Gold Coast and the Western Bulldogs have played out the first draw of the AFLW season at Metricon Staidum on Tuesday.
Trailing by 24 points at three-quarter time, the Bulldogs mounted a spirited final-quarter comeback but neither team could find a winner as the match finished 6.5 (41) apiece.
It's a result that does nothing to help either team's finals aspirations, leaving them half-a-game outside the top six with three matches to play.
Teenager Charlie Rowbottom appeared to have set the Suns on the path to a crucial win with a dominant performance that produced a game-high 24 disposals, including 17 contested possessions, and her first AFLW goal.
But the Bulldogs refused to go away, kicking four goals in 10 minutes at the start of the final quarter to erase the deficit before both teams traded behinds.
Bonnie Toogood had the last chance to snatch the victory but the Bulldog missed everything with her late shot leaving the teams to settle for two points each.
Suns' leading goalkicker Tara Bohanna had two majors while Bulldogs duo Nell Morris-Dalton and Britney Gutknecht kicked two each for the visitors.
Bulldogs captain Ellie Blackburn, who hurt her ankle and shoulder in the opening term, battled through the pain to finish the match with 22 disposals, three tackles and four clearances.
She was well supported by Kirsty Lamb who had 19 disposals, seven tackles and scored one of the Dogs' fourth-quarter goals in a fightback that left coach Nathan Burke proud.
"It was a case of hey, let's let's have a crack," Burke told AAP about his three-quarter time message.
"We have the potential here to create a story that we can hang our hat on for next time we're in that position.
"It's all about creating those stories and we get an extra point well there's a wonderful story that we can use over and over again. Every time we're four goals down ... 'hey girls, we can come back from here'.
"Now I can say 'hey, you can almost come back from here'. Didn't quite get there but that's what we're looking for."
The draw was arguably more deflating for Suns coach Cameron Joyce, having witnessed his team blow their four-goal advantage so quickly in the fourth quarter.
"To be honest, a little bit, knowing that we had the game in such a really good position," Joyce told AAP when asked if the result felt like a defeat.
"We always keep saying that we've got to play our way longer than the opposition and we didn't today and that's why we end up with with two points each."
The Bulldogs' next match is a crucial clash against sixth-placed Collingwood on Sunday while the Suns travel to Melbourne to face St Kilda.
