In a week where off-field behaviours have been forensically examined and every news outlet in the country has had their say, midfielder Mitch Hallahan has praised the progress the Gold Coast SUNS have made in terms of their professional approach to football under new coach Rodney Eade.
 
Since arriving from Hawthorn at the start of November, roughly at the same time as Sydney All Australian Nick Malceski and veteran coach Eade, the trio have previously expressed their desire to imprint a higher set of principles to live by, both in life in general and in their craft.
 
Whilst the win-loss column may imply a significant decline in on-field performance this season, Hallahan echoed the sentiments regularly expressed by Eade throughout 2015: Gold Coast has taken emphatic steps forward in the last six months. And whilst the benefits haven’t immediately translated to success, by building a foundation properly, the future will be more sustainable.
 
“When I walked into the club, there were certain standards around football preparation that weren’t ideal,” Hallahan told the media at Metricon Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.
 
“But in my time here - in the last six months - the group has grown enormously in our expectations of each other and what’s required to be at the elite level.
 
“We all know Hawthorn the way they conduct themselves off-field they are second to none. I wouldn’t say we’re a long way off, but when I did arrive there were some (things) just preparation in terms of our training, which wasn’t great.
 
“Nick Malceski has said the same thing when he come here, Rocket said the same thing. There were things that we identified early in the piece that we needed to get right and the last three or four months we’ve really stepped up that.”
 
Due to the nature of this game, the football world is only able to judge a side on the back of a 120-minute window once a week. Internal growth is almost impossible to measure from the outside, but as Hallahan told reporters on Tuesday, those that matter on the inside are seeing behavioural change.
 
“Our overall intensity on the track has been huge, particularly the last three or four weeks. We’ve had a tough month out on the field playing five of the top six sides. I think we answered that challenge really well,” Hallahan said.
 
“Just our stuff off the field, our training, our diet, our weights, just those little things that are going to help us on the field have been improving week by week. Again that just shows the growth of the group.”