SUNS SET SIGHTS ON 2020 BUILD
WINTER SERIES LOSS DOESN’T HURT PLANS
BRISBANE have sealed the QW Winter Series over Gold Coast but Suns coach David Lake says he is happy to hand them “big dog status” as he focuses on discovering who will fill his AFLW list.
The Lions beat Gold Coast 4.8 (32) to 2.1 (13) at Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay on Sunday to secure an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-game series.
Gold Coast didn’t score until the third-quarter and it was Kalinda Howarth and Sally Riley who booted their majors.
Lake still has 12 spots to fill on his 30-player list and he said losing the series didn’t affect him or the squad.
“The score was the most irrelevant part,” Lake said.
“Yes they are Winter Series champions. What does that bring for them? Big dog status I guess.
“But for us it brought another high level opportunity for us to establish ourselves and work out our direction. We have to be solid, others we don’t find talent so we have to go out on a limb a bit.
“There were a dozen players (on Sunday) playing for their footy lives and I thought some of them made a really good account of themselves.
“Without going into people, I felt like I learnt about three to four players who I needed to know where they were at.
“If you’re five goals up then you don’t learn as much.
“I walk away from this with a bit more information about where my list is going. Some of that is bad for some people and some of that is good for some people.
“That is why we play these games, to build our list and make sure we land in the right place come October.”
Lake said he could see the improvements in the side from the first game of the series last month.
“Absolutely (with) our skill level,” Lake said.
“To be able to change halfway through a game and stand for something different in the second half, you have clearly learnt something.
“It’s about bringing that out. That’s the exciting part. We just have to get better at that now and grow two good quarters into three quarters.
“Our objective in the next game will be to play a bit better for longer and start a bit better.”