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By Michael Whiting
Geelong is not bringing its strongest team, but Gold Coast SUNS coach Guy McKenna can't wait to play the premiers at Metricon Stadium on Friday night and put his team's off-season mantra to the test.
Last season the young GC SUNS made a habit of competing for half a game before fading, and this was no more evident than in round 10 when they played in the inagural Metricon match against the Cats.
With Karmichael Hunt's unforgettable running goal a standout, the upstart Gold Coast led the competition front-runners by 11 points at half-time.
However, after the break, seven goals from Steve Johnson helped rain on the parade as Geelong cruised to a 66-point win.
McKenna said the past six months had been all about developing a stronger, more competitive unit that was harder to break down.
"If we're seen to improve we have to get longer into games where we're competitive and that’s been our mantra and our challenge over the pre-season and hopefully we can do that," McKenna said.
"I know it's not the same side they brought up last time for our first game at Metricon, but it's a premiership club and I think all the players that take part from the Gold Coast SUNS have a chance to forge a reputation against some premiership players."
Geelong has a relatively inexperienced team coming to the Gold Coast, but the likes of Joel Selwood, Jimmy Bartel, Harry Taylor and Andrew Mackie give it a hardened edge.
McKenna said a lot of the Cats' younger players were ready to impress coach Chris Scott after multiple seasons of sitting behind the established stars.
"It mightn't be their best team, but it's the best club, the reigning premiers, there's still going to be 22 jumpers running around for Geelong and we get a chance to test ourselves," he said.
"We're coming off a very low base, we need to push forward, we need to get better, and what better way to do that than test yourself against the premiership club."
Aside from the hiccup of losing forward/ruck Charlie Dixon to a minor ankle injury, the GC SUNS have picked a strong outfit bolstered by the inclusion of Tom Lynch (ankle), who will partner Nathan Bock in the forward line.
McKenna said while he was eager to give his younger players a run, it was coming to the stage of the pre-season where the GC SUNS had to settle on a combination ahead of round one against Adelaide on March 31.
"We've said all along to be fair on our senior players and our supporters in general, we need to settle the side down as soon as we possibly can, so again this weekend gives us another chance to do that against the reigning premiers."
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