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Suns out to exorcise AFL Demons

Gold Coast forward Sam Day admits memories of a round-seven thrashing by Melbourne are fresh in the Suns' minds as they head into their return AFL clash.

Gold Coast take on Melbourne at the MCG this Sunday keen to exorcise some AFL demons.

The Suns were battered by the Demons at Metricon Stadium earlier this year, losing by 73 points in one of the lowlights of their mid-season 10-game losing streak.

Both teams kicked eight goals by halftime in the round seven clash before the Demons piled on 16 goals to six in the second half to simply blow away the home team.

Despite the loss of Gary Ablett (shoulder), Michael Rischitelli (knee) and Dion Prestia (knee) to season-ending injuries in recent weeks, the Suns have actually picked up their form with three wins from their past four matches.

A victory over struggling Fremantle last weekend highlighted the danger of the Suns' trio of tall forwards in Tom Lynch, Sam Day and Peter Wright.

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The three talls shared 11 goals against the Dockers and will give Demons coach Paul Roos plenty to think about.

Melbourne's season is tailing away, last weekend's loss to West Coast their fourth in their past five, with their scoring stats plummeting over that period.

Day says the Suns head to the home of football fired up to make up for a loss that clearly still rankles.

"They touched us up earlier on in the season," Day told AAP.

"We're just going to have to bring that same intensity, contested pressure around the footy and then we should go a long way.

"It has to be sustained for four quarters."

Former West Coast winger Matt Rosa will return for the Suns, having overcome the hamstring injury which kept him sidelined for the past three matches.

Seb Tape was the man to make way for Rosa.

The Demons made one change to the team which blew a great chance to beat the Eagles at Subiaco, with Aaron Vandenberg returning from a hip injury in place of Alex Neal-Bullen.


2 min read

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Source: AAP



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