Just two weeks ago Tape had three front teeth knocked out against Adelaide after charging back with the flight of the ball and copping an accidental knee.
Now, 14 days later and on the very same Metricon Stadium surface, he was back in action putting his head over the ball against the Bombers.
Tape played more than a quarter without the three teeth against the Crows before being subbed off and taken to hospital.
After having root canal surgery during the week, he had a mouthguard fitted and was slotted straight back in after missing just one match.
He had 21 disposals and was clearly among Gold Coast's best players and coach Guy McKenna was all praise for his 19-year-old defender.
"He's a very humble man," McKenna said.
"At training on Wednesday he copped two smacks in the chops just 24 hours after root canal.
"You want to talk about courage and effort, it's Seb Tape all over. When he's right, he's playing most weeks for us because we know what we get."
Tape is 191cm and often plays on bigger men but has won a reputation around the club for not shirking any contest.
Prior to the season, Karmichael Hunt said Tape set the standard for toughness at the Suns.
Tape plays it down though, and said Saturday night's performance was nothing special.
"It was good. A couple of contests early I got a few knocks around the head and it gave me that confidence it would be all right," he said.
"A lot of the focus for the season has been about being selfless, so it's more about the team than the individual so I just have to play my role."
Tape played 13 matches in Gold Coast's first season.
Michael Whiting covers Gold Coast news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_mikewhiting
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL
