A battle of the mind and a do-or-die showdown against Essendon stand between Gold Coast and a club-first AFL finals campaign. A Suns’ victory against the injury-ravaged Bombers already on a 12-match losing streak should be a mere formality if the stakes weren’t so high in the last game of the home-and-away season on Wednesday night.
A 15th win of the year would be enough to lift the Suns from ninth spot and into the finals places, with either side of about a five-goal margin to decide whether they land in seventh or eighth. Western Bulldogs might be blessed to have a list stacked with top-end talent but for now are left holding out for a miracle that Gold Coast slip up for a third week running and let the Dogs hang on to a finals place instead.
