1. The Saints have a big call to make
When Patrick McCartin was ruled out of the game midway through the second quarter after failing a concussion test, Alan Richardson and St Kilda's medical staff were handed responsibility for finding an answer to the toughest question the club will face this year: what do we do with our prized key forward whose development across this season suggests he can lead us to the promised land after that young man suffered his third concussion for 2016 and adds to a history of concussions throughout his career. One option sure to be discussed is whether McCartin is placed in cotton wool for a lengthy period which may mean the rest of this year. The answer can't be an easy one but the Saints and Richardson in particular have a record of putting the person before the player, which is the call that must be made for McCartin after this latest setback.

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2. What a difference a week makes
Wind back seven days to when an inspired St Kilda bounced onto Etihad Stadium and stunned premiership fancy Geelong with a collective fire in the belly that Cats could not overcome. Saints fans who turned on the TV with a nice cuppa after visiting the polling station would've spat their drink out pretty early because the St Kilda of round 14 was but a memory. The loss consigns the Saints to a travelling 0-5 record and adds to a growing reputation of struggling to back-up one good performance with another. That Gold Coast had notched up a club-record amount of marks for a game before three-quarter time is evidence enough that for whatever reason the Saints didn't manage to cause enough contests.

3. Confidence brings cohesion
To borrow a bit of election speak, it's fair to say the most important vote Rodney Eade's young team made today was the one in themselves. It is of course no surprise the Suns have improved with the steady flow of stars who have missed for so long. Had a few half-chances and some extra polish and poise been available against Hawthorn last week, the Suns were in it up to their ears. The command with which the Suns destroyed the Saints, winning every line and every important moment, in a style that at times reminded of Eade's classy Western Bulldogs outfits of the 2000s – a team working together to choke the opposition, win the footy then spread, using an army of runners and a mix of flair and innovation to take get the ball into the hands of a teammate with space inside 50. By no means are the Suns the finished article, but you only need look at how they marched the ball out of the centre for back-to-back goals midway through the third quarter, in which they exhausted any hope of a St Kilda fightback, to see that finally Gold Coast fans can believe.

4. Two-metre Peter finds his groove
The off-season departure of Charlie Dixon to Port Adelaide always meant an increase in responsibility and expectation for Tom Lynch and his 19-year-old beanpole teammate Peter Wright. Lynch, as most expected, has in 2016 not only gone about doing what he's done throughout his career but added an almost take-it-to-the-bank performance guarantee and a promise he'll contribute to the cause through goals or big marks or, on the rare occasions he battles to get a kick, by making the opposition earn every one they get. For once, though, Lynch won't be the Suns forward being spoken about on the Monday night shows. While it's never been in any real doubt, Wright's three goals and ten mostly strong marks against the Saints gave the best evidence yet why the Suns grabbed him with pick eight of the 2014 Draft and should have him spoken about by pundits across the land in front of Lynch, for a week at least. 

WATCH: Suns key forwards fire aerial attack

5. There was also time for a Jaeger
When Eade and his football department investigate what it was that brought the sparkle back to the Suns, they need only look to a 15-possession game by a 22-year-old in his first football outing in 15 months. A soft sigh rebounded around the footy world on Friday night after the Suns announced young star Jaeger O'Meara would wait one more week before a NEAFL return. Then confirmation on Saturday morning that after waking and feeling like having a kick, O'Meara would indeed return to action. A popular and obviously important part of the Gold Coast list, O'Meara's return was keenly followed by senior teammates preparing themselves for the showdown with St Kilda. It could be said fairly that the spirit in the team during its shock round two victory over in Perth was every bit of what the Suns displayed against the Saints, but this one came after the bleakest period in the club's short life with less to play for than that Perth trip. It's hard to argue O'Meara's return wasn't the reason why.