Almost four years ago Joel Jeffrey endured an inauspicious introduction to the AFL in a 98-point debut loss to Melbourne at Marvel Stadium in which he played 69% game-time for five disposals at a 40% efficiency.

The then 19-year-old had kicked nine goals in the VFL the week before to earn his chance, but a 4.6 (30) to 18.20 (128) scoreline and the club’s lowest score at Marvel Stadium wasn’t quite what he’d hoped for.

But on Saturday afternoon at People First Stadium, the Demons will face an entirely different Jeffrey as the SUNS chase four crucial premiership points.

A now 23-year-old Jeffrey is one of the most improved players in the competition, and has not only secured a regular spot in the back six but has become a dangerous attacking weapon.

He’s one of 12 SUNS who have played every game this year but the only one in this group who was not a regular in the senior side last year, when he played only 12 of 23 games.

He began and ended the 2024 campaign out of the seniors and finished 22^nd in the best & fairest in what wasn’t quite what he would have hoped for after signing a four-year contract extension in November 2023.

But now, making the most of a move to the back half by coach Damien Hardwick, he’s become an automatic choice, and has played more games this year than in any one of his four previous seasons, which delivered one more than 10 games once.

He hasn’t looked back since playing with the Indigenous All-Stars against Fremantle in February to complete a unique family double after his father, ex-St Kilda and Brisbane player and NT Hall of Famer Russell Jeffrey, played for the All-Stars in a win over Collingwood in Darwin in 1994.

Speaking recently, Jeffrey admitted a stronger focus on the defensive side of his game has been the catalyst to his improvement.

"I could always do great things with the footy offensively, but defensively I've had to improve my game, which I feel like I have,” he said proudly.

Jeffrey’s 98-point loss on debut isn’t the biggest by a SUNS debutant. That ‘honour’ sits with fellow Northern Territorian Liam Patrick, who was on the wrong end of a 139-point scoreboard against Essendon at Marvel in the SUNS’ fifth game in Round 6 2011.

But such things are long forgotten by a SUNS side looking to beat Melbourne for the second time this year after going 3-15 against them from 2011-2024.

Oddly, despite the lop-sided record it wouldn’t be the first time they’ve beaten the Demons twice in the same year. They did so in 2013, when they won by 60 points at the MCG and 13 points at PFS.

They completed a hat-trick against Melbourne when they beat them by eight points at the MCG in 2014 but lost 12 in a row from 2015 - 2024.

Round 3 this year was a breakout game. The SUNS topped 100 points for the first time against the Demons, winning 18.12 (120) to 8.14 (62) as Matt Rowell (36 possessions) and Noah Anderson (35 possessions), Touk Miller (23 possessions and three goals) and Ben King (four goals) led the way.

Facing a Melbourne side coming off a bye, Gold Coast are looking to end a three-game losing streak which, at least numerically, has seen them drop out of the top eight for the first time this year.

If you look at the ladder on the AFL website it says the SUNS are 9^th with an 8-5 record and a percentage of 120.1%, having also played two games less than Brisbane (2^nd) and Geelong (3^rd), and one game less than every other club.

The SUNS have the fifth-best percentage behind Adelaide (135.2), Collingwood (135.0), Bulldogs (133.4) and Geelong (127.5), and ahead of Brisbane (113.4), Hawthorn (111.6), Fremantle (110.0) and GWS (107.6).

Historically, Gary Ablett and Touk Miller (38) share the SUNS single-game possession record against Melbourne, with Noah Anderson’s three 30-possession games a club high against the Demons, and Alex Sexton’s five goals in 2018 best in front of the big sticks.

Ablett and Harley Bennell head the SUNS’ Brownlow Medal vote-count against Melbourne with seven apiece, while of the current players only three have polled votes - David Swallow (3), Anderson (2) and Tour Miller (2).

History also tells us Christian Petracca is dangerman #1 among the visiting side. In the four games in between 2021 and 2024 – three at People First Stadium and one at Marvel Stadium – Petracca polled three Brownlow votes each time.

Max Gawn (10) and Clayton Oliver (9) have also polled well against the SUNS, with vice-captain Jack Viney (8) and now retired ex-captain Nathan Jones (12).

Petracca’s 40 possessions on the Gold Coast in 2022 is the most in games between the two clubs.

In the 2025 AFL Coaches Association Player of the Year Award, in which Anderson has polled 64 to sit in second just two votes behind Geelong’s Bailey Smith, Miller (41), Rowell (35), Witts (21) and Bailey Humphrey (20) have also figured prominently at times.

Melbourne captain Max Gawn is the Demons’ leading vote-winner with 54. Petracca (31) and Kysaiah Pickett (20) are next for the Demons, while Jake Bowey, who debuted in the same game as Jeffrey, has 13 votes.