Jesse Lonergan has found himself in uncharted territory during the last month. As part of Rodney Eade’s evolving red and yellow tapestry, the Tasmanian has moved away from the midfield and into a role as a shutdown defender. And he hasn’t been eased into the role at all.

Since coming in against the Brisbane Lions in round five, the big-bodied utility has spent time on Josh Green, Eddie Betts, Mark LeCras and Jamie Elliott. Hardly soft assignments, particularly for someone with next to no experience down back.

Injuries have engulfed the Gold Coast SUNS in the opening two months of the season, decimating the back six. It has made life even more difficult than it would have been for Lonergan, but similarly to Henry Schade, Jack Leslie and Adam Saad, the added responsibility has been highly beneficial for the inexperienced crop of young players at Metricon Stadium.

Despite being touched up by Adelaide livewire forward Eddie Betts in round six, Lonergan described his experiences down back as invaluable for his football education.

‘‘I hadn’t really played defence before, so it is something new that ‘Rocket’ has put in place, so I can learn a bit more and gain some new experiences,’’ Lonergan told Tasmanian newspaper The Examiner.

‘‘Hopefully it will help grow my game and with guys like Nick Malceski and Jarrod Harbrow at the club, it is good to be able to soak up information from those two.

‘‘The one thing I have learnt is that you have to be switched on all the time and you can’t ball-watch.

‘‘Eddie Betts, a couple of weeks ago, kicked a bag (5.0) on me, and I saw that as just a great opportunity to learn.’’

Gold Coast’s unsatisfactory start to 2015 can be attributed somewhat to a debilitating injury toll that has rarely been seen in the modern era. With Dion Prestia going down with a knee injury this week, four of the top five place getters in last year’s best and fairest have missed large chunks of football this year. And that’s not including prized recruit Nick Malceski.

Lonergan has been one of a number of players who have been given greater opportunity than they otherwise would have at this stage of the season. But given his unfortunate injury history, his luck was going to eventually turn.

‘‘It is great to be in the team even though our injuries have probably helped me get a game so early,’’ he said.

‘‘We are trying to just stick together as a group and those injuries have gone against us, but we can’t use that as an excuse.

‘‘We need to put 100 per cent effort in 100 per cent of the time and really get that brotherhood going when things are tough.’’