Match

Gold Coast Suns vs Geelong Cats

Commentary / 16 May 2024

Pre Game

00:00

Geelong have won six of their last seven games against the Suns, the only blemish coming the last time these teams met, where the Cats suffered a 19-point defeat in Round 3 last season. This will be the Cats first appearance in an AFL game at TIO Stadium.

Quarter 1

00:00

Q1 is now underway.

01:03

SCORE GOAL - SUNS (Jack Lukosius)

01:57

Jack Lukosius kicks the opening goal of the game, his eleventh goal at TIO Stadium. He ranks second all-time for goals scored at this venue, trailing only Brad Johnson (17). Lukosius kicked two bags of five goals at this venue in 2023.

04:04

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tyson Stengle)

04:27

Each team has converted their first inside-50 into a goal. This could auger well for a high scoring encounter. Gold Coast posted 120 points in their game here last round.

07:04

SCORE BEHIND - SUNS (Rushed)

08:32

SCORE GOAL - SUNS (Jack Lukosius)

09:59

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Gryan Miers)

11:03

All scores so far have come from opposition turnovers, including the Cats scoring both of their goals from turnovers forced in their forward 50.

12:08

SCORE BEHIND - SUNS (Ben Long)

15:43

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Zach Tuohy)

17:40

SCORE GOAL - SUNS (Sam Day)

18:11

Sam Day takes a contested mark and kicks a goal for the Suns. That was the Suns' second contested mark in their forward 50. They lead contested marks five to one for the game overall.

19:25

SCORE GOAL - SUNS (Jack Lukosius)

19:42

Jack Lukosius kicks his third goal for the game. He also had the goal assist for the last goal kicked by Sam Day. All four of his disposals have led directly to a goal.

23:18

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Shannon Neale)

23:37

Shannon Neale kicks his first goal for the night. Neale is making his second appearance of the season. His last outing came in round five against North Melbourne, a game in which he kicked a career-high three goals.

28:09

The Suns have dominated play more than the two-point margin would indicate. They lead disposals 99-81, inside 50s 15-10 and have taken 32 marks to just 12 for the Cats.

29:42

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Oliver Henry)

32:28

SCORE BEHIND - SUNS (Noah Anderson)

32:32

Geelong rank third in the AFL for scores per game from turnovers, averaging 53 per game. They have 4.0 (24) in the first term and have a plus nine advantage against the Suns, who have scored 2.3 (15) from turnovers.

Quarter 2

00:00

Q2 is now underway.

01:02

Each of Brayden Fiorini, Touk Miller, Matt Rowell, Noah Anderson and Sam Clohesy spent in excess of 26 minutes in the midfield for the Suns in the first term. In contrast, the Cats have rotated more players through their midfield with only Jack Bowes surpassing 26 minutes in the opening quarter.

04:07

SCORE GOAL - SUNS (Ben Ainsworth)

05:49

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tanner Bruhn)

08:09

Eight minutes into the quarter, the Cats are yet to take a mark. Gold Coast have six.

12:42

SCORE BEHIND - SUNS (Sam Day)

13:38

SCORE GOAL - SUNS (Bailey Humphrey)

14:36

The Suns have kicked 2.1 (13) from turnovers this quarter and now lead scores from this source for the match. The Cats only goal this term came from a centre bounce clearance courtesy of a 50m penalty.

14:51

SCORE BEHIND - SUNS (Rushed)

15:51

SCORE GOAL - SUNS (David Swallow)

18:40

SCORE GOAL - SUNS (Ben Long)

18:56

The Suns are plus 20 in disposals for the quarter, plus nine for marks, plus seven for tackles, plus four for inside 50s, and importantly have scored 4.2 (26) to 1.0 (6) for the term.

19:58

SCORE GOAL - SUNS (Sam Day)

20:41

Sam Day has scored 2.1 for the game, with all three scores coming from a Jack Lukosius assist. Day's eyes will be lighting up when Lukosius touches the ball. Lukosius now has three goal assists and eight score involvements in total.

23:00

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Zach Tuohy)

23:35

SUNS Interchange - Ben Ainsworth off due to the blood rule.

23:42

SUNS Interchange - Mac Andrew off due to an injury.

26:13

SCORE GOAL - SUNS (Joel Jeffrey)

27:45

Gold Coast have kicked the last six goals and have nine of the last eleven inside 50s. Matt Rowell had the last inside 50. He has 20 disposals, an equal-game high. The top four ball winners are all from the Suns.

30:46

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Max Holmes)

35:44

Gold Coast rank 15th in the league for uncontested marks this season, averaging 75.2 per game. They have 45 already in the first half tonight. Geelong rank last in the league with 70.9 per game, but have only 18 in this half.

Quarter 3

00:00

Q3 is now underway.

01:54

SCORE GOAL - SUNS (Bailey Humphrey)

02:02

With 21 first half disposals, Noah Anderson is on pace to break the disposals record at TIO Stadium, which currently stands at 41 by Kane Cornes in round 14 of 2008. Anderson has another two disposals in the first two minutes of this quarter.

