IT'S ONE of the great anomalies in the AFL.

Since 2018, no matter when Gold Coast plays Sydney, at what venue, or where they are on the ladder, it gives the Swans all sorts of headaches.

In fact, since Dew took over as the Suns' coach following the 2017 season, Gold Coast has a 4-2 head-to-head advantage, including winning three from four at the SCG. The Suns hadn't beaten the Swans in eight previous attempts. 

And this has all come during a time of total rebuild for the Suns, while the Swans – who also went through regrouping seasons in 2019 and 2020 – have largely been finals contenders.

On the surface, it makes little sense.

It's just one reason that makes Saturday night's opening round match at Carrara's newly named Heritage Bank Stadium so mouth-watering.

Why have the Suns had success against the fancied Swans?

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The easy thing to point to is Dew's appointment. After all, he was John Longmire's lieutenant for seven seasons (2011-2017) and would have a good idea of how the Swans like to play.

Dew's 66.6 per cent winning rate over Longmire is the best mark against anyone he has coached more than one game against.

Their first match in 2018 set the tone for this stretch, resulting in one of the great wins in Gold Coast history, snapping an 11-game losing streak and overturning an early five-goal deficit to salute at the SCG.

This was in round 18, the Swans were in the eight and could have simply taken the Suns lightly, but Gold Coast matched Sydney at contested possessions, generated more inside 50s and won the game.

Perhaps it was just one of 'those days' for the Swans.

In 2019 Sydney won easily at the SCG and in 2020 the Suns flipped that, but perhaps of more relevance is the past two years with both teams on the rise (admittedly at different rates).

Longmire's men won their first four games in 2021 and were the 'it' team early that season, blowing the doors off Brisbane and premier Richmond before getting to Carrara with a 4-1 record.

On a hot, sunny afternoon, the Suns ran the legs off their opponents, with Ben King (five goals), Ben Ainsworth and Izak Rankine all prominent in a display of high-pressure, high-speed football that stifled the Swans.

In the final round that season, after both teams had spent a month in Melbourne courtesy of a COVID-19 lockdown, the Swans destroyed Dew's flagging team as they sniffed a first finals appearance in three seasons.

Last year was another Suns upset though, this time by 14 points in Sydney in round eight, as they held back every Swans challenge in the final quarter, hurrying them into poor disposal with great pressure.

The one common thread in Gold Coast triumphs has been their ability to curtail Sydney's ball movement. They've restricted Longmire's team to an average of just 61 points a game in their four wins.

Asked earlier in the week why he thought his team had such success against the Swans, Dew was understandably reluctant to elaborate.

"Our players respect Sydney footy club and I think they understand the way they go about it," Dew said.

"We're really conscious if you don't bring your game against Sydney, you're in for a long day.

"They're Grand Finalists, they've got a great mix of youth and experience and it's going to be a good challenge.

"There's seven or eight A-graders in there and there's a reason they made the Grand Final, they're a well-drilled footy club."

The Swans have long been a "well-drilled footy club", but it hasn't stopped Gold Coast from getting the job done in the past five years, and whether they can repeat the dose in Ben King's comeback match will be a fascinating watch.