1. West Coast Eagles key forwards Josh Kennedy and Jack Darling would have enjoyed the first two centre clearances from the Eagles, with star recruit Tim Kelly hitting them both up coming out of the square. Unfortunately it was a rarity thereafter, but Kelly did show his class with his silky ball handling, particularly in the first half when he had 16 of his 24 disposals.

2. The capacity of the Gold Coast Suns to withstand two strong surges from the Eagles proved a telling factor. The Suns kicked out to a 15-point lead in the second quarter before the Eagles responded with four goals in succession. That was a danger period for the home side, but they kicked a couple in response to lead at half-time. In the last quarter, the Eagles lifted the intensity in the opening minutes, but could not find an elusive goal, the Suns held strong and then kicked away to an impressive victory.

3. Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the Eagles performance was the lack of intensity. Coach Adam Simpson summed it up, suggesting the Suns had beaten the Eagles at their trademark strength, both inside and outside the contest. The Eagles were just not as clean as we have grown accustomed, as the determined Suns snapped a 19-game losing streak, stretching back to round four last season.

4. Gold Coast was determined last year to find a way to snare best mates Noah Anderson and Matt Rowell and applied – and were granted – special assistance from the AFL, which landed them the No.1 draft pick. They used it to select Rowell and then landed Anderson, both from the Oakleigh Chargers, with selection No.2. Rowell, in particular, wielded a strong influence on this game, with 26 possessions, 14 of them contested and two goals. The football world will be seeing a lot of this pair.

5. Powerful ruckman Nic Naitanui did all he could to push his team to victory with a typically assertive effort in the ruck. He had 36 hit outs and was the major reason the Eagles were plus-eight from stoppage clearances. He also tried to surge the ball forward, particularly from centre bounces. At the start of the last quarter he expended a lot of early energy in a bid to create opportunities in the attacking half, but the young Suns withstood the challenge.