GOLD Coast coach Damien Hardwick says two team-lifting moments late in Saturday night's win over the Western Bulldogs should be what the Suns are "built on" going forward.
Having watched a 28-point lead shrink to just three in the blink of an eye, the Suns had to withstand three tense minutes at TIO Stadium to ward off the fast-finishing Dogs.
SUNS v BULLDOGS Full match coverage and stats
They did, thanks to critical contests from Will Graham, Bodhi Uwland and John Noble.
First, it was Graham, who put his body on the line in a marking contest with Ryley Sanders, hit the ground grabbing for his right shoulder, but got up one second later to hurl himself into another contest and tap the ball forward.
Then, with the Bulldogs making one last push in the final minute, Uwland made up ground late to spoil Bailey Dale when it looked like the skilful Dog was about to mark and tear down the wing.
Noble came in to assist at ground level, and three efforts later the ball was going forward for Gold Coast and ending in Ben King's hands as the siren sounded.
"Will Graham, we just showed the bit of vision to the boys," Hardwick said.
"That's what our footy club has to be built on the back of.
"That sort of effort where you hurt you shoulder and give that secondary effort to get that ball forward.
"The guys are getting a great understanding about what's required to play a top four side and hopefully build some confidence and belief as well."
It's the second time this season the Suns have held on in the dying stages, following the one-point win over Adelaide in round four.
It's a far cry from last season where they lost tight contests to St Kilda, North Melbourne and West Coast when they had chances to win.
"The guys have done a lot of work in that space, the challenge of being in those situations and playing those moments and understanding those moments," Hardwick said.
"Last year we didn't win some of those games and it cost us a bit, but this year we've won a couple of those close ones.
"Noah (Anderson) and his leaders did a wonderful job stabilising the game at the back end."
Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge was philosophical about the 10-point defeat, saying he was proud of his team's fight, but lamented critical turnovers.
"We gave them over 70 points from turnovers. Some of that you can give the Suns credit for, some of it was us not being good enough with the execution of skill," Beveridge said.
"To be 28 points down in that last quarter, under the circumstances, the conditions, didn't think we were playing that well, just to keep grinding, give ourselves a look at it … that's worthwhile acknowledging.
"I'm not sure what it looked like on the broadcast, but it would have looked pretty willing I would have thought … there was a lot of heart in the game.
"I don't think either side gave any quarter, hence the evenness.
"For the footy purist it's probably ended up being a pretty good game, but someone's got to wear the 'L' unfortunately."
The loss broke the Bulldogs' three-game winning streak and leaves them with a 5-4 record and still inside the top eight.
"It's a bit frustrating because our formline and our trajectory has been heading in the right direction and to take the hit, it was a pretty important game," Beveridge said.
"In that sense, it's frustrating, it's one that got away, but I think we've been beaten by a pretty good team tonight."
Laitham Vandermeer left the ground late in the third quarter with a calf injury Beveridge hopes is "nothing serious" but conceded it might be more than the initial diagnosis of tightness.
