Gold Coast is more than capable of handling the hype that has found its way to Metricon Stadium, says senior coach Guy McKenna.

The SUNS sit comfortably entrenched in the top eight after pushing past Richmond, Brisbane, Melbourne, Greater Western Sydney and North Melbourne in the opening seven rounds, and has stamped its mark as a genuine finals contender this year.

But as further pressure begins to mount on a possible maiden finals berth, the Gold Coast mentor says his team is ready to be consistent performers in the always-testing, AFL competition.

He said haunting memories of regular floggings in the club’s first few seasons has serves as a catalyst behind Gold Coast now wanting to inflict some of their own punishment on the national platform.  

“The boys have had their fair share of copping it in the neck so when it comes time to handing it out, they’ll be happy to do so,’’ McKenna told The Courier Mail.

“We’ve still got to learn how to step on an opposition’s throat when we get the chance but that will come in time.

“There’s a lot of hype around us now being 5-2 but apart from last weekend, we have beaten teams we probably should have beaten anyway.

“In our two losses, we got whacked when last year’s grand finalists opened us up badly so we are aware of where we are at.

“It’s a 22-game season so as far as we are all concerned, we’ve completed one lap and there’s two very hard laps to go.

“The win over the Kangaroos gives us valuable things like confidence and belief but we are under no illusions about the challenge ahead.’’

Whilst the playing group is still in the midst of their scheduled round eight bye round, the SUNS will fancy their chances against St. Kilda, Western Bulldogs and Adelaide in their next three premiership matches.

But a true test of character has been set starting in the month of June, when the team will take on competition heavyweights Sydney (home), West Coast (away), Geelong (home), Hawthorn (away) and Collingwood (home) over a five-week stretch.