Second-year star Jaeger O’Meara has refused to blame Gold Coast’s recent run of outs on the team’s youthful list.

The GC SUNS have lost three of their past four games to teams in the bottom third of the table, which has left the club’s finals hopes hanging precariously.

Only three players over the age of 25 lined up for the SUNS in the last start 39-point loss to Carlton.

The Blues players had an average of 88 games under their belts, while Gold Coast’s line-up had exactly half that level of experience.

O’Meara said the team needed to find a way to cope with getting through the tail end of a season and inexperience was no excuse.

“Everyone in the competition is probably a little bit sore and tired at this stage of the year,” O’Meara told The Courier Mail. “That’s just footy, so we can’t use it as an excuse, not at all.

“We’ve just been too inconsistent. It’s got nothing to do with us being a young team.

“(The loss to Carlton) was pretty disappointing, given what was on the line. They were just harder at it for longer than what we were. That makes the loss sting a bit more than normal.”

Last year’s NAB AFL Rising Star winner said the team had to recapture its best form to have any hope of playing in September.

“We’ve got three weeks left in the home-and-away season, and we are going to have a real hard crack at it,” he said.

“We need to do everything right and have the best possible preparation if we want to beat Port.”

Saturday’s match at Metricon Stadium against Power is Locals Round with Gold Coast residents getting reduced price entry to the ground. There will also be a number of activities around the stadium precinct for fans to enjoy.