If Gold Coast took the Brisbane Lions lightly earlier this season, there's no chance of a repeat on Saturday, says SUNS coach Rodney Eade.
The Lions upset the then-unbeaten SUNS in round four with a 13-point win – their only victory of the season – but Eade says his men are ready for anything this time around.
He said the biggest lesson from the loss was "preparation", going on to say that this week's training at Metricon Stadium had been impeccable.
"I think any young team that wins three in a row probably thinks it will keep rolling on," Eade said.
"As you can see, a loss, injuries and a whole range of things, it can turn around pretty quickly.
"That's why we've just got to focus on the job at hand and back up."
Eade described Thursday's main training session as "excellent" and said there was a direct correlation between how the SUNS trained and how they played.
"All the indications at this stage are pretty good," he said.
The coach said he expected early aggression as the QClash rivalry gained momentum, but believed it was a good challenge for the SUNS to work through.
Despite the Lions losing 10 straight matches since their last encounter, he expected their best form at Metricon Stadium.
Eade admitted the Lions had possibly previously raised their level of play more than the SUNS for the Queensland rivalry.
"There's been a bit of focus on it this week, we've spoken about round four and we've mentioned the opposition, but our main focus has been to back up what we've been able to progress in the last three or four weeks," he said.
"Last time they tried to agitate some players and that's fine, that's part of the game and we've got to be able to cope with that.
"We expect it to be physical, especially early.
"We're expecting a close game."
