Gold Coast SUNS coach Rodney Eade is confident that his side can be competitive with anyone if they produce the same level of effort and intent that they did against North Melbourne. But if they don’t, then they can fall to anyone.
 
In the weeks leading into the bye, the SUNS produced patches of consistent effort against highly fancied opposition in Sydney and Fremantle. After the mid-year interval, the effort against Carlton was lacklustre to say the least.
 
On the weekend, Gold Coast produced the most comprehensive four-quarter performance of their season to sweep North Melbourne aside and breathe life into a season that has been bleak to say the least.
 
In the aftermath of the second victory under his tutelage, the veteran football mentor was under no illusion that despite the return of class, if the SUNS are going to build a resurgence they will need to play with a similar vein of effort and intensity from siren to siren, regardless of whom the opposition is.
 
“I think our aim and our focus, and that’s what was disappointing last week, is we achieve something out of the back half of the season and that’s our aim,” Eade told the media following Gold Coast’s victory over the Kangaroos.
 
“I think all you can ask for is effort. I keep talking about that. Now with a few more players back and a bit of quality, you’d hope if you’ve got that effort the quality of performance will improve.
 
“But the competition is that even as well. We’ve beaten the team that finished top four last year, starting to get their season on track – we’ve done extremely well.
 
“But that doesn’t mean that we can actually produce that against a team that’s further down the ladder than them because it’s that even. You look at the GWS Giants today, they nearly beat Richmond. It’s that even.
 
“You really need to bring that effort week in and week out. We’re still learning that, (we’re) still relatively young.”