Gold Coast captain Noah Anderson breaking travel shackles from last season in new role

Noah Anderson and the Gold Coast were fierce at home and placid on the road last season. Callum Dick writes captaincy may have turned the tables for the Suns.

Gold Coast’s club-record 87-point thumping of the Eagles on Sunday hints at a refreshed and ruthless edge under second-year coach Damien Hardwick and new skipper Noah Anderson.

After a horror stretch of 17 consecutive road defeats between round 9 2023 and round 21 2024, the Suns have now won their past three games away from home and – crucially – started their 2025 season on a winning note.

With five of their first seven games of the season going on the road, it was vital that the Suns banked a win at Optus Stadium having failed the exact same test late last year.

While sterner opposition than the Eagles will present over the course of the season, this was a flag in the ground performance from a club that has stumbled at similar hurdles over the past 14 years.

Gold Coast’s big names all stuffed the stat sheet with spearhead Ben King booting a career-best six goals, dashing defender Daniel Rioli bagging two majors from halfback on debut and the midfield mauling its Eagles counterparts.

And at the head of the Suns’ engine room was Anderson, who in his first game as club captain shed the travel shackles that hampered he and his team in 2024.

Last year Anderson averaged 5.5 fewer disposals, 2.8 fewer clearances and 3.2 fewer score involvements in games away from People First Stadium and TIO Stadium in Darwin, the Suns’ home away from home.

Noah Anderson was fantastic in his debut game as captain. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images.

At one stage he was running inside the top 10 for AFL Coaches’ Votes without receiving a single vote in an away game.

His game-high 36 disposals and nine clearances against the Eagles was Anderson’s best output on the road since round 4, 2023 against St Kilda at Marvel Stadium and the ninth-best performance of his career, home or away, according to Champion Data.

“I thought Noah and his leadership team did a great job making sure our guys were focused,” Hardwick ruled.

“What we’ve been really impressed with – and this is over 12 months, not so much this year – is his (Anderson’s) growth both on and off the field.

“He really set the standard about how he wanted his side to play. He was hard, he was tough, he was in there helping his teammates, scrapping – that is the sort of reason our players picked him as their captain.

“I think he set a really strong standard about what his captaincy looks like moving forward.”