04:10

SCORE BEHIND - SUNS (Ben Ainsworth)

04:27

The Suns have piled on 12 goals despite Ben King, third in the Coleman medal race entering this round, having just three disposals and no scores for the game.

06:54

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Shannon Neale)

07:34

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tyson Stengle)

08:58

A goal from Tyson Stengle breaks a run of seven consecutive goals for the Suns. Stengle is the first multiple-goal scorer for the Cats tonight.

09:35

SCORE GOAL - SUNS (Ben King)

11:37

The Suns average 18.7 points per game from forward 50 score launches, ranked fourth in the league. They have reached 4.2 (26) less than halfway through the third term.

12:07

SCORE BEHIND - SUNS (Ben King)

12:52

SCORE GOAL - SUNS (Sam Day)

15:48

SCORE GOAL - SUNS (David Swallow)

17:23

SCORE GOAL - SUNS (Matt Rowell)

21:23

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Gary Rohan)

22:57

SCORE GOAL - SUNS (Bailey Humphrey)

24:01

The Suns have created 17 scoring shots from turnovers, 11.6 (72) to the Cats 6.0 (36). Geelong had a score from turnover differential of plus 18 coming into this game, ranked second in the AFL.

25:30

Joel Jeffrey has three inside 50s in the last six minutes and has three of the last inside 50s in the match. His five inside 50s for the match is tied with four other Suns as a game-high.

26:18

SCORE GOAL - SUNS (Ben King)

28:03

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Rushed)

31:11

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Brandan Parfitt)

31:50

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Jake Kolodjashnij)

33:59

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Rushed)

35:38

SCORE GOAL - SUNS (Bailey Humphrey)

35:45

The Cats scored four behinds in six minutes late in the term where they managed to get some ascendancy. They also had eight of the last 10 inside 50s for the quarter, but failed to reduce the margin during this period.

Quarter 4

00:00

Q4 is now underway.

01:14

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Max Holmes)

03:37

SCORE GOAL - SUNS (Jack Lukosius)

05:14

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Jhye Clark)

06:29

Four goals in the first three and a half minutes of playing time start a fast-paced final term. Each team have two goals in term, with one each from stoppage and from turnover.

08:45

Ned Moyle is in only his fourth career appearance tonight. He’s amassed 37 hitouts, surpassing his previous career-high of 35, coming in his debut against St Kilda in round 4, 2023. Moyle has 11 hitouts to advantage, along with 11 contested possessions and five tackles.

09:52

SCORE GOAL - SUNS (Noah Anderson)

10:24

Noah Anderson kicks his first goal. He's having a huge night. He has 34 disposals, including 26 uncontested possessions and 19 handball receives. He has 13 score involvements, the most of any player.

12:24

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Oliver Henry)

14:41

Tom Stewart leads the intercept possession count with 12 but has not taken an intercept mark tonight. If he fails to get an intercept mark it would be the first time this has happened since round 14 2023. He averages three per game this year.

17:21

SCORE GOAL - SUNS (Ben King)

19:06

Ben King has kicked 16 goals from marks so far this season, an equal league-high. He now has four goals in this game, but none have come from marks. King had a slow start to this game, with just two disposals to half time.

20:44

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Brad Close)

21:30

The Cats have lost the uncontested possession count in seven of their nine games this season, including a season-worst -54 against Port Adelaide last week. They are -76 currently tonight, which would be their worst result since round 10, 2023.

22:06

SCORE GOAL - SUNS (Noah Anderson)

23:04

The Suns have set a new club record by exceeding 148 points, their previous highest game score. This record dated back to round 5, 2013, in a game against GWS.

23:35

The Suns have set a new record for the highest score at TIO Stadium, surpassing the previous record of 147 held by Port Adelaide in round 20, 2004.

25:40

Jack Lukosius kicks his fifth goal, the third time he has achieved this at TIO Stadium. Five other players have previously reached five goals, Jack Darling, Paul Stewart, Brad Miller, Brad Johnson and Brendan Fevola. No player has reached six goals.

26:25

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Mark Blicavs)

27:16

Noah Anderson is currently resting on the interchange, having equaled Kane Cornes' record of 41 disposals in a game at TIO Stadium.

27:19

SCORE BEHIND - SUNS (Bailey Humphrey)

27:52

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Tyson Stengle)

29:42

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Shannon Neale)

31:37

SCORE GOAL - SUNS (Bailey Humphrey)

32:44

SCORE GOAL - Cats (Gryan Miers)

34:28

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Rushed)

35:55

SCORE BEHIND - Cats (Tom Atkins)

35:59

A record-breaking night for the Suns at TIO Stadium, setting a new club record with their score of 164. This is also a new record for TIO Stadium, while Noah Anderson’s 41 disposals was record-equalling for the venue. The Suns had 73 inside 50s, were plus 84 in disposals and plus 83 in uncontested possessions. The Suns finish 64-point winners; likely their greatest victory since entering the AFL.