From 40 points down, Magpies storm back to steal the lead – but Suns hold them off in Gold Coast classic

The Gold Coast Suns have won a match against the ladder leaders for the first time in their history after they toppled the Magpies in a thriller to tighten their grip on their first finals spot.

A brilliant second quarter set up the win with the lead reaching 40 points early in the third quarter before Collingwood, who had been held goalless in the first half for the first time since 2021, mounted an incredible, exciting comeback.

With Jeremy Howe out injured at half-time, the surprise sub Scott Pendlebury was injected into the game and immediately made a difference. With Josh Daicos going into the middle and Nick Daicos moved to half-back, the visitors stormed back into the game with eight of the next nine goals to hit the front midway through the final quarter.

Matt Rowell (centre) was inspirational in leading the Suns to victory.Credit: AFL Photos

The Suns appeared reactive, nervous and altogether gone but their skipper Noah Anderson took responsibility, winning the centre clearance to create a lead-restoring goal for Ben Long. He then stormed from the back of the centre bounce to kick a running goal from the clearance to stretch the lead beyond a goal. It was enough breathing space for the Suns to hang on and win by six points, 10.9 (69) to 8.15 (63).

The Magpies will rue missed shots from straight in front to Dan McStay and Ned Long in the final quarter, but they would have stolen it in the end as the Suns should have had a bigger lead at half-time.

A relieved Anderson told Seven it was a huge result for the club, which lost former skipper Touk Miller to a hamstring injury in the first half.

“I didn’t want it that close in the end. It was so good and great for the club. There has been a lot of people waiting ... a lot of time to play footy for this, it is pretty special,” Anderson said.

Anderson said he could sense his Suns going back into their shells as the result began to loom large in their minds. He took the initiative and it paid off.

“Sometimes when you are on the back foot you can be really reactive,” Anderson admitted.

“That is what we were doing. We weren’t playing to our strengths, really. We had to have guts and back ourselves in, and that is what we did. They [the Magpies] are a fantastic side. They were always going to come. Credit to them, [they were] so tough tonight. They make it so hard for the opposition.”

Matt Rowell was brilliant with 32 touches and 13 tackles. He also kicked two important goals.

Dan Rioli, a three-time premiership player during his time with Richmond, was excellent – using his big game experience to bring the team home, while youngster Jed Walter made several big defensive spoils to ice the game.

Collingwood coach Craig McRae post-match

How do you assess that match?
Look, you can either focus on the first half, or the second half. As a group I spoke to them then – I was rapt with the second-half fight. Geez, we took a long time to kick a goal. Kicking nine or 10 points [before kicking a goal] will make it hard to win a game. I loved the energy and build-up of the game. First Friday night game in Queensland and [I was] rapt for south-east Queensland – having lived up here, for the Gold Coast to have this occasion, and rapt to be part of that and support that. It was definitely a game of two halves.

Do you think that is all the difference was – [not] kicking straight?
No. The game can be pretty simple. We kicked 8.6 from set shots and zero goals on the run. Late in the game we had a couple of chances to add the pressure, and we didn’t take that. My old coach Leigh Matthews used to say if you miss, it puts the pressure on the next person. When it is 0.9 there is a lot of pressure on the next person. Having said that, I want to focus on what we did do, rather than what we didn’t. The second half was way more the way we wanted to play.

Were you caught off-guard in the first half?
I’m not sure we were caught off-guard. Their intensity on the ball was way more than ours. You allow a team like the Gold Coast to get their pressure up and their energy around the ball, and the crowd roaring ... we go down at half-time with a hefty margin. I didn’t love our mids at times tonight.

I didn’t think we worked hard enough at the contest and didn’t get our hands dirty enough [although that] would be disrespecting the Gold Coast. You watch that back they were dominant around the contest and clearance in the first half.

Were you thinking of getting Scott Pendlebury on the ground?
I don’t think that we want to be a team that relies so heavily on one person. I think we want to be better than that. It is a shame [Jeremy Howe] went down. It seems pretty minor at this stage, but we will wait and see.

What changed after half-time?
Well, again, I’m not the sort of coach that wants to concentrate on what we don’t have. That is done. What can we do about it? We want to play with better intensity and style. We could have thrown everything around, but we didn’t. Josh was brilliant in the last quarter. This is a qualifying time. We might need Josh [Daicos] in the midfield again.

Would you have liked to see something different happen once you hit the front and you had all that momentum?
Two goals from centre bounce really hurt, one in particular. I didn’t think that we were disciplined enough at that time. We had good ascendancy at the centre bounces and let that slip. No, we had our chances. Dan [McStay] had a chance and Ned [Long] had a chance to put us in front. We hit the lead for a brief moment. Similar to how we played up here last year. We had to make up a big margin and hit the lead and couldn’t quite finish.

Sam Clohesy (left) celebrates with Bailey Humphrey after kicking a goal just before three-quarter-time.Credit: AFL Photos

Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick post-match

How do you sum the game up?
We had an incredible first half, they had an incredible second half. At the end of the day, it was a flip of the coin, and we were lucky to come out on top. They have been playing that sort of football where they have a great understanding of playing in catch-up mode ... they have been doing it for years. We are learning what it is like to absorb [that pressure]. We went into our shells, and we didn’t offensively challenge them at all. We will get some learnings out of it. The positive for us is we won the game.

