After his side's 20.14 (134) to 4.2 (26) defeat to Greater Western Sydney on Saturday night, SUNS coach Stuart Dew won't shy away from the loss.
"We think we've shown a fair bit this year," Dew said.
"If you look at the last two weeks it hasn't been great but in terms of a football
"At times we're going to throw them in the deep end and get some results like this but in order to move
"We need to face up to it. We don't want to shield people away from the big world of AFL footy.
"Now, we want Tom to be part of that and lead the way, as we do all our other leaders."
The young SUNS were routed from start to finish at Spotless Stadium, with key forward Lynch (eight possessions) barely touching the ball.
Gold Coast fielded an inexperienced midfield in the contest and lost the clearances 54-36 and contested ball 185-134.
Among the youngsters given a run in the engine room were Ben Ainsworth (24 games), Brad Scheer (eight), Will Brodie (five) and Jack Bowes (21). Touk Miller (71) and Lachie Weller (58) were also there.
Dew described the result as a "huge learning curve" and said the comprehensive belting started off the field.
"When it happens that early in the game, it's mindset," he said.
"In the last quarter if it happens you can maybe see physical elements to it.
"But we'll be more interested in what's their mindset going into a game like this on the back of last week? What's their mindset when the opposition kick a couple in the second quarter? How can they influence the game? How can they influence teammates?
"We've got a lot of
