SUNS skipper Jarrod Witts continued his impressive run of form in 2019 on Saturday night, but the team’s performance wasn’t enough to overcome ladder-leaders Geelong at Metricon Stadium. 

Witts was a monster around stoppages with 51 hitouts for the match, but said a drop in intensity in the final quarter cost the SUNS an upset win at home.

“Three quarters of elite pressure again to take it up to the top team was really impressive but unfortunately we couldn’t maintain that pressure and our great contest that we had for the first three quarters in that last quarter,” Witts said post-match.

“We couldn’t keep it inside our forward half and their running half-backs got on top of us a bit at the end.

“Everyone here has got that real spirit to win so yeah we’re flat but I think we understand that we can take a bit more out of this one than last week so there’s a bit more positive stuff.”

Despite sticking with the Cats for three quarters, Witts said the team weren’t going to be content with a ‘near enough is good enough’ mentality.

“We spoke about being physical around the contest and that’s our brand,” Witts said.

“At times we really cracked in and we made them a bit jumpy but unfortunately it’s a four quarter game and we couldn’t quite maintain it which is disappointing.

“But that’s something that we’re striving towards.”

It doesn’t get any easier next week when the SUNS travel to Sydney to take on a GWS side placed third on the AFL ladder.

“We really respect GWS, they’re a quality team and they’ve had sustained success for a while,” the SUNS captain said.

“Like tonight we’ll back ourselves in our pressure and our contest and getting the ball forward and it’s on us to bring it again and back it up.”