Axed Gold Coast forward Jack Lukosius has responded to his omission from the Suns' AFL side with a five-goal outing in the VFL against Casey.
The VFL reigning premiers piled on 27 goals at home against the Demons to notch up an 88-point win and strengthen their September prospect.
In what was Lukosius' first game at the level since Round 15 of the 2022 season, the former Pick 2 draft selection had a day out in the high-scoring affair.
The 24-year-old, whose future has been speculated over the past two weeks due to interest from South Australia and the club's decision to drop him for Round 22, was among the leading names to steer the Suns' reserves to their 10th win of their VFL campaign.
Lukosius had his name written into the goalkickers column within the opening minute of Saturday morning's game and had three majors on the board by the first break.
The athletic forward's next goal opened the second half, with the thirdย quarter exceeding 37 minutes as the Suns piled on 11 goals for the term, eight of which came unanswered.
Lukosius slotted his fifth from a set-shot near the boundary line in the opening minute of the fourth term to continue his side's dominant second half.
While he ended the day with five goals to his name, he assisted almost as many majors as the Suns routed Casey. Lukosius also amassed 14 marks, 19 score involvements and seven inside 50s from his 24 disposals against the Demons.
Alex Sexton and Will Rowlands contributed five goals each, while Ned Moyle, Hewago Oea and Jack Mahony chimed in with multiple majors. Melbourne's Ben Brown kicked a game-high six goals for Casey, while defender Andy Moniz-Wakefield was among his side's best in a heavy defeat.
Oea joined Lukosius as one of the Suns' best against the Demons, finding the ball on 27 occasions to record 16 score involvements himself.
Senior pair Brayden Fiorini (35 disposals, nine clearances) and Rory Atkins (40 disposals, 12 marks) had no issue finding the ball either.
It wasn't all positive for the Suns, however. Rookie Ethan Read was assisted from the field after a worrying collision with teammate Koby Coulson midway through the final term. The pair crashed into one another in an aerial contest that left Read lying motionless on the ground.
The top-ten draft selection was slowly brought to his feet and exited the ground. Due to the incident, Read is expected to enter concussion protocols.
The injury would rule Read out of any Wildcard Round game for the Suns next week, which the Queensland club could avoid should Southport lose to North Melbourne and Gold Coast's percentage go above the Sharks'.
If the Suns are held to seventh spot, they'll host whichever club finishes in 10th - which could be one of Richmond, Sandringham or Essendon.
