One thing that has been evident throughout the week has been the resolve and focus of Gold Coast SUNS players, who have focused their entire energies towards this week’s opponent in Carlton rather than savouring in last week’s historic win in Perth.

Senior coach Rodney Eade has been happy with the approach his players have been taking in their preparations for the Blues on Saturday night.

“I think their attitude has been great,” Eade told United Coaches Chat.

“They really spoke after the game last week. Obviously very happy with the win but it was back to focus on the next week’s game so we’re taking a mature approach to it, which is what you’d hope anyway.

“Early in the week, obviously coming back from Perth, it was a lot of recovery. Tuesday was a light day but they moved well today so they seem to be in a good headspace.”

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A key change in the players’ attitudes has been the shift of ownership of behaviours and standards, which now sits with the player leadership group.

Led by captain Gary Ablett and vice-captains Tom Lynch, Steven May and Dion Prestia, the players spoke to one another about the importance of backing up their performance against the Dockers with another four-quarter effort this week.

Eade sees the strong development in the leadership space but concedes there is still room for improvement within.

“We’re pleased with their development, the growth that we’ve had in leadership starting with halfway through last year,” Eade said.

“Really since then it’s really accelerated. We’ve still got a bit of work to do but the players are taking responsibility for driving those standards and the hard work at training, the hard work in the games.”