Melbourne have pushed their way into the AFL top eight teams with a dramatic 35-point comeback win over Gold Coast in Alice Springs.
Trailing by 24 points at halftime, the Demons on Saturday stormed home to win 18.14 (122) to 13.9 (87) during indigenous round.
Gold Coast missed champion midfielder Gary Ablett, who was out with another shoulder injury, but this didn't look to be a huge loss early on when the Suns led.
But Melbourne had other ideas at Traeger Park.
The Demons led on statistics for most of the game, but could not convert this to points - until the third quarter when they snatched the lead, kicking five goals and two behinds.
Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin never thought the Demons were out of the fight.
"We were really happy with how we played in the first half. It sounds a little strange but we had 32 inside 50s," Goodwin told reporters.
"In the second half, we found a way to impact the scoreboard ... we were really happy with how the boys stuck at it. At no stage did we think we were out of the contest."
The flurry of points came through a shift in tactics and leadership from their veterans.
Jordan Lewis stepped up when he was most needed, the former Hawk recording 26 disposals and six marks. Lewis acted almost as a second coach, directing traffic during the comeback quarter, while remaining gritty in defence.
The Demons continued their varied approach to centre bounces, consistently changing the number of players on the sides of the square. This proved vital as they recorded 71 inside 50s and Jeff Garlett kicked five goals.
The win is the Demons' first in Alice Springs and puts them provisionally eighth on the ladder, while the Suns sit 16th after three wins and six losses this season.
Suns coach Rodney Eade thought the lack of control lost them the match.
"It was our turnovers - we gave the ball back to them," Eade said.
"We made a couple of mistakes and players went back into their shell; they didn't use the ball they were supposed to."
Gold Coast tore away in the second quarter with their hard-running play, as Aaron Hall and Brandon Matera led the charge but this couldn't be sustained.
Matera finished with three goals and 20 disposals, while Hall kicked one goal and had 29 disposals.
