The storm clouds that drenched the Metricon Stadium precinct last week have slowly begun to part.

At the SUNS’ Tuesday afternoon training session, perhaps the sun peeking through to bounce off the home turf signalled the start of a new chapter.

Gold Coast hopes so.

They had an uncomfortable review of Saturday's game on Monday that included the presence of CEO Mark Evans, and were hammered by national media in the past few days.

At a press conference earlier on Tuesday, veteran midfielder Michael Barlow echoed Evans' words that the club would fight its current plight together.

But you have no choice in footy but to front up again, and based on Tuesday afternoon's skills session at least, the SUNS are practising what they've preached – they're sticking together.

Early in the 70-minute session, players took turns at running through a tunnel of their teammates – where they were pushed and shoved to simulate pressure – before popping out the other end to kick for goal.

At the players' request, Rodney Eade was ushered through the tunnel for a turn, copping his share of jokes and light-hearted jeering before emerging out the other side.

After his bit of fun with the players though, he was happy to let his assistant coaches run most of the session as the players split off into four or five groups to work on specific skills.

Dean Solomon, Andy Lovell, Ashley Prescott and Matthew Primus each had a group, and 'Rocket' was happy to mainly observe from the middle.

It's not unusual at SUNS sessions for him to speak early – and he gathered all the players in the centre of the ground for a mid-session chat – before letting the other coaches take control.

Gary Ablett spent plenty of time in a short-sided game that gave players a split second to assess their options and hit a target.

Not surprisingly – at least in my time with the binoculars on him – the dual Brownlow medallist didn't miss a single kick.

During the pre-season he was big on taking younger players aside and individually instructing them on the finer points of winning a contested ball or getting their body position right.

Tuesday's session didn't really allow much one-on-one time between the players, but Ablett looked engaged and energetic.

Whether it was a mantra prior to the session or not, it was clear the players were focussed on plenty of talk – and doing it loudly.

While the usual assortment of voices (Tom Lynch and Barlow among them) were flying around, one who could be heard above most was young back pocket Sean Lemmens.

He was quite happy to instruct more senior figures on where they should be standing and what they should be doing.

After a strenuous 10-minute wrestling session, which pitted players one-on-one in confined spaces, it was time to wind up.

Ryan Davis, Jarryd Lyons and Lemmens all had a crack – unsuccessfully – at pinning Ablett, and the strain on the faces of big men Jarrod Witts and Peter Wright as they busted a gut to drop each other, was fair evidence the players cared.