Suns take stock as crunch time nears
THE Suns are entering a season-defining three weeks as they edge closer to the end of their time on the road.
The Suns hiatus from their Carrara training and administration base came to an end yesterday with the club sitting at 3-3 and 13th on the ladder.
They are still three games away from playing their first game at Metricon Stadium for the season, a match that starts a run home that will include seven on their own deck.
Upcoming games against Bulldogs (Ballarat), Melbourne (Gabba) and Port (China) could swing the ledger in their favour and provide a platform for new coach Stuart Dew and his side to push for the top eight or crush their ambitions.
Midfielder Jesse Lonergan said the three weeks presented a challenge for the group.
“We have got a tough block coming up,” he said. “We have the Bulldogs this week.
“They are a high pressure and contested ball side, so that’s what we need to bring to the table.
“We are really looking forward to the challenge.’
Gold Coast’s two major losses have come at the hands of West Coast (80 points) and then Adelaide (48 points).
Suns ruckman Jarrod Witts said their slow starts in each game were concerning and the team had learnt they had to get the game on their terms.
“We like to start well and looking back it’s concerning to be down by a fair margin at halftime,” Witts said.
“We didn’t get the game (against Adelaide) on our terms to start with, so it’s about playing our sort of footy, bringing pressure, being smart around the ball and being effective when we have got it.