By Harry Thring

Gold Coast SUNS coach Guy McKenna says the SUNS will bulk up over the pre-season and, with more experience, improve rapidly, setting the stage for a breakout 2013 season.

An undersized SUNS outfit was shown up on Saturday afternoon by a Crows team that McKenna likened to "M1 tanks".

Adelaide has attributed some of its success in 2012 to its players' bigger bodies and with the Crows' fitness manager Stephen Schwerdt to join the SUNS for next season, McKenna is hopeful his youngsters could develop in similar fashion.

You saw today, whether it's the hoops of Adelaide ... it's like the M1 tanks playing with little dune buggies out there, McKenna said.

"We can compete till half-time and that's the thing, I think they've got the smarts to play, but just that physical and contested brand of footy Adelaide play and that's why they're playing finals football.

We've had two years of a very measured program, we'll get Stephen Schwerdt up to Gold Coast next year and his experiences will say that we'll take another step physically and that will enable our boys to compete for longer.

The re-signed coach said the efforts of 21-year-old ruckman Charlie Dixon were to be praised, with the original SUNS attack on the ball second to none early in Saturday's contest.

Dixon didn't hesitate to throw his enormous, 200cm, 105kg frame at contests and opposition players, and usually came out with the ball in his possession ready to dish off to a teammate.

McKenna said injury had held Dixon back at stages, but that his ferocity at the contest was "spooky".

"He really set the scene and look, he's still not fit, and that's the spooky thing," he said.

We're just seeing the tip of the iceberg with Charlie and we know he's a natural competitor, competes really hard, he's always banged up and knocked up and his attack on the ball set a really good example for us early.

"II think he's probably mirrored our backend of the season, he's just got better and better."

While he admitted his side ran out of "petrol tickets" against the Crows, McKenna said the end of the season filled him with hope for what 2013 held.

McKenna said the SUNS had improved significantly this season, especially in the last month of football which has seen the young side claim wins over GWS and Carlton and compete for large periods against Hawthorn and Adelaide.

"Certainly in the last three or four games the boys have been able to put their hand up, as I said, compete with Hawthorn for three quarters, knock over Carlton and compete with Adelaide in Adelaide for half a game of football," he said.

"I haven't seen us do that for a period of time, we didn't see it last year and for the boys to get to this stage of the season I think it's a really good step going forward."