Gold Coast coach Rodney Eade was at a loss to explain his team's dismal start in the QClash at Metricon Stadium.
Eade said he hopes it was an "aberration" that handed his SUNS the task to pull back from a 46 point half-time deficit, tie up the scores in the last quarter and then fall by two points to the Brisbane Lions.
"I think their attitude is pretty good. It's an interesting one. We can all be amateur psychologists, but do they handle being favourites, do they think it's just going to happen? I don't know," he said.
"I like to think it's an aberration what happened in the first quarter and a bit.
“So, we've got to pick ourselves up and be positive.
“It's a tough game next week, but we have to go to Sydney and win. It's not about effort, we've got to get on the board."
Eade was puzzled by the tardy start that allowed the Lions to kick seven goals to two in the opening term, but he was heartened by the fightback once he adjusted the structure and mindset of his team at half-time.
"I wish I knew (what caused the slow start).
“They were sharper, they had more numbers to the ball and used it extremely well. We didn't put enough pressure on and that was the game really - that 20 minutes.
"We thought the momentum arrested about 20 minutes in the first quarter, but it was a bit later than you would like. You should be able to close it up and make it a fight.
"The second quarter we were predictable what we did and the players didn't adjust, and then we changed some things at half-time.
“But you get what you deserve in footy and even though we dominated a lot of the stats, they deserved to win.
"Whether they just thought it was going to happen, I'm not too sure. I would probably have to have a think about it and ask a few guys.
“We were really flatfooted.
"We started to lower our eyes a bit. I thought we bombed it early and were too (Tom) Lynch-conscious. After half-time we were a lot better, but the scoreboard reflects where it's at.
"We had to take the game on.
“You talk about momentum, you would have thought when scores got level, we had momentum. And then you felt the momentum swing and for some reason they won a few more ground balls and we played a bit safe. And we had got back into the game by taking it on, so that was disappointing."
