The North Melbourne Kangaroos have gone down to the Gold Coast Suns by 62 points at TIO Stadium on Saturday night.

Despite a promising start from the Kangaroos, the Suns flicked a switch in the second term to set up the 15.19 (109) to 7.5 (47) win.

The Roos held a 17-point quarter-time lead before a scoreless second quarter saw the Suns capitalise with seven goals in a row to lead by 32 points at the main break.

The Suns again continued their momentum to make it a total of nine unanswered goals before Nick Larkey finally got the Roos back on the board eight minutes into the third term.

In a much more balanced third quarter, No.1 pick Jason Horne-Francis kicked one of the goals of the season after he shrugged off two Suns and snapped truly, while hometown hero Jed Anderson also kicked a cracking goal to have his family and the Roos supporters on their feet.

Despite the mini-fightback, the Suns again kicked clear in the final term where the Roos stayed goalless.

SUNS v KANGAROOS Full match coverage and stats

Former Sun Hugh Greenwood impressed against his old side with 21 disposals and eight tackles, while Sun Touk Miller dominated with 32 disposals and 13 clearances.

In a blow for North, returning key defender Ben McKay was subbed out of the game with concussion in the second quarter.

The Roos will next host GWS at Marvel Stadium next Sunday afternoon, while the Suns have a bye.

McKay's bad luck continues

Ben McKay's return to the line-up for his first game since Round 8 was a welcome boost for the Roos' backline. The star defender suffered a knee injury in the loss to Fremantle and has had a shocking run at it in 2022, also missing games due to concussion and suspension. Just as it looked like he was settling back into a rhythm, the Roos big man was subbed out with another concussion after being collected high by Ben Ainsworth. Due to the 12-day concussion protocols, McKay is set to miss next week's clash with the Giants.

Second-quarter avalanche

Gold Coast’s dominance in the second term was almost hard to believe. After looking a step off the pace against the hungry Kangaroos early, Brandon Ellis started the avalanche with an early goal from an exquisite Izak Rankine pass. Rankine then kicked a miraculous goal from the forward pocket minutes later and the Suns were away. All in all, they went inside 50 a whopping 29 times for the term, kicking 7.7, and raced to a 32-point half-time lead as the Kangaroos failed to score.

Horne-Francis' incredible goal

If there’s one highlight North fans will rewatch a few times during the week, it’s the third-quarter goal from No.1 draft pick Jason Horne-Francis. The young South Australian was having a quiet afternoon, but lit up TIO midway through the term when he bobbled a handpass from Todd Goldstein from a forward-50 stoppage, gathered, spun out of Oleg Markov’s tackle, stepped Charlie Ballard and then snapped from close range. It was a fabulous finish from a player with enormous upside.

GOLD COAST                 1.4     8.11     11.13     15.19     (109)
NORTH MELBOURNE     4.3     4.3     7.3     7.5     (47)

GOALS
Gold Coast: Day 2, Rankine 2, Ainsworth, Chol, Davies, Ellis, Graham, Holman, Jeffrey, Powell, Rosas, Rowell, Swallow
North Melbourne: Anderson, Davies-Uniacke, Goldstein, Horne-Francis, Larkey, Simpkin, Ziebell

INJURIES
Gold Coast: Weller (knee)
North Melbourne: McKay (concussion)

MEDICAL SUBS
Gold Coast: Sharp, replaced Weller in the fourth quarter
North Melbourne: Bosenavulagi, replaced McKay in the third quarter