Gold Coast SUNS 'Cannon' Trent McKenzie says a club suspension for ill-discipline drove him to one of his best games of the season against Carlton on Saturday night.

McKenzie was forced to sit out the round 21 loss against Hawthorn after missing a compulsory team recovery session the previous week.

Reinstated against the Blues, the 20-year-old was strong in defence, collected 16 disposals and landed a trademark long-range goal from beyond 60m.

Speaking on the Gold Coast on Tuesday morning ahead of the SUNS final match against Adelaide, McKenzie said the suspension was tough to swallow.

It was pretty bad. I tried to pick it up on the weekend and give something back to the team.

McKenzie said "It was pretty hard, but I've moved on."

He said coach Guy McKenna did not harp on the misdemeanour, but let McKenzie learn the lesson himself.

He said 'Do the crime, do the time'. I was back last week and we moved on.

Like many of his teammates, it's been a tough second season for McKenzie after storming on to the scene in 2011 with his booming left boot.

He had an injury-interrupted pre-season and struggled the first half of the year before picking up his form in the past eight weeks.

Once round one started I was basically starting my pre-season then. It is hard but I've learnt a lot along the way.

he said.

"It is pretty tough, but you can only control what you can. I try to do my best every week and let everyone have their own opinion. As long as I try my best and do what I can for the team, I'm not really worried."

One man playing for his future in recent weeks has been SUNS mature-age rookie Kyal Horsley.

Horsley, 24, was drafted from the WAFL and has played 12 games since his debut against North Melbourne in round five.

He is one of a host of SUNS searching for a contract but said it was of no concern heading into Saturday's final round.

"Not any discussions yet, but hopefully if you play good enough footy that'll take care of itself," Horsley said.

It'd be a dream to stay in the AFL and have another full pre-season and have an even bigger crack at it.

"From where I was, no hope a couple of years ago, to where I am now, it definitely feels like a dream still."