The difference between round one and almost every other round is the level of expectation built from inactivity. With more than six months between fixtures for premiership points, round one generates plenty of hype and an abundance of anticipation.
 
For the Gold Coast SUNS, the opening game of the season was a disaster. But after a stringent review of the defeat to Melbourne on Easter Saturday, tall utility Daniel Gorringe revealed the club had undertaken an in-depth biopsy of the 26-point loss and had accepted some harsh truths.
 
“We’ve had a couple of days of some strong, brutally honest reviews,” Gorringe told SUNS TV on Tuesday afternoon.
 
“We took it pretty hard, we thought were a lot better than that, we know we are all lot better than that, but now we move our focus to St Kilda and start building towards that.”
 
SUNS offensive coach Ashley Prescott was satisfied with the manner in which the forwards presented on Saturday, but with spearheads Tom Lynch and Charlie Dixon missing, Gold Coast lacked a real presence inside 50.
 
“The positives he took out was we actually moved alright in there, we lead well, lead to good spots, overall I don’t think our pressure was that bad in there,” Gorringe said.
 
“We can obviously get better, and we’re looking to get better, but Ash just said the way we’re moving in there is a good start for round one, but we can get a lot better than that.”
 
The versatile South Australian was singled out by Gold Coast coach Rodney Eade in his post-game press conference for the amount of effort and intensity he brought against the Demons.
 
His ability to play a variety roles across a game is an invaluable commodity in modern football, especially with interchange restrictions and the relatively recent substitute rule. Gorringe sees his versatility as a strength of his football and something that will help secure him a spot in Eade’s best 22.
 
“I think I’m pretty versatile, I can play back, I can play midfield, I can play forward,” he said.
 
“Hopefully that does come to the table when they’re picking teams and who they want in an out. All I can control is my effort each week and my attitude.”