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From Port to Adelaide, Gold Coast Suns complete the grand slam

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Roar Guru
21st June, 2020
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By defeating the Adelaide Crows at Metricon Stadium yesterday, not only did the Gold Coast Suns tick off beating the only side they had yet to beat, they also created some more history in the process.

Despite having never beaten the Crows in 13 previous attempts at an average losing margin of 60.15 points, the Suns went into their match against the men from West Lakes heavy favourites for the first time, and justified their newfound favouritism with a 53-point win at home.

Stuart Dew’s side led from start to finish, kicking 3.1 (19) to no score in the first quarter en route to their first ever win over the Crows, the result lifting them to third on the ladder and leaving the Crows to finish a round in 18th place for the first time in club history.

Fresh off a best-on-ground performance against the West Coast Eagles, in which he claimed a Rising Star nomination, Sydney-born Matt Rowell picked up where he left off last week, racking up 20 disposals, ten tackles and two goals in another phenomenal display.

Matt Rowell

(Photo by Daniel Pockett/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)

He was backed up by Ben King, who knocked back an opportunity to join his twin brother Max at St Kilda during the off-season. King booted three majors from five scoring shots.

The Suns, who had lost 19 consecutive matches prior to their huge win over the Eagles last week, led by 58 points at three-quarter time, to which point they had kicked ten goals to one.

They eventually settled for a winning margin of 53 points after the Crows kicked three goals to two in the final quarter.

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The Crows’ score of 4.5 (29) is the lowest score kicked against the Suns, eclipsing the 5.9 (39) they conceded against North Melbourne in Round 1, 2018.

It is also the lowest score by the Crows on the Gold Coast, their previous lowest score being 15.10 (100) in a 46-point win over the Kangaroos in Round 12, 2007. It was also their first ever loss on the holiday strip.

The Suns’ victory also marked a 148-point turnaround from their previous meeting against the Crows, which they lost by 95 points at Metricon Stadium in Round 16 last year.

Significantly, their win over the men from West Lakes also saw them complete the grand slam of beating each of the other 17 clubs in the AFL.

It started with their maiden win in Round 5, 2011 against Port Adelaide at the since-demolished AAMI Stadium, and ended with their maiden win over the Adelaide Crows at home in Round 3, 2020. This meant it started and ended with victories over teams from the same state.

It took the club just over nine completed seasons, or 201 matches, to do it.

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Below is a list of the Suns’ first win against each of the other 17 clubs they have defeated, starting in chronological order.

Game 4: Round 5, 2011: defeated Port Adelaide by two points#*
Game 6: Round 7, 2011: defeated Brisbane by eight points^*
Game 15: Round 17, 2011: defeated Richmond by 15 points^*
Game 41: Round 20, 2012: defeated GWS by 30 points
Game 43: Round 22, 2012: defeated Carlton by 12 points
Game 45: Round 1, 2013: defeated St Kilda by 13 points
Game 51: Round 7, 2013: defeated Melbourne by 60 points^
Game 52: Round 8, 2013: defeated Western Bulldogs by 32 points
Game 55: Round 11, 2013: defeated North Melbourne by 15 points
Game 60: Round 17, 2013: defeated Collingwood by seven points
Game 79: Round 14, 2014: defeated Geelong by 40 points
Game 108: Round 21, 2015: defeated Essendon by two points
Game 112: Round 2, 2016: defeated Fremantle by 26 points^
Game 135: Round 3, 2017: defeated Hawthorn by 86 points
Game 142: Round 11, 2017: defeated West Coast by three points
Game 171: Round 18, 2018: defeated Sydney by 24 points^
Game 201: Round 3, 2020: defeated Adelaide by 53 points

# denotes that it was the club’s first win in the AFL.
* denotes that it was achieved in their first meeting against that club.
^ denotes that it was achieved in an away match.

By comparison, it took fellow expansion side the GWS Giants only 122 matches from their debut in Round 1, 2012 to Round 10, 2017, when the West Coast Eagles became the final team to be beaten by the club for the first time.

That is 79 matches fewer than what it took for the Suns to complete their bucket list of beating every team in the AFL.

Below is a list of the Giants’ first win against each of the other 17 clubs they have defeated, starting in chronological order.

Game 7: Round 7, 2012: defeated Gold Coast by 27 points#*
Game 18: Round 19, 2012: defeated Port Adelaide by 34 points*
Game 40: Round 19, 2013: defeated Melbourne by 37 points
Game 45: Round 1, 2014: defeated Sydney by 32 points
Game 56: Round 13, 2014: defeated Brisbane by 45 points^
Game 57: Round 14, 2014: defeated Carlton by eight points
Game 66: Round 23, 2014: defeated Western Bulldogs by six points^
Game 67: Round 1, 2015: defeated St Kilda by nine points^
Game 72: Round 6, 2015: defeated Hawthorn by ten points
Game 74: Round 8, 2015: defeated Adelaide by 24 points
Game 84: Round 19, 2015: defeated Essendon by 32 points
Game 90: Round 2, 2016: defeated Geelong by 13 points
Game 95: Round 7, 2016: defeated Fremantle by 18 points^
Game 106: Round 19, 2016: defeated Richmond by 88 points
Game 110: Round 23, 2016: defeated North Melbourne by 37 points^
Game 120: Round 8, 2017: defeated Collingwood by three points
Game 122: Round 10, 2017: defeated West Coast by eight points^

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# denotes that it was the club’s first win in the AFL.
* denotes that it was achieved in their first meeting against that club.
^ denotes that it was achieved in an away match.

