Ben King bagged an equal career-high six goals and the Suns held off a late Carlton run to move a step closer to the club’s first ever finals campaign.
Gold Coast led by 45 points at the final change, before giving up five-straight goals to let the Blues back into the game in an unlikely fourth quarter charge.
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But Damien Hardwick’s side held its nerve late, with King kicking his sixth goal in the dying minutes to stem momentum and seal a 19-point win, 13.15 (93) to 11.8 (74).
King starred with six goals including a mark of the year contender in the first quarter, while Matt Rowell (30 disposals [16 contested], 13 score involvements, 10 clearances, seven tackles) went into beast mode with Noah Anderson well held by Cooper Lord.
It marked the Suns’ six wins from their last seven games to improve to their best ever win-loss record of 14-6 as the club closes on the club’s first ever finals series.
The 3-2-1 (what we learned) …
3. SUNS SURVIVE LATE BLUES CHARGE, CLOSE IN ON FINALS
At three-quarter time Gold Coast led by 45 points. With five minutes left in the fourth quarter that lead had been diminished to 13 points.
Carlton was totally dominant in a one-sided fourth quarter where all the numbers in Gold Coast’s coaches box would’ve been flashing red, getting smashed in the midfield and territory battle.
But the Suns held their nerve late to pull off something of an ugly victory in the end over a competitive Blues outfit.
“Not every win can be pretty and be exactly what you want,” Hawks legend Jason Dunstall said.
“But the most important thing is, to find a way to take something from it and say: ‘OK, we steadied when it really started to get tight. We found a way to do what we needed to do. We take the four points and move on’.
“It won’t hurt them to get challenged like this.”
Indeed, it doesn’t matter how you get wins sometimes, particularly this time of the year, more specifically, for those logjam of clubs jostling for finals placing.
The victory pushed Gold Coast into sixth place on the ladder with an extra game up its sleeve against Essendon at home. If we assume the Suns win that (which is brave considering some of the results that get thrown up), they’d be in the top four.
With games against GWS (People First Stadium) and Port Adelaide (Adelaide Oval) before that final match against Essendon, the Suns are on track to play finals for the first time in club history in a big step forwards.
“There’s results in this round of footy, where you sit there and go: ‘We’ll take a win’,” Demons great Garry Lyon said.
“We saw Brisbane earlier tonight stumble against the Swans.”
Dunstall added: “This is going to be exiting. A team that’s going to play finals we’ve worried about for so long.”
2. KING, ROWELL STAR
The individual brilliance of Ben King and Matt Rowell helped carry the Suns at times in big performances from their stars, who will battle it out for the three Brownlow votes.
Ben King booted an equal career-high six goals, and with Cooper Lord locking down Noah Anderson, Rowell got off the leash in the midfield.
Rowell racked up 30 disposals (16 contested), 13 score involvements, 10 clearances and seven tackles. He showed off his explosive burst from clearance with several huge plays, with Demons legend Garry Lyon calling the star midfielder a “powerful, powerful man.”
Meanwhile King was especially hot in the first half, when he kicked four of his five goals including an epic mark of the year contender over Lewis Young late in the first quarter.
“One of the marks of the year! I thought he’d gone too early — and he just hung and hung and hung!,” Fox Footy caller Mark Howard exclaimed.
It saw King take his season goalkicking tally to a career-high 57 — sitting second in Coleman Medal race — after a previous personal best of 55 majors last year.
Lyon was critical of the way Carlton defended King in the first half, continuously allowing him to run free on the lead.
“Enough is enough from a Carlton point of view, don’t get beaten by what you know,” the former Demons skipper said at half-time.
“Every single time it goes in they’re being led to the footy. Take assertive positioning, go and stand 5-10 metres in front of Ben King and make him beat you over the back.
“If he sits on your head and takes mark of the year, it’s not much fun being in the newspaper, but so be it.
“They’re just letting the Gold Coast Suns all over the forward half of the ground, run up and present up.”
1. BLUES SMALL FORWARD PROVES WORTH AS BIG LIST CALLS LOOM
Carlton this week made its biggest call for 2026 in deciding to stick with Michael Voss.
While Voss’ assistant coaches will also be scrutinised, the club will use these last few games to make key decisions on the list.
One man who proved his worth on Saturday night was out-of-contract small forward Francis Evans, kicking an equal career-high four goals in a position the club has long struggled to get consistent production out of.
“It’s been one of their weaknesses in recent seasons, the impact of the small forwards. Consistency and leg speed among them all, they’ve tried three, four or five of them in that position,” Hawks legend Jason Dunstall said on Fox Footy.
“If he can become a regular goalkicker, that’s something they desperately need.”
Demons legend Garry Lyon added: “I think you’re right. I’m sure Graham Wright and his list management team will look at this over the summer months. You’ve got Lachie Fogarty, Corey Durdin, Evans and Jesse Motlop. You’re not going to keep all of them, I wouldn’t think.”
Elsewhere, Tom De Koning has been strongly linked to a lucrative move to St Kilda, while Jack Silvagni is weighing up rival interest, with arch rival Collingwood a keen suitor.
As new Blues chief executive Graham Wright prepares to take the helm, Demons great Garry Lyon said you can “almost guarantee” Wright will play a part in list management calls given “that’s where he cut his teeth.”
Dunstall thinks the Blues need “two or three runners who can also use the ball really well,” saying they’re lack of those types of players has “hurt their transition.”
Asked if he’d entertain offers for stars, Dunstall said: “I think you have to entertain every offer on the table and then weigh it up and make a balanced, education decision.
“You can’t get players in without losing players. We’ve spoken about De Koning and Silvagni and others and that might just facilitate the ability to make the changes you need.
“You might think at face value: ‘We’re losing someone we don’t want to lose’. But work out what you can get and what you genuinely need on this list.”
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