NO MORE NICE GIRLS
SUNS UP THE AFLW ANTE:
CLOSE enough is no longer good enough for the Suns.
Still searching for their second win heading into Round 6 of the AFLW season, coach David Lake said simply being competitive was not acceptable as they continued to chase a finals spot.
“Being close and being celebrated as ‘wow the Gold Coast have brought something really good,’ that’s not enough,” he said. “That gets you no points on the ladder.
“If you don’t win, being a good second-best doesn’t get you anything.”
After five games, the Suns sit sixth on the Conference A ladder with a win, three losses and a draw and must win their remaining three games to be any chance of qualifying for finals. And Lake knows it.
“We had four games (left) and we needed to win three of them,” he said.
“In an ideal world, you win the first three and lose the last one but now we’ve put the work in front of us.
“We need to win the next three if we are to be contenders so it’s very significant”
“If you don’t get to four and a half wins, you’re probably not going to play. These three games I talk about and needing to win them and knowing what you need to get out of yourself to win them, that’s probably where the lesson does lie now.”
On Sunday, the Suns take on fellow expansion side the West Coast Eagles in Perth.
Lake is confident his side is better prepared for the possibility of West Coast gaining momentum following the second half of last Friday’s clash against Geelong where the Cats quickly gained ascendancy.
“When you feel someone trying to make you play a certain way, it’s having the courage to still try to play your way and find that space and shift the ball and have the confidence to do that,” he said. “The biggest mistake is not trying it out.”