1. The rain
Nothing more needs to be said, really. The rain came, it poured, and it conquered. Metricon Stadium had received more than 130mm of rain through the night, and the downpour continued all day in the lead-up to the match. The Suns took the unusual step of releasing a statement saying the match would go ahead, although the women’s curtain-raiser was cancelled. Large puddles were scattered over the ground, the centre circle was mud, players somersaulted over themselves attempting to gain possession, and the rain continued to pelt down. The ground did dry up slightly as the game went on (or maybe the players absorbed the surface water), but the rain did not stop for the entire match.

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2. The 30 seconds Tom Lynch would want back
In difficult conditions for big forwards, Tom Lynch had a decent game. He led hard on often-unstable ground, took several contested marks and kicked a goal. But his frustrations boiled over in the last five minutes of the match when, after a collision with Jeremy Laidler, words were exchanged and Lynch swung his fist into Laider’s stomach. This happened right in front of the umpire, who promptly reported Lynch for striking. He has been such a valuable player for the Suns in a tough season, and it was an act of stupidity which could see his team lose their star full-forward for a match.

Tom Lynch vents his frustration. Picture: AFL Media

3. Suns turn the table on the Swans
Gold Coast has struggled with both contested possessions and clearances all season, which are traditional strengths of the Sydney Swans. Coming into the match, the Suns were 17th in the league for contested possessions and 18th for clearances, but finished the match on top in both categories – six up in contested possessions, and eight in clearances. The Suns’ midfield effort was especially impressive considering the absolute dominance of Sydney’s Kurt Tippett and Callum Sinclair in the ruck, who won the hit-outs by 43.

4. Mitchell takes another (bald) scalp
Two weeks after his heroics against Sam Mitchell, Tom Mitchell did something not many have managed. He went head to head with Gary Ablett, and won. In his 50th match, Mitchell finished with 33 disposals and kicked a goal in the third quarter. At one point Ablett followed Mitchell to the Swans’ forward line, becoming the unlikeliest of full-backs and spoiling the ball through for a behind. Ablett’s hard work around the ground did result in 26 disposals and a team-high 13 tackles, but once again, Mitchell pipped him with 14 tackles.


5. Tippett rucking and rolling
Kurt Tippett’s resurgence in the ruck continued, finishing with a massive 50 hit-outs. By comparison, the Gold Coast ruck division, comprised of Tom Nicholls, Peter Wright and Tom Lynch, had 30. In a game where bigger bodies were important and ball-ups common, Tippett dominated all over the ground. In the past few weeks, the big Swan has hit a rare vein of form, taking the mantle of the number one ruckman at the Swans with both hands and consigning former Eagle Callum Sinclair to the forward line.