All of a sudden, we looked like witches hats after Collingwood flicked the switch and they got up and going. They are a really good side and Pendlebury just oozes class and Nick [Daicos] was killing us, and Josh’s last quarter was just incredible. I think that we sent a message for someone to get Daicos and they assumed it was Nick, but it was Josh.

Was it important for you to be able to fight back after losing the lead?
That is the positive [to lose and then regain the lead]. We talk about a Suns team that fights and scraps and refuses to be beaten. It was similar to the game last year where we got headed, but what it did, it sparked us into playing again. We stopped moving the ball, and we stopped running. It was sort of noticeable when you have a really good side coming at you – that is our learning and our growth. What I was really happy with once we got headed [was the] boys got back to work and got the result we were after.

The Gold Coast Suns have won a match against the ladder leaders for the first time in their history after they toppled the Magpies in a thriller to tighten their grip on their first finals spot.

A brilliant second quarter set up the win with the lead reaching 40 points early in the third quarter before Collingwood, who had been held goalless in the first half for the first time since 2021, mounted an incredible, exciting comeback.

With Jeremy Howe out injured at half-time, the surprise sub Scott Pendlebury was injected into the game and immediately made a difference. With Josh Daicos going into the middle and Nick Daicos moved to half-back, the visitors stormed back into the game with eight of the next nine goals to hit the front midway through the final quarter.

Matt Rowell (centre) was inspirational in leading the Suns to victory.Credit: AFL Photos

The Suns appeared reactive, nervous and altogether gone but their skipper Noah Anderson took responsibility, winning the centre clearance to create a lead-restoring goal for Ben Long. He then stormed from the back of the centre bounce to kick a running goal from the clearance to stretch the lead beyond a goal. It was enough breathing space for the Suns to hang on and win by six points, 10.9 (69) to 8.15 (63).

The Magpies will rue missed shots from straight in front to Dan McStay and Ned Long in the final quarter, but they would have stolen it in the end as the Suns should have had a bigger lead at half-time.

A relieved Anderson told Seven it was a huge result for the club, which lost former skipper Touk Miller to a hamstring injury in the first half.

“I didn’t want it that close in the end. It was so good and great for the club. There has been a lot of people waiting ... a lot of time to play footy for this, it is pretty special,” Anderson said.

Anderson said he could sense his Suns going back into their shells as the result began to loom large in their minds. He took the initiative and it paid off.

“Sometimes when you are on the back foot you can be really reactive,” Anderson admitted.

“That is what we were doing. We weren’t playing to our strengths, really. We had to have guts and back ourselves in, and that is what we did. They [the Magpies] are a fantastic side. They were always going to come. Credit to them, [they were] so tough tonight. They make it so hard for the opposition.”

Matt Rowell was brilliant with 32 touches and 13 tackles. He also kicked two important goals.

Dan Rioli, a three-time premiership player during his time with Richmond, was excellent – using his big game experience to bring the team home, while youngster Jed Walter made several big defensive spoils to ice the game.

What. A. Match.

Heading into this clash, it was impossible to see the Suns jumping out to a 40-point lead over the red-hot premiership favourites, but not only did they do that, they staved off a furious Pies comeback to win by a single straight kick, 10.9 (69) to 8.15 (63).

It wasn’t high-scoring, but that was brilliant footy to watch.

Lachie O’Sullivan had the chance to goal but Dan Rioli and Wil Powell mowed him down. Talk about a thriller!

Josh Daicos has had eight disposals in the past 10 minutes and kicked two goals as a reminder to why he won the Collingwood best and fairest in a premiership year (2023). But misses by Ned Long and Dan McStay are proving costly.

Gold Coast skipper Noah Anderson kicked a brilliant team lifting goal when the Suns needed it most to stretch the lead back out to nine points after the Magpies won back the lead. Ben Long kicked a goal then Anderson did what he has promised to do since his career started. It was the definition of a captain’s goal.

They kicked the goals from centre clearance.

Noah Anderson has led from the frontCredit: Getty Images

Scott Pendlebury has inspired this second-half comeback and the Magpies have hit the front after being 40 points down early in the third quarter. This is ridiculous. Half of the black-and-white army is on the Gold Coast it seems.

Collingwood have hit the lead Credit: AFL Photos

Collingwood have exerted serious, sustained pressure on the Suns, and Damien Hardwick’s men have melted. They have stopped running and are reactive rather than pro-active, and the margin is now under a goal as Lachie Schultz brings the margin back to three points.

There’s a Daicos lifting big-time for the Magpies, and it’s older brother Josh, while former skipper Scott Pendlebury has inspired his team since coming on at half-time. Collingwood have the first six inside-50s of the final term and kicked the first three goals in the quarter, with the margin now just 10 points. This is a mighty effort for the visitors, given they were 40 points down at one stage.

Collingwood’s run of three unanswered goals has been broken by a timely goal to Suns’ Sam Clohesy. It was precisely what the Suns needed to steady the ship as the Magpies were coming hard. The three-quarter-time lead is back out to 28 points, but the game is in the balance as the Magpies can score quickly and the Suns will feel the pressure.

The Magpies got their back-half game going in that quarter, moving the ball at will through the centre, but the Suns’ defence held up well, restricting Collingwood to just three goals. Despite the Magpies having the ascendancy, the Suns held their nerve and only lost the quarter by seven points.

Collingwood decided to have a look at Tom Mitchell and Ned Long playing together without Scott Pendlebury around them, and it was not pretty. I don’t think they will try that at the business end of the season. Dan Rioli has been excellent, showing his big-game experience.