Gold Coast took home a dominant 67-point win over Hawthorn at TIO Stadium in Darwin on Saturday night.
It was a poor performance from the Hawks following their upset win over Brisbane last weekend.
Hawthorn led for the first few minutes thanks to a Luke Breust behind, but after that it was all the Suns as they showed determined defence to go hand in hand with their already established attacking flair.
Mabior Chol continued his fine form in front of goal with three majors, fellow former Tiger Brandon Ellis kicked two from 24 possessions and Sam Collins kept Mitch Lewis to one late goal after the Suns vice-captain spent a week in the spotlight for his shutdown job on Aaron Naughton last round.
In hindsight, things were over quickly as Ben Ainsworth had the game's first goal when Gold Coast found room on the counterattack.
Rosas Jnr quickly found another before Izak Rankine pinched them a 19-1 break inside 15 minutes.
Breust got Hawthorn on the board soon after with a clever snap, but a Chol set shot kept the Suns 18 points clear at the first break.
Gold Coast’s power forward struck twice in the second term as his team broke away, before a long bomb from Joel Jeffrey brought the house down and gave his side a 40-point advantage.
The hits kept coming as a sizzling Touk Miller delivery let Levi Casboult hit the scoreboard, with two late goals to the Hawks only keeping them within 41 points at the half.
Ellis was best for the Suns but he got plenty of support, with Miller (24 touches) and Lachie Weller (27) among their best.
Tom Mitchell was in magnetic form with 29 touches, while Chad Wingard was his side's only multiple goalscorer with two majors.
Gold Coast - beautiful one day, perfect the next?
Not since 2014 when the Suns sat in eighth spot after round 16, before Gary Ablett jnr did his shoulder, have finals looked as much a possibility for Gold Coast as they do right now. Yes, they're sitting a win and percentage outside the top eight at the moment, but with North Melbourne next week followed by Adelaide after their bye and only two matches for the rest of the year against teams currently in the eight, the Suns have reason to dream of September. And this time there is no reliance on a star like Ablett that could suddenly derail their season. In fact, with Ben King sitting on the sidelines, the short-to-medium-term future looks sunny for the boys of the coast and their often under-the-pump coach.
Hard-ruck Hawks
With Ben McEvoy, Ned Reeves and Max Lynch on the sidelines, Sam Mitchell had little choice other than to head to Darwin without a recognised ruckman, a situation that cost his side dearly. Pitted against the out-of-position Jacob Koschitzke, Jarrod Witts dominated the hitouts with 34 to Hawthorn's total of eight for the match, giving his midfielders a head start at the clearances, which they won convincingly and subsequently turned into an overwhelming number of inside 50 opportunities (62-44). Ruckmen are often derided as the 'dinosaurs' of our game, but Saturday night's result was a clear display of the important role they still play.
Hometown heroes, at last
Mal Rosas jnr and Joel Jeffrey were the first two players to arrive at the Suns from their Darwin region Academy and both hoped to return to the Top End with Gold Coast last year, but were disappointed when COVID complications cancelled all AFL games in Darwin. Both made it known how important it was to play in front of family and friends in the Territory, so when they were selected to face the Hawks it was a case of smiles all round, with Rosas telling AFL.com.au during the week "I'm as keen as". And there's no doubt the night went well, with Rosas soccering the first of his three goals early in the first quarter and Jeffrey kicking a Goal of the Year contender in the second.
GOLD COAST 4.3 10.8 14.12 18.13 (121)
HAWTHORN 1.3 4.3 5.5 7.12 (54)
GOALS
Gold Coast: Chol 3, Rosas 3, Ainsworth 2, Ellis 2, Anderson, Casboult, Davies, Jeffrey, Miller, Rankine, Swallow, Weller
Hawthorn: Wingard 2, Breust, Butler, Koschitzke, Lewis, Moore
BEST
Gold Coast: Witts, Ellis, Swallow, Miller, Collins, Weller
Hawthorn: Mitchell, Morrison, Sicily, Jiath, Day
INJURIES
Gold Coast: TBC
Hawthorn: Scrimshaw (concussion)
MEDICAL SUBS
Gold Coast: Charlie Constable, unused
Hawthorn: Finn Maginness, replaced Jack Scrimshaw in the third quarter
