While conceding the SUNS are not where they want to be after five rounds, GC SUNS General Manager of Football Performance Wayne Campbell says the SUNS know what they need to do to get their season rolling.
The SUNS were forced to rue missed opportunities against the Dockers who finished the stronger side at Norwood Oval on Friday night.
Making the most of momentum whilst also being able to arrest it when it’s going the other way is a facet the SUNS will continue to focus on and develop.
“When we’ve played well we’ve shown that we’ve got a really good style of play both offensively and defensively,” Campbell said.
“Against Essendon and Fremantle, we thought we showed enough to win the game but we haven’t been able to put scoreboard pressure on when we’ve had momentum.
“When momentum goes against you, it takes mental toughness to stay in there for longer which we’re certainly developing.
“There have been many promising signs in games but we’ve only put it together in one game completely against Geelong.”
Campbell said the review from the match against Fremantle showed the breakthrough wasn’t far away – and the SUNS brand of football stacked up against the best.
“We’ve shown vision of things that we’re doing well,” Campbell added.
“The first half against Fremantle – there was some really good footy there against a good team.
“Essendon have shown they’re a pretty good team and we pushed them.
“Pushing teams is not good enough in this competition but it is a bloody hard competition and it’s really even.
“So those two examples show that we can do it. We feel like last week we turned a corner but just didn’t get the result we were after.”
It will be capitalisation on opportunities that will have the SUNS, with fitness not being a concern, primed to close out games on its terms.
“I do think a lot of it is capitalising. You’ve only got to kick another couple of goals and it’s a bit of a different game - that’s a mental thing obviously so that’s the bit we’ve got to improve,” Campbell continued.
“Alex (Rigby) and his team and our medical staff do a magnificent job of getting our boys fit and we’ve got great availability at the moment.”
Admitting the pressure around the squad is heightened given its position, Campbell reinforced that the SUNS know what it needs to control to reap the rewards.
“If you win some games the pressure drops a little bit and if you lose some games it ramps up a little bit.
“We are doing some things well, so we’re trying to do more of those and less of the stuff that we’ve got to fix.
“We were 2-5 last year and dug our way out to get ahead of the ledger around the bye… we’ll have a crack at North Melbourne and get on with it from there.”
