According to Gold Coast SUNS senior coach Guy McKenna, the team’s draftees not only have an amazing opportunity to reach their full potential, they can also be the keys to pushing established stars such as Gary Ablett and Michael Rischitelli to even greater heights.

With the club’s eight draftees arriving and settling into the club over the last week, the entire team is now together and preseason training is in full swing.

McKenna said it was great for the draftees to be rubbing shoulders on the training track with seasoned AFL players, but that they can’t be content with just being along for the ride.

“We often speak about it. It is about those young kids pushing up past them. They need to challenge our good players. That’s the way that good players get better,” said McKenna.

“One of the wise old sages I used to play for in Mick Malthouse used to say ‘you need to improve at least ten per cent from your previous year’, because if you stay still, opposition and opposition clubs will go past you.”

Gold Coast SUNS player Michael Rischitelli was the Best and Fairest winner for the Brisbane Lions in 2010 but McKenna is looking for even more production from the star midfielder in 2011.

“We need to go past him, if we stay behind and respect him too much and don’t challenge him, well then he’s not going to improve,” said McKenna.

“Our kids know that, they understand that, and the good thing about them is that they are willing to roll up their sleeves and do it.”

According to McKenna, even dual premiership player and Brownlow Medallist Gary Ablett can benefit from the presence of the draftees.

“For us to get more out of Gary we’ve got to push him. So I want Josh Caddy, Dion Prestia pushing up and going past him, because then Gary realises ‘well, hang on, I’ve gotta work a bit harder’,” he said.

“So if he improves, we improve, and Josh Caddy improves, because now he’s out muscling and out working Gary Ablett and that’s going to make him a better footballer.”