SUNS captain David Swallow was at a loss for words after the sub-standard first half against Richmond on Saturday.

The Tigers had cracked the century at the main break and speaking to SUNS Media post-match, Swallow said there was no sugar-coating the performance. 

“Yeah it’s pretty disappointing in terms of we just didn’t turn up to play in the first half,” he said. 

“The game was pretty much gone within the first 10 minutes of the game. 

“They were able to beat us comprehensively all around the ground, it’s pretty disappointing.”

The SUNS have proven to be competitive this season which leads Swallow to believe the first-half result was a mental obstacle rather than capability.

“It clearly had to be mindset,” he said.

“We’ve shown we’ve been competitive all year so for us to just not turn up, it’s got to be between the ears.

“We’ll have to have a real solid chat during the week and try to figure out why.”

Gold Coast came out after half-time with intent to keep the margin relatively in-check, but the damage had already been done.

The SUNS were even able to win the third quarter with four goals to three. 

“That’s been our message going in, we want to win as many quarters as we can,” Swallow said.

“We weren’t able to win the first two so we just had to reset and try to take back the second half.

“I guess the message was just really about trying to have pride in the jumper because our first half was certainly unacceptable.”

The SUNS have a week to review and prepare before taking on Adelaide at Metricon Stadium this Saturday.