Gold Coast Suns blood hard bunch Gold Coast Suns young gun Rory Thompson is one of a number of players to emerge in 2013. Picture: Jerad Williams Source: Gold Coast Bulletin THERE was blood in the water at the MCG on Sunday night. Melbourne's most insipid performance of the season attracted the focus of the football media like a truckload of burley to a great white shark. As it should. But down the corridor, deep beneath the home of football, another story was quietly unfolding. Here's a fact - the Gold Coast Suns will be 4-4 if, as expected, they roll the Western Bulldogs at Metricon Stadium on Saturday. Snuck up on you didn't it? The bronzed kids from the coast are no longer the lightweight pushovers they were 12 months ago, boasting a stunning improvement in the physical side of the game. Seven rounds into the season Gold Coast is the best side at winning contested ball, racking up an average 12.7 more than their rivals each game. The Suns also rank third when it comes to clearances at +4.1 an outing. There is a growing trend in the industry to talk down the importance of contested ball, but the facts are that if you win more contested possessions than the opposition in 2013 you win 68 per cent of games. As a result, Gold Coast's clearance and contested ball dominance means the game is played in their half more often. And here's another chapter in Gold Coast's dramatic transformation - last year it was second-last in time in forward-half differential. This year it is ranked sixth. The inside 50m differential, which was also only good enough for 17th last year, is now ranked 10th. But it's what Suns coach Guy McKenna's charges are doing without the ball that is perhaps most impressive. Embattled Demons coach Mark Neeld said last Sunday night that his side had been "out-muscled" by the Suns. It appeared a stunning statement - an established club bullied by one in its infancy - but Melbourne is not on its own. Over summer, Gold Coast has gone from ranking last for tackle efficiency (actual tackles divided by tackle attempts) at 50.5 per cent to being the best in the competition at 66.6 per cent. When the Suns tackle, they stick. So what is Gold Coast missing? Just a bit of polish. The Suns hit the target six per cent less than the opposition by foot - ranked 17th. Once inside 50m they only goal 24.4 per cent of the time - ranked 16th - and their conversion accuracy of 52.6 per cent is only good enough for 17th. But we know this will come with time. When it does, we will see more blood in the water in the changerooms down the corridor.