Overview

• The Suns must defeat Essendon on Wednesday night to seal the club’s first appearance in September across 15 seasons.
• Essendon has a lengthy injury list and enters as a heavy underdog, yet Gold Coast has squandered two recent chances and shown signs of playing safe.
• Captain Noah Anderson says the team embraces the pressure of the occasion and cautions against treating the Bombers as a pushover.
• Coach Damien Hardwick has indicated Daniel Rioli and Bailey Humphrey are expected to return from injury to bolster the line-up.
• The opponent hinges on margin: a win by roughly five goals or more would likely send Gold Coast to Fremantle in Perth, while a smaller win would set up GWS in Sydney; analyst Kane Cornes has publicly floated managing the margin as a tactic.