It was wet, wild, ugly and just the way Stuart Dew liked it as the Gold Coast Suns notched a 16-point win in his first game in charge.
The rookie AFL coach watched as his men out-enthused North Melbourne with the game on the line in the final quarter, the Suns prevailing 7.13 (55) to 5.9 (39) on Saturday night.
All 12 goals came at the same end of the ground, with final-quarter majors to Jack Bowes and Jarryd Lyons proving the difference.
A wet week in Cairns got a whole lot wetter about 45 minutes before the first bounce, with torrential rain sweeping across the region and flooding Cazalys Stadium.
North Melbourne coped best in the puddles early, winning more contested ball and notching the first quarter’s only goal through Shaun Higgins.
The Kangaroos missed two sets shots and had a masterful Higgins’ solo effort along the boundary line ruled to have glanced the post as they looked to establish control of the contest in the second term.
But they were left to rue those missed opportunities as the rain eased, the ground drained and the Suns kicked five straight to finish the half leading by 24 points.
Darcy McPherson scored the Suns’ first before Ben Ainsworth snapped a second and followed it up with another.
Alex Sexton and club debutant Aaron Young also got on the board as the Suns – led by Cairns local and second-year midfielder Bowes (21 disposals) – camped in North Melbourne’s forward 50m and reaped rewards.
North Melbourne responded by pushing Jack Ziebell forward and kicking all four goals in the third term, the skipper notching two of his own and setting up another to reduce the margin to one at the final break.
The rain returned in the final term, leaving teams with no choice but to hack it forward.
The ball rarely left the Suns’ forward half though, with David Swallow (game-high 30 touches) taking over to snap a run of five straight losses in Cairns.
Kangaroos tall Ben Brown was unable to make an impact, restricted to just four touches in the wet.
The Suns, under Dew’s high pressure, full-team defensive approach, won the tackle count 94-84 and contested possessions 208-189.
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