Up to this point in history, the Giants have now beaten every team in the AFL at least three times, with their best record being against the Suns (12 matches for nine wins), but have not yet beaten North Melbourne at home nor beaten Hawthorn or Richmond away from home.

As historic as the win was for the Gold Coast Suns, it also marked another millstone in the Adelaide Crows’ fall from grace since the disaster that was the 2017 grand final.

It is hard to believe that this is the same Crows side that only three years earlier dominated all before them to claim their second minor premiership with a record of 16-5-1 with the most deadliest attack in the AFL.

They regularly bullied teams into submission, exposing the likes of the GWS Giants (by way of a 56-point win in Round 1, which set up the Crows’ season of domination), Essendon, Geelong, Port Adelaide and Richmond as flag pretenders during the regular season.

And despite starting rampaging hot favourites to land their third flag, the Crows embarrassed themselves on the big stage against a Richmond machine led by Dustin Martin – and if their recent fortunes is anything to go by, then it’s fair to say they have never really recovered.

Taylor Walker

(Photo by Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images)

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From that grand final team, Daniel Talia, Luke Brown, Rory Laird, Rory Atkins, Jake Kelly, Tom Lynch, Taylor Walker, the Crouch brothers, Paul Seedsman and captain Rory Sloane all took to the field against the Suns yesterday.

That is exactly half of the 22 that represented the club on grand final day in 2017, which to many Crows fans now seems like a lifetime ago.

Further, Hugh Greenwood (Adelaide Crows) and Brandon Ellis (Richmond), who were on opposing sides that day, featured in the Gold Coast Suns side, which has just created history with their win over the Crows.

It is a sad indictment of just how far the team dubbed the team for all South Australians have fallen in the past few years.

A potentially sad reality for the Crows is that a club that should have won their third premiership in 2017 could end up claiming the wooden spoon for the first time in what is their 30th year in the AFL.

Thus, rookie coach Matthew Nicks – who replaced Don Pyke as head coach last September – has a huge job on his hands in attempting to restore some harmony and pride to the club.

Nicks was notably part of the Sydney Swans side that infamously copped harsh criticism from all corners of the media – including from then-AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou and former Carlton great Robert Walls – for their ugly performance in a match against St Kilda in mid-2005.

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He retired that year without featuring in their premiership-winning side, but has since developed into one of the most respected assistant coaches in the AFL with Port Adelaide (2011-18) and the GWS Giants (last year).

It was during his time with the Power that he oversaw a rebuild, which saw the club evolve from a laughing stock in 2011 to falling short of reaching a grand final by just three points against a powerful Hawthorn side in 2014.

Thus, he knows first hand just how painful a club rebuild can be, but there’s no doubt he will guide the Crows through it in the hot seat. Just how long it takes will remain to be seen.

Matthew Nicks, Senior Coach of the Crows

(Photo by James Elsby/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Back on topic now, and the Suns will finish this round in third place on the ladder, only behind Collingwood and Port Adelaide. But it’s not their best ever position at the end of any premiership round in the AFL.

In 2016, the Suns won their first three matches and sat in second place on the ladder, behind only seasoned performers the Sydney Swans, after Round 3, only for the wheels to fall off thereafter (they won only three more matches to eventually finish 15th that season).

In recent seasons under Stuart Dew, the Suns had started strongly, being 3-2 after Round 5 in 2018 and 3-1 after Round 4 last year, only to then completely fall off the rails thereafter.

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In 2018, they only won one match after Round 5, but it was a significant one as they came from as many as 29 points down to upset the highly fancied Sydney Swans at the SCG by 24 points in Round 18.

The Swans were the 16th different team to be beaten by the Suns, and that left the Crows as the only side yet to lose to the men from the holiday strip before Round 3 this year.

And last year, the Suns lost their final 18 matches to claim the wooden spoon for the second time, although it was the first time they finished a season in 18th place on the ladder, owing to the entry of the GWS Giants in 2012, which expanded the AFL to its current 18-team format.

Now the challenge for the tenth-year club will be to consolidate their strong start to the season when they host Fremantle at Metricon Stadium this Saturday night.

Stuart Dew

(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

The corresponding match last year saw a terribly inaccurate Suns edge out the Dockers by three points at home, despite kicking one goal less than the purple haze.

They had also beaten the Dockers twice, both times coming in 2016 when the port club suffered a dramatic fall down the ladder, going from being minor premiers in 2015 to finishing third last 12 months later.

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The Suns will start favourites against Freo, and should be 3-1 – the same record they had after Round 4 last year – by the time they face their next serious test, the Geelong Cats, at Kardinia Park in Round 5.

It is likely inaugural Suns captain Gary Ablett Jr, who returned to the Cattery after seven years on the holiday strip, will bring up his 350th AFL game. Not only that, but current Cats captain Joel Selwood will also bring up his 300th AFL game.

What lies ahead as far as the fixture is concerned remains unknown, mostly due to restrictions by the SA and WA governments leaving the Adelaide Crows, Port Adelaide, West Coast Eagles and Fremantle locked out of their home states and camped on the Gold Coast for an indefinite period.

And while it’s only early days, Suns fans can only dare to dream of the day their team finally makes the finals, the club having finished no higher than 12th in their nine completed seasons in the AFL.

The Suns’ AFLW team qualified for the finals earlier this year, but lost to Fremantle by 70 points in the quarter-finals before the AFLW season was called off in March.

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