Instead of allowing his team to become discouraged after a number of close losses, SUNS Senior Coach Stuart Dew is reinforcing the good work his team is putting in each week to be in a position to win the game.
Gold Coast has had three games decided by less than a goal in the past month and had its opportunities to get the four points against Richmond on Monday night.
But the Tigers were ultimately too powerful when it counted most, although that didn’t stop Dew from praising his team’s performance against the reigning premiers post-match.
“It’s exciting to be able to put it up against that team there that’s going to go deep,” Dew said.
“It’s not that we’re wallowing in frustration but I think we took the game on tonight against a quality footy side.
“We didn’t want to play safe – we had a crack through the corridor and some came off and some didn’t.
“I think now they’ve got real belief that we can weather the storm and push back.
“We had opportunities at different parts of the game for sure but we said after the game we love the way the boys are playing.”
It could be easy for the SUNS to become disheartened with just two points to show for their competitive month of football, but Dew said the players were up for the challenge and relished the opportunity to learn and get better.
“All in all, the energy is really, really good,” he said.
“We’re not frustrated, we’ve certainly got a clear view of how we want to play the game.
“We’ve challenged the boys and we’ll coach them hard, they love the work.
“I think if we keep showing up, it will turn and when it turns I think they’ll be able to make the most of it.
“From our point of view to be in every game lately and have the fight, I think the consistency (is there).
“We want to play a hard-running, exciting game but there’s a finishing element that we want to keep working on. In this period coming up we’ll be able to continue to work on that.”
The SUNS have a short turnaround until the next match, hosting Carlton in Darwin for Sir Doug Nicholls Round.
After being rested for the match against Richmond, Dew flagged co-captain David Swallow and veteran defender Jarrod Harbrow would be back to face the Blues.
