By Michael Whiting
Gold Coast SUNS coach Guy McKenna says his young team can now look forward to a brutal month of football with renewed confidence after Saturday's 15-point win over Richmond in Cairns.
The GC SUNS snapped an eight-match losing streak and moved off the bottom of the table with their third win of the season, but face an arduous four weeks that will test their improvement.
They return to Metricon Stadium next Saturday night to host premiers Collingwood, then play St Kilda (home), Geelong (away) and Queensland rivals the Brisbane Lions (away).
McKenna said the come-from-behind win over the Tigers held them in good stead.
"It would certainly help the boys," McKenna said.
"We certainly get some confidence out of this week and we look forward to the challenge ahead and embrace it.
"That next month of footy for us is going to be a fantastic opportunity to see how far the boys have come."
McKenna said not only did Saturday's result give his players confidence, but also the coaching group.
"I think at any stage for the group a win's fantastic, it gives them a bit of confidence and it gives us coaches a bit of confidence to know we're developing a style of game that can win games of footy," he said.
McKenna gave the players three days off after a poor showing against the Sydney Swans last weekend and said they responded well.
They kicked five goals to one in the final quarter and finished full of run.
GC SUNS captain Gary Ablett overcame a knee injury suffered against the Swans to not only start, but star in the win.
McKenna started him forward before moving him into the midfield, finishing with 27 disposals and one goal.
The Gold Coast coach said it was a terrific team effort and praised experienced defenders Nathan Bock and Campbell Brown, former Collingwood pair Sam Iles and Danny Stanley, and youngsters David Swallow, Zac Smith and Trent McKenzie.
McKenna said he felt Cairns was a terrific "country zone" for the GC SUNS and felt they had the majority of support despite it being a Richmond home game.
"I felt we got more roars when we kicked a goal rather than Richmond so we'd certainly take that," he said.
"We've been up here a few times already. It's now our country zone, our junior zone, and we're going to spend a lot more time here. AFLQ have done a fantastic job and we want to promote it and bring the players back when we can and showcase the talent."
