Following his side’s round four QClash loss to Brisbane, coach Rodney Eade demanded more from his midfield group.

The Gold Coast engine room were smashed in all facets at the Gabba with disposals (-60), inside 50s (-18) and contested possessions (-22) of particular concern but bounced back against North Melbourne to narrow those key indicators despite a 38-point loss.

A differential of +4 for disposals and -4 for contested possessions told the story of last Saturday’s game at Metricon Stadium.

Eade admitted he was pleased overall with his midfield’s effort against the ladder-leading Kangaroos but there were still areas for improvement.

“There were some signs it was a bit more positive. There were still some areas that they can get better at,” Eade told United Coaches Chat.

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“Contested ball at times we lost some vital ones even though the stats were reasonably even at the end of the game and maybe a bit of the defensive running at times.

“But having said that they got a bit more of the ball (but) they’ll need to be on their game this week though.”

One such area for improvement was in the centre clearances where the SUNS were smashed 19-10 courtesy of a best-on-ground performance by All Australian ruckman Todd Goldstein.

“Not a concern but it’s an area we need to fix up. It was poor last week,” Eade said.

“Having said that we only had 10, we scored 1.5, they scored 5.1 so again last week our skills and our efficiency when we’ve had the ball.

“If we had been able to take advantage of our centre square we might have been a bit closer.”

The task awaiting the SUNS midfielders is another tough one, with Geelong’s one-two punch of Joel Selwood and Patrick Dangerfield arguably the most dangerous midfield tandem in the AFL.

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Individually, they dominate many KPIs across the competition. Dangerfield ranks first in the league for inside 50s (7.6 per game), third for hardball gets (6.8 per game) and fourth for contested possessions (15.4 per game).

Meanwhile, Selwood is second in the AFL for clearances (8.2 per game), fourth for goal assists (1.6 per game) and 14th for contested possessions (13 per game).

While Gold Coast won’t be able to eradicate either of those two players having an impact, a team approach and increased pressure will help with nullifying them.

“I think it’s going to be a team approach,” Eade said.

“Obviously they’re very strong, tough players who can run quickly through the stoppage so we’re going to have our pressure up.”