AFL 2024 Gold Coast v Richmond: Damien Hardwick, Matt Rowell tear Tigers apart to make Opening Round statement

Matt Rowell has taken the Tigers’ big guns to the cleaners to help Gold Coast and new coach Damien Hardwick start 2024 in style. And it wasn’t pretty for Richmond.

Matt Rowell had a staggering 20 clearances against the Tigers on Saturday. Picture: Russell Freeman/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

Welcome everybody to the Matt Rowell show.

In 2023 he rewrote the record books with the most tackles in a single season. This year he’s coming for the crown of clearance king.

Count them: 20. With 10 out of the middle to boot.

The second-most in AFL history, behind Paul Salmon’s monster outing against North Melbourne in 1998 when the Hawthorn big man walked off with 22.

“Far out,” laughed a wide-eyed Noah Anderson when told of Rowell’s total.

“We were wondering if it was a record.

“He does so many extras on that stuff and trains it all the time. He’s such a pleasure to play with and was so good for us today.”

Rowell’s coach and teammates spent all off-season talking up his inside work. He wanted to go away and work on this speed. Be more attacking. Kick more goals.

His skipper Touk Miller said stuff that, stick to what you’re good at. And on Saturday Rowell answered the call.

Damien Hardwick rubbed his hands with glee when he was unveiled as Suns coach last August, declaring he had some fresh “new toys” to work with.

Rowell came with batteries included.

Matt Rowell had a staggering 20 clearances against the Tigers on Saturday. Picture: Russell Freeman/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

“Dimma has come in and been huge on playing to our strengths and obviously that’s (Rowell’s) strength, his contested footy, his work around the contest,” Anderson said.

“That’s just how he’s made up I think. He does all the extras. He’s brutal at the contest. You can’t teach that, he’s always had that.”

His record-setting clearance count went with an equal career-high 33 disposals in one of the most complete midfield displays ever seen on the Gold Coast.

His side certainly needed it.

Hardwick preached patience with Suns fans this week but his would have been seriously tested in the third quarter of Saturday’s season opener against Richmond.

What loomed as a record-setting victory instead devolved into a scramble for survival as his former Tigers set about clawing back a 67-point deficit.

Less than 24 hours after Queensland footy was rocked by Brisbane’s 46-point capitulation at the hands of Carlton, heads started turning in the stands at People First Stadium when the Tigers mounted their comeback charge: It couldn’t happen again, could it?

The Hardwick Era could not have started any brighter. His new Suns “toys” came with batteries included. They kicked a club-record 11-straight goals en-route to another club-record 61-point halftime advantage.

Patience? At halftime, Dimma’s dilemma appeared to be convincing Suns fans to keep the lid on.

Well he need not have worried because it was firmly screwed shut by the end of the third quarter as Richmond romped back into the fight with seven consecutive goals.

Daniel Rioli, well held by a double team from Tom Berry and Brayden Fiorini, broke the shackles and set the Tigers up with repeat trademark runs from halfback.

Adem Yze’s deft moves at halftime had the Suns stumped.

Matt Rowell is tackled by Seth Campbell in the Suns’ strong win over Richmond. Picture: Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

But unlike their rivals up the road, the Suns were able to steel themselves.

Everything ran through Rowell but he was not the only man to stand tall on Saturday.

Wil Powell might still be one of the most underrated defenders in the game. His 28 touches at 82 per cent is only an appetizer of what he is capable of in full flight.

Ben King’s five goals was the perfect start to life under Hardwick. After a poor pre-season, the Suns spearhead – with the weight of contract talks now off his shoulders – needed a big game to fire him up.

So did Malcolm Rosas, who was on the outer only weeks ago. He was the square peg to the Hardwick system’s round hole – talent that needed refining to work, in the coach’s words.

Well he’s a quick study.

Three goals and nine score involvements. One of the best displays of his young career and, importantly, a benchmark for the Darwin product moving forward.

Adem Yze during his first official game in charge of the Tigers. Picture: Russell Freeman/AFL Photos

If this was Hardwick’s Suns at their most unrefined and untested, then footy fans are in for a treat once he gets them up and going.

“We’re still making adjustments,” admitted Anderson.

“It was a great experience to still get the win and those learnings, so there are plenty of positives for us.

“Obviously we played GWS and Brisbane (in pre-season) who are the benchmarks of the competition and we got taught some lessons … and I think today we timed it nicely.”

The Suns had stars all over the ground on Saturday. But this was just the first test. Next up are the Crows. A much sterner test than a Tigers outfit missing three of its most important pieces.

But you can only beat what is put in front of you and for three quarters, the Suns were simply superb.

YZE PROUD OF SECOND-HALF BOUNCEBACK

Levi Casboult and Sam Naismith compete in a ruck contest during Opening Round. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

Adam Yze will take out plenty of ups and downs from the opening round loss to the Suns on Saturday night.

The Tigers looked shell shocked in the first half as the Suns piled on 11 unanswered goals to lead by a game high 67-points late in the second quarter.

Yze said despite the display early, he was proud of how his team responded.

“Credit to them they played well in the first half, everything went right for them but I just really was proud of our players and their response,” Yze said.

“They smashed us at stoppage, (we) couldn’t lock the ball in the front half and we couldn’t get the ball back off them..

“We were all over the shop in the first half on all three phases and our players know that.”

It was a different Tigers who came out after half time, kicking the next seven goals of the game to peg the score back to just 23 points early in the fourth.

“It looked like a Richmond game in the second half,” Yze said.

“We flipped the script on territory, we scored from stoppage and our boys just played the way we wanted to play.

“We will review the first half, our boys are really honest but they are not happy with how we started and we will review that.”

Richmond will now look to bounce back against Carlton on Thursday night.

“We can’t rest on the result anyway, we have a game in five days, we have to move on really quickly so we’ll learn from it and get ready for Carlton,” Yze said.

“There are going to be some ups and downs and if we win I don’t want to walk in here thinking everything is okay as well.

“There will be things we need to learn from even in our biggest win.”

The Tigers will likely welcome back captain Toby Nankervis, Dustin Martin and Tom Lynch for the clash with Carlton