CHRISTIAN Petracca has set People First Stadium alight in his Gold Coast debut on Friday night, orchestrating a 56-point Opening Round thumping of Geelong with a blistering performance.

In an early-season statement win by the Suns, Petracca was incredible, showing all the power, poise and class that made him one of the competition’s best players during his 11 seasons at Melbourne.

SUNS v CATS Full match coverage and stats

In the absence of Matt Rowell (finger), the 2021 Norm Smith Medal winner finished with 34 disposals that included three goals and six clearances to clearly be the best player on the ground.

Gold Coast set up victory with a seven goal first quarter and never looked back, making last year’s runners-up look second rate in a 19.11 (125) to 10.9 (69) victory.

The Suns led by 85 points late in the third quarter before Geelong kicked five fourth quarter goals to reduce the margin.

Bailey Humphrey kicked three of his four goals in the pivotal opening term. Ben King also kicked four, while John Noble (28 and two) and Touk Miller (30 and one) were among a host of other influential players.

Despite a patchy pre-season, in which they lost games to St Kilda and Brisbane, the Suns looked two gears quicker than the Cats, swarming defensively and then punishing them on turnover.

Gold Coast repeatedly won the ball back in the front half of the ground and then ran in waves to generate easy scoring opportunities from their 71 inside 50s.

Geelong was solid around the contest, but when the ball got out in space, were left floundering.

Not even injured stars Patrick Dangerfield and Jeremy Cameron could have helped on a tough night.

Tanner Bruhn (31 disposals and two goals assists) was a bright spot, showing plenty of dash in his first game since 2024, while Ollie Dempsey finished with four goals.

The Suns started like the proverbial house on fire to race to a 29-point lead at the first change.

Both teams had some early jitters with balls repeated flying out on the full, before the home team settled with a devastating burst.

Humphrey kicked three goals on his own, marking lace-out passes from both Wil Powell and Leo Lombard as the Suns looked for short entries to free men inside 50.

Petracca lit up the stadium with his first goal in Suns colours, threading a lovely right footed finish after straightening up under pressure from a tight angle.

Lombard and John Noble also finished exciting teams plays with excellent finishes.

It was more of the same in the second quarter, with Petracca adding a second on the run after nice build-up involving Anderson and Will Graham.

Geelong began to get a little control back in the game, but the Suns were brilliant at winning ground balls inside their forward 50, as Ben King, Touk Miller and Ben Long all converted to give the hosts a huge 42-point lead at the main break.

Trac opens his account
Leaving Melbourne after 11 seasons, Christian Petracca could not have had a better start to life with Gold Coast. He opened his goalscoring account with a wonderful finish during a first quarter Suns avalanche that bought the home crowd to their feet. After a handball into space from Ethan Read, Petracca straightened up, and off two steps with pressure coming from his right-hand side, expertly threaded the needle from 35m.

A quiet night for Bailey Smith
Following a stunning first season in Cats colours that earned him an All-Australian jacket, it was a quiet season-opener for Bailey Smith. When the game was red hot in the first half, Smith gathered just seven disposals to have minimal impact. To his credit, he worked his way into the game to add 10 in the third term and finish with 23 for the night.

Zeke the Freak
After taking him at No.2 in last year’s AFL Draft, Gold Coast has high hopes for Zeke Uwland, and against the Cats, we saw glimpses of why. Following a nervous first kick that sailed out on the full, Uwland was quick to throw himself back into the action and be an integral part of the first quarter dominance with some quality involvements. He made some mistakes and was outpointed by Ollie Dempsey once or twice, but finishing with 16 disposals, the smooth left footer will walk away full of confidence.

GOLD COAST             7.1       11.5     18.8     19.11 (125)
GEELONG                   2.2       4.5       5.7      10.9 (69)

GOALS
Gold Coast: Humphrey 4, King 4, Petracca 3, Long 2, Noble 2, Lombard 2, Miller, Anderson
Geelong: Dempsey 4, Henry 2, Neale, Mannagh, Knevitt, Clark,

BEST
Gold Coast: Petracca, Noble, Miller, Humphrey, Rioli, Anderson
Geelong: Bruhn, Dempsey, Sullivan, Worpel

INJURIES
Gold Coast: Nil
Geelong: Nil

Crowd: 19,859 at People First Stadium