By Michael Whiting

Gold Coast SUNS under-siege defenders have pleaded for their midfield teammates to pressure Carlton like crazy at Metricon Stadium on Saturday night.

Despite conceding a landslide inside 50 count of 66-33 against Hawthorn last Sunday, Gold Coast 'restricted' the premiership favourites to 19 goals. Seven of those came in the final quarter.

The SUNS face a similarly difficult assignment this weekend, with a rejuvenated Blues outfit sporting a goal-kicking arsenal that includes Jarrad Waite, Eddie Betts and Jeff Garlett.

Second-year defender Jeremy Taylor said Gold Coast SUNS midfield did an excellent job against Hawthorn of stopping clean supply.

It's something they need to repeat.

The midfield is so important - pressure the ball coming in. If they can make the kicks high, it allows us defenders to get in and impact the contest, Taylor said.

"I thought the midfield did a great job of reducing that use and kicking efficiency and it made it a lot easier for us."

Taylor said Gold Coast would have to match its early effort against Hawthorn to have a chance of beating Carlton.

The SUNS backline general all season has been former Melbourne stopper Matthew Warnock.

Warnock is one of only three players – along with Josh Caddy and Harley Bennell – to play in every game and he boasts the most spoils in the AFL.

He said despite being under pressure against the Hawks last week, it was a challenge he relished.

Obviously the ball has come down a lot and we haven't won too many games. That's all part of it, I'm not that phased by it, Warnock said.

"The last couple of years [at Melbourne] were pretty frustrating personally so it's been great to come up here and get a fresh start, which is what I wanted.

"Although we haven't had too many wins, I've really enjoyed the season. I think as a team we've got a lot of positives from it, we've improved a lot and I've enjoyed my footy this year, it's been good fun."

Unfortunately for Warnock, most of Gold Coast SUNS first choice back six has succumbed to injury during the season.

Nathan Bock, Rory Thompson and Seb Tape all sustained season-ending injuries well before year's end, while Jarrod Harbrow also missed nine weeks with a fractured elbow.

"It probably does make it harder," he said.

It does make a difference when you start to play a number of games with the same guys, especially in the backline it really helps, you get to understand how they play, where they run to, what their strengths are.

"It's probably been another challenge but something you'd expect being a young club, that we'd have quite a few players coming through there."

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