Foundation Gold Coast player Sam Day can’t remember too many better games for the Suns than last Saturday’s victory over West Coast.
Day and his teammates delivered a sensational four-quarter effort to dismantle the AFL heavyweight Eagles at Metricon Stadium, securing a 44-point win over the premiership contenders.
In nine seasons and 122 games, Day says Saturday’s win is easily in the top three performances in the club’s history.
“I was part of the Collingwood win back in 2014 and maybe the first Q-Clash, which was my first game, but other than that I reckon that’s up there,” Day told AAP.
“Just the most consistent four-quarter game of footy we’ve put together.
“We did a lot of research on the Eagles last week and trained really well going into it and we managed to put that all together and come out with a big win.”
Day believes the club is in the best shape its been since the 2014 campaign.
That year a Gary Ablett-inspired side rose to third on the ladder after nine matches with seven wins and two defeats.
Ablett suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in pulsating five-point win over the Magpies in round 16 that year and the Suns would end the season 12th on the ladder, missing finals by just two wins.
It remains the club’s best season but Day believes the current team can challenge that record if they can consistently deliver performances such as that against the Eagles.
“In my time playing AFL I’ve probably only had maybe a 10 week stint where we feel like we’ve been a successful club,” he said.
“Something that’s been a problem in our past is having that one or two big wins and then not being able to string a few together.
“So we’ve just got to, as cliche as it sounds, get back to the basics. Keep training the right habits like we did last week and through the four weeks we’ve been back together.
“If we don’t come with the same intent and the same mindset that we did on the weekend, then we’re going to get rolled like we did in round one.”