested), taking four marks and laying four tackles.
At the other end of the field, Carlton's Charlie Curnow finished the game with two goals after an entertaining duel against SUNS' captain Steven May.
3. Witts dominates ruck battle
When Matthew Kreuzer was announced as a late withdrawal for Carlton, the likely outcome of the ruck battle swung massively in favour of Jarrod Witts.
Witts used his significant height advantage over Levi Casboult to great effect, as he finished the game with 48 hit-outs.
The tally included 14 hit-outs to advantage, giving the SUNS midfielders first use of the footy and enabling them to win the clearances 46-37.
4. Lyons leads midfielders
Jarryd Lyons found plenty of the footy on Saturday, racking up 36 disposals and 14 clearances.
The SUNS managed to edge the Blues in the contested possession count (166-160), largely due to Lyons' 26.
WIth Carlton's Patrick Cripps a contested ball beast whose influence on the game could have been telling, Lyons more than matched him in that area.
He was well supported in the midfield by David Swallow (26 disposals) and Aaron Hall (20 disposals).
