A HAMSTRING injury to Gold Coast star Christian Petracca has soured the club's 68-point victory over Richmond on Saturday afternoon at the MCG.
The new Sun had put together an impressive first half before leaving the ground midway through the third quarter after injuring his hamstring while being tackled.
TIGERS v SUNS Full match coverage and stats
Without their star recruit, the Suns were still able to register their third consecutive victory for the year, winning 19.14 (128) to Richmond's 9.6 (60) in front of a crowd of 30,468.
Suns key forwards Ben King and Ethan Read were exceptional in the perfect autumn conditions, combining for 11 goals between them. King booted an equal-career best seven goals straight, while Read took 11 marks and kicked four goals.
Remarkably Petracca was one of three players to suffer the same injury, with Richmond key forward Tom Lynch and Tigers' captain Toby Nankervis joining the 2021 Norm Smith Medallist on the sidelines with hamstring injuries of their own.
Lynch left the game in the second quarter while Nankervis exited just before the three-quarter time break, leaving key forward Mykelti Lefau to shoulder the ruck load in his first game since round 16 last season.
For the second consecutive week the Suns have won despite not playing four quarters of their best football. Against West Coast in round one, the Suns faded out after half-time and today there were moments where the Suns made unforced errors, missed targets and made poor decisions.
Midway through the second term, the young Richmond outfit were leading the premiership contenders by six points. But following Lynch's injury, the momentum in the match shifted as the Suns put their foot down kicking six unanswered goals to extend their lead to 31 points at the main break.
Richmond hung in in the third term matching the visitors goal-for-goal, but the Suns were a class above in the final term, kicking five goals to one to extend the final margin to 68 points.
Meat tray up for grabs
In Damien Hardwick's post-match press conference, the Suns coach admitted he may have inspired one of the highlights of the game. "It was funny because I said to MJ (Maurice Rioli jnr) before the game, the boys have got a meat tray if you mow Daniel down," Hardwick said. Well, Hardwick didn't have to wait long, with Rioli jnr tackling his former teammate and nephew holding the ball in the opening quarter. The Suns coach added that, "Apparently when MJ tackled him, the first thing he said was, 'Meat tray brother'."
King and Read are a defender's nightmare
Ben King continued his outstanding start to 2026 with an equal career-best seven goals straight. But his teammate Ethan Read also caused plenty of headaches for the Richmond defenders. Read kicked four goals of his own to go with his 11 marks. The young forward showed his class in front of goal, kicking a difficult drop punt from a tight angle in the third quarter. The combination of this one-two punch that will no doubt excite Suns fans.
RICHMOND 2.2 5.4 8.5 9.6 (60)
GOLD COAST 2.2 10.5 14.9 19.14 (128)
GOALS
Richmond: Campbell 3, Prestia, Lefau, Vlastuin, Armstrong, Ralphsmith, Lalor
Gold Coast: King 7, Read 4, Graham, Rogers, Jeffrey, Noble, Long, Miller, Powell, Clohesy
BEST
Richmond: Short, Lalor, Campbell, Taranto, Hopper
Gold Coast: King, Read, B.Uwland, Collins, Petracca
INJURIES
Richmond: Lynch (hamstring), Nankervis (hamstring)
Gold Coast: Petracca (hamstring)
LATE CHANGE
Richmond: Kane McAuliffe (illness), replaced in the selected side by Tyler Sonsie
Gold Coast: Nil
Crowd: 30,468 at the MCG