King reigns supreme to cap Suns' great escape over surging Blues

Ben King celebrates a goal during the match between Carlton and Gold Coast at Marvel Stadium in round 22, 2025. Picture: Getty Images

GOLD Coast can breathe a huge sigh of relief after staving off a fast-finishing Carlton outfit, coming away victors by 19 points in a frantic close to a hot-under-the-lid showdown at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night.

The Blues kicked six of the final seven goals of the game to give the finals hopefuls a scare, but the Suns had done enough across the first three quarters to secure the 13.15 (93) to 11.8 (74) win.

BLUES v SUNS Full match coverage and stats

It appeared early on to be a night that would only go from good to great for the visiting Suns.

Ben King (six goals) reigned supreme, while the midfield corps stamped its authority at ground level through the likes of Matt Rowell (30 disposals, 10 clearances) and Touk Miller (25 disposals), however Michael Voss' side had plenty left to say in the tense - and admittedly unanticipated, given the first three quarters - final quarter.

ALL THE HIGHLIGHTS Previous Next 07:31 Full post-match, R22: Suns Watch Gold Coast’s press conference after round 22’s match against Carlton

08:13 Highlights: Carlton v Gold Coast The Blues and Suns clash in round 22 of the 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership Season

03:33 High-flying King sinks six against Blues Ben King reels in an epic MOTY contender as his big bag of goals leads his Suns to an important win

00:54 Comeback Blues? Hot minute sees Carlton make it four in a row Back-to-back goals from Francis Evans and Jesse Motlop breathes life into the Blues’ comeback hopes

00:36 In-form Fiorini finds clever snap for hot start to half Brayden Fiorini nails this goal inside the opening minute of the third term

00:57 Fogarty swoops at just the right time Lachie Fogarty crumbs this pack to perfection as he slams home this goal during the second term

01:05 Is this the Mark of the Year? King ‘hovers’ like never before Ben King soars over the top of Lewis Young to reel in an ‘unbelievable’ contender for Mark of the Year

00:32 Wild Witts: Big Sun's magical finish in game 200 Jarrod Witts conjures this miraculous goal to kickstart his side’s charge in his 200th match of AFL

00:46 Evans electrifies early to get Blues fans believing Francis Evans nails back-to-back goals in quick succession to fire up the faithful in the first term

After establishing a 45-point lead at the final change, the Suns suddenly had to shift out of cruise control as Carlton rallied with a five-goal final term to potentially precipitate another thrilling comeback at Marvel Stadium.

Carlton pieced together promising patches to bookend the game, but the Suns' overall potency, dash on the counter-attack and ability to hit targets inside the arc trumped the Blues' bursts at the end of the evening.

The win is the cherry on top of what was Damien Hardwick's 350th game as senior coach (307 of them at Richmond), however the individual accolade will be secondary for the triple-premiership coach - particularly after the final-quarter fade out - as he inches closer towards steering Gold Coast to its maiden finals appearance.

King was the greatest beneficiary of the visitors' sleek movement with six marks inside-50 and a six-goal return, while Carlton's Francis Evans (four majors) and Harry McKay (three) were particularly effective in the closing stages of the game as the Blues mounted one final charge.

Learn More 03:33

The Blues' young brigade - seven of their players had under 25 games of experience - were far from over-awed against their more fancied opposition, with Cooper Lord the pick of the bunch to keep Noah Anderson to just nine touches at the first change.

But emblematic of the Suns' attack after half-time, Anderson rolled up the sleeves to shake off the shackles and finish with 19 disposals.

Rowell's bullocking presence out of centre bounce, the class of Touk Miller and the timely purple patch from Alex Davies approaching the pointy end of the season were just as prominent right until the Blues surged back into the contest.

Patrick Cripps battled through a bruising blow to the shoulder in the opening term, and similar to his side, he didn't yield until the final siren.

Evans' fourth major, the tireless efforts of Harry McKay and a lively snap from Jesse Motlop to open the final term gave the Blues a glimmer, with Ashton Moir narrowly missing a snap that would have roared the Carlton crowd back into full voice.

Learn More 00:54

Moir made amends soon after with a classy conversion from the forward flank as the Blues drew to within 13 points, however King's sixth in the dying minutes was enough for the Suns to pull off a great escape.

Quick Witts crucial to Suns surge

For all the brilliance of young stars Rowell, Anderson and Mac Andrew, don't discount the importance of the experience of 200-gamer Jarrod Witts to this firestarter brigade in its push towards finals football. With Carlton asserting itself early in the game with three goals on the trot, the wily veteran used all his ruck smarts to stop the rot deep with a momentum-shifting goal in his milestone outing. Witts won the hitout, stole back the bobbling Sherrin from the unintended recipient George Hewett, before whirling around deep in attack - while still tangled in the ruck duel with Tom De Koning - to hammer through a special goal to break the Blues' early resolve. The timely major kickstarted a run of five successive goals either side of quarter-time for the Suns, while his work throughout the evening saw the Suns outmuscle the Blues in hitouts 31-49.

Learn More 00:32

All Hail the King

Mac Andrew may well have the greatest vertical leap of his side, but it was the man up the other end of the ground, Ben King, who took the most jaw-dropping mark of the night. Soaring up for a Virgin Australia Mark of the Year contender over Carlton's Lewis Young, King's screamer was the highlight of his impressive evening, which ultimately proved match-winning as the Blues raced to the finish line. King finished off in style to register his third major of the opening term, eventually ending the night with six snags as his aerial prowess and ability to find space stood tall, particularly late as the Blues cranked the heat up.

Learn More 01:05

Young Blues stand up to task

With Carlton fielding seven players with less than 25 games to their name, Blues fans can take solace that there's some promising green shoots coming through to tackle the coming seasons. Cooper Lord was the pick of the bunch with an excellent number on the in-form Noah Anderson, keeping the Suns skipper to just nine touches at the first change. Ashton Moir was dynamic in the final term with a brilliant goal under pressure to keep his side in the pulsating contest, while Matthew Carroll also had several moments as Carlton threw down the gauntlet to send a shiver through the Suns' camp.

CARLTON 3.1 5.1 6.3 11.8 (74)

GOLD COAST 5.4 8.7 12.12 13.15 (93)

GOALS

Carlton: Evans 4, McKay 3, Fogarty, Moir, O'Keeffe, Motlop

Gold Coast: King 6, Long 3, Fiorini 2, Witts, Ainsworth

BEST

Carlton: Evans, Hollands, McKay, Lord, Hewett, Weitering

Gold Coast: King, Rowell, Miller, Witts, Long, Noble

INJURES

Carlton: Nil

Gold Coast: Nil

SUBSTITUTES

Carlton: Corey Durdin (replaced Will White in the third quarter)

Gold Coast: Malcolm Rosas jnr (replaced Nick Holman in the fourth quarter)

Crowd: TBC at Marvel Stadium

Click here to read article