Lynch says Suns long way from finals talk

GOLD Coast co-captain Tom Lynch says the improved Suns are still not satisfied on the back of two straight wins and believes making the finals remains a tough task.

The Suns hold 13th on the ladder at 5-6 but are just four points from the fifth-placed Port Adelaide after the first 12 rounds of the AFL.

It’s the best position Gold Coast have been in since 2014 when they went from sitting in the top eight in the first half of the year before falling away.

Lynch said the Suns had given themselves a good platform to push for a maiden finals appearance but it was far from a “done deal” in a competition where they could slide out of contention at any point.

“We have a long way to go yet to be thinking about finals,” Lynch said.

“We are only 5-6 so (Round 13 against Carlton) is a massive game for our club to try and get back to 6-6 and give ourselves a good platform for the second half of the year.

“It’s going to be tough to get into finals this year, everyone is so even and from first to 18th ... it’s tough opposition.

“It’s the closest year I can remember in recent memory and it’s really going to be tough in this second half to get enough wins and push for those finals.”

Lynch said the Suns had shown growth by holding off the fast-finishing Hawthorn and West Coast in successive weeks, but stressed the need to shut down teams earlier.

“It was good to get the win but we are not completely satisfied with how we went about it,” Lynch said.

“We were happy with our first half (but) in the last quarter (against Hawthorn) we let them back in it.

“It’s good growth in the group to say we got the win but we are disappointed with the last quarter and letting them get that close in the end.

“It’s just good practice for the boys to be put into those situations. We managed two weeks in a row to respond and get the four points.

“We have Carlton this week and we need to back up again.”