Despite saying too much work has been left to too few players in recent weeks, Gold Coast coach Guy McKenna has assured his team no one is playing for their future over the next fortnight.

After a lightning start to the season the SUNS have faded badly to drop eight of their past 11 matches to plummet from the top four to 11th position.

To qualify for a maiden finals appearance they must beat Essendon at Etihad Stadium on Saturday, then West Coast at Metricon Stadium next week, and hope other results go their way.

McKenna said his first priority was to recapture the form that shot the SUNS to a 7-2 start, and that could only happen with a more even contribution.

He said injuries and a long season for his young list had taken its toll, but more players needed to lift.

"Right now, Dion Prestia, David Swallow, Tom Lynch to a lesser degree, Jaeger O'Meara, all the blokes I think that have been under siege over the last two months … they're producing reasonable football," McKenna said before departing for Melbourne on Friday morning.

"We've got too few doing too much at the moment.

"We're not blaming anyone, that's a fact of life. If we get 15, 14 contributors … winning their own individual battles, you win the game.

"In the early part of the season we were doing that. For all those other reasons - injury, fitness, (disrupted) pre-seasons - we've now cut that back to eight to 10 on a good day."

The SUNS' injury toll has mounted as the season wears on, with skipper Gary Ablett (shoulder) the most notable absentee over recent weeks.

Aside from the dual Brownlow medallist, Gold Coast has also been without Zac Smith, Tom Nicholls, Jack Martin, Charlie Dixon, Steven May, Trent McKenzie, Brandon Matera and Kade Kolodjashnij for important periods.

McKenna said the long list – and lack of depth – made it hard to drop players for poor form.

However, he said the remaining matches would not impact on whether players were delisted or not.

The SUNS must trim their list by five players – allowing for three new draftees – at the end of the season, and have already seen Nathan Bock and Tom Murphy retire, and Campbell Brown sacked.

"There's no one playing for their futures," McKenna said.

"We understand where we're at. We understand the reasons behind some blokes gasping for air (struggling late in the season). They have to work their way